Beauty & and the Beast

Saturday night we took our 3 oldest kids to the Broadway show Beauty and the Beast.  This was the first Broadway-type show they've gone to - we had the best time!  They were so excited to get dressed up and go to the play.  We watched Beauty and the Beast the night before just to make sure we were all in the mood.



That night we went out to dinner with our friends Doug and Alison and the 2 kids of theirs they were taking.  We went to a fun restaurant where the kids got to make their own pizzas. 

 

 

 

 

Logan got to come to dinner - but then we had to part ways with the little guy.  Don't feel bad for him though - he got to have a sleep-over at his Aunt Al's house and had a great time!  Thanks Al!

 

Here we are - all excited!

 In our seats and ready for the show!

 

 

One of the best parts was watching Bailey - she was literally on the edge of her seat for the first 15 minutes.  The show was so great - Gaston was the best!  We had a great time.  And yes, we had to watch Beauty and the Beast the day after just because we were still on a Belle high!

Unbeatable

I was just trying to teach Logan how play Sorry.  I was explaining to him that if a second piece lands on the same square that another piece is already on - the first place has to go back to their starting place. 

Me:  So, since that red is going to land on the square where

that green pice is,

green has to go back to his starting place.

Logan:  Yeah, but mom, green has a force field.

 

Well played, Logan.  Well played.

Triplets

My sister, Allyson, and I are in the same stake.  Since today was Stake Conference Allyson and I saw each other before it started and did a kid swap.  She took Tyler and I took her daughter, Paisley.  So on our bench we had a row of Bailey, Paisley, then Emily.  The girls were happily coloring.  The lady behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I just have to know ... are they triplets?".  I told her no, the two on the ends were sisters, and the one in the middle was a cousin.  She answered by saying, "Oh, cousins explains it - I thought they looked too chummy to be sisters".  We each chuckled a bit and the conversation was over. 
   Over, until Derek leans over to me and said, "Did she say the girls were too chubby to be sisters?"  The lady heard Derek's question and quickly jumped in to say she thought the girls were chummy, not chubby.

 

What's really hillarious is that these girls range in age from 10 to 6.

Pumpkin Lover

Do you think Emmy was the first to ever check this book out from the library?  I do.

The Look of Guilt

   Ever since tennis started our Wednesdays after school are a bit nuts.  As soon as the girls get home from school they immediately get in the car.  I have a snack and water bottle in the car ready for them to go because we are off to piano lessons.  I drop Emily off at lessons, go directly to Tyler's school to pick him up from tennis, where snacks and a water bottle await him, and we're back to piano.  Driving this piano/tennis shuttle takes exactly 30 minutes - Emmy's whole lesson. By the time we get back to piano, Emmy's done.

  The last few weeks though we've had a problem.  Emily has left her half-eaten bag of pretzels in the car when I drop her off at piano, and then by the time we get back to pick her up Logan has eaten her pretzels.  Two weeks in a row this has happened.  Two weeks in a row this has brought us near tears. 

  So today I was prepared - as soon as Emily got out I explained to Logan that the pretzels are Emmy's, that she's going to want them as soon as we pick her up, and once his pretzels are gone, they're gone.  I was prefectly clear in explaining this.

  While I was drving the shuttle I noticed Logan had put his blanket on his head, and was rather quiet.  I thought he might have fallen asleep - which at 4:30 is the worst - but does happen to us sometimes.  It wasn't until we got back to piano lessons that I noticed movement under the blanket.  And talking when I asked him questions.  It wasn't until I asked the, "Are you eating Emily's pretzels?" questions that he got quiet again.  Busted. 

 

 

 

 

Tennis Anyone?

 

Tyler started playing tennis with the school a few weeks ago.  This is his frist school-sponsored sport, so that's been fun and he's really enjoying it.  He practices 4 times a week.  Throw in scouts and piano each once a week and he's a busy guy!  He's playing doubles with his friend Caleb and yesterday was their first match against another school.  They had so many kids who needed a turn to play that each match was just the first to win 4 games.  With  a lot of double faults, and no real rallies - it was a fast match!  Under 15 minutes.  Even though it was super fast, it was really fun to watch.  He got some serves in, and some over the net so we were all smiles.

 

 

 

Yes, I know he's hitting the ball the wrong way - he's hitting it back to his

partner who's serving.  I just used this picture because it was the only time

he was on side of the court I was on, and facing me!

A little heartbroken

     Hands down the worst part of Derek's new calling was the losing of my calling.  I've been the Primary President for the last 2 1/2 years.  When we met with the Stake President Counselor he told me that this would definitely mean changes to my calling.  Then when we met with the new Bishop for the first time he told me that replacing me was high on his priority list. 

     While I certainly understood that I needed to be released, I didn't go down without a fight.  I told the new Bishop to take all the time he needed to replace me, like a year or 2 would be fine.  I told him he had lots of urgent things that a new Bishop would be very busy with - and this, I assured him, wasn't urgent.  Needed to be done, sure, but no urgency here.  Just put me on the back-burner of things to do, and forget about me.  I would hold down the Primary fort, and not make a peep.

     Despite all of my pleadings, I got released a few weeks ago.  When the Executive Secretary called to say the Bishop wanted to meet with me I told him 'no way!' - he can't release me if he can't ever meet with me right?

   The Sunday I went into be released it was right before Sacrament Meeting.  I was crying before I even sat down in his office.  He waited me for me to compose myself, and waited, and waited.  Finally I just said, "Do it quick like a band-aid".  And he released me.  It was so horrible - because I was so sad, and so embarrassed!  Derek asked him how it went afterwards and all he said was, "It was a 3 tissue releasing".  I didn't get publically released until the next week.  I thought I'd be able to cry all that week, and get it out of my system so I wouldn't cry the week I got released.  No such luck.  Repeat of the first week, and bawled my eyes out through all of sacrament meeting.

   Going to primary my last time wasn't so bad - I didn't have sharing time so that helped a lot.  I gave a 10 second goodbye to the kids and quickly sat down.  No need to traumatize the children, I always say.

    I have subbed in Primary both weeks since I've been released, so that is definitely good news.  Last week the new presidency gave all of us in the old presidency the cutest candy bar bouqets.  Each class got one flower with a candy gram saying on it, like " You make me snicker because ... You brought me joy because ... You mean mounds to me because ... You are worth 100 grand because ...." and then the kids finished the sentences and wrote cute things.  My favortie was the "You are not nerds because you don't wear your pants up high".  It was the cutest thank you.

 

 

   I've thought a lot about why I have loved this calling so much, almost freaky how much I've loved it.  And I can think of a lot of reasons why I didn't love it ... planning a Stake Baptism is not awesome. Either is putting together new classes for January.  Definitely not awesome is the first program practice ... Complete chaos.  I really had to think about why I've loved it.  And after some soul searching I came to the reason - it's not because of things of primary, it's because of the people of primary.  I have made relationships with the 100 kids in our primary.  They know me, and I know them.  I see them at church, in the neighborhood, and volunteering at the school. I really know, and love, each of these kids.  And then there's the whole board of primary workers - 30+ adults made of teachers, music leaders, scout leaders, activity day leaders, and my presidency.  I have gotten to know these people - and been so impressed with how much heart and effort they put into their calling.  Going the extra mile is a regular occurance - and their isn't a lot of praise or gratitude, and the pay is lousy.  They just do a good job - week in and week out - because that is the kind of people they are.  It has been no less than inspiring to watch.  And in the president postition I was able to see all of the ways these people serve. 
    In a nutshell, my life has been enriched in every sense of the word because of this calling.  I've been inspired, I've been taught, and I've been blessed with wonderful relationships.  I think why I tried to hold on so tightly to this calling is because I know I will miss these things.
     I don't have a new calling yet - part of me is enjoying it while another part of me is dying to have a calling.  I'm sure one will come soon enough - with lots more for me to learn and love about it.

Changes for Derek ...

This post is a few weeks slow in coming

(ok, maybe 6, 7, maybe 8 weeks slow if we're being honest),

but here it is nonetheless.

 

    In early February Derek got a phone call from the Stake Executive Secretary scheduling Derek an appointment with someone from the Stake Presidency.  No problem we thought, Derek had been serving as a counselor in our Elder's Quorum Presidency - for almost 3 years, and a releasing from that calling made sense. 
    We thought it was a bit odd that they wanted me to come, but didn't want to read too much into it.  So on a Thursday afternoon Derek and I met with a counselor from the Stake Presidency at his house.  As soon as he asked me to wait in his office while he talked to Derek privately I knew his goose was cooked.  He asked Derek to serve as the second counselor to a new Bishop being called.  Derek was a bit overwhelmed, but has since settled in and is doing great.  The best part of his calling is that he is over the Deacons, and Tyler will be 12 in June.
    Derek was especially happy that his Dad was able to ordain him as a High Priest.  His ordination by his Dad and his setting apart to be the counselor were both awesome.  We had Derek's parents, my parents, and Allyson and her whole family there to support him.
    The funniest part of the day was minutes after he was set apart - the 3 families in the Bishopric were still all in the room talking to each other, a lady in our ward walks into the room, and hands Derek her tithing.  Derek just stares at it, clueless as to why this lady is handing him her tithing.  She looks at him and says, "I must be the first one to give you tithing!".  So he slowly takes it, and she just says, "Well I've done my part, now it's up to you.".  Derek was a deer in the headlights through the whole converstation.  And Allyson and I had front row seats.  It was hilarious.
    The next week I was on my own for Sacarament meeting, with my 4 wild monkeys.  I had 2 couples (both empty-nesters) in the ward purposely sit right in front of me, and behind me to offer their help.  One couple sat in front of me and asked which kids they were in charge of.  Bailey was my only one brave enough to go and sit with them, but she did.  It was so helpful to just have one less kid to help.  The next week she brought Bailey a new coloring book (in Bailey's words, "Mom, not even one page had coloring!") and Bailey sat with them again.  The other couple sat behind me, and when I warned them that they probably didn't want to sit that close to our bench, they just said, "no, that's why we sat here - to help you."  It was the sweetest show of support for our family.  I felt very loved.
   This calling will be a great opportunity for Derek to serve those in our ward.  He's already learned so much from those he is serving with.  He'll be great . . .  and he now takes tithing like a pro.

Oh Canada!

     Last Saturday was a big day - my parents were set apart as full time missionaries.  Afterwards, we partied.  A final Hug and Kiss party for my awesome missionary parents. 
    All of my siblings and their kids were there to watch them be set apart.  It was so great to be a part of - and awesome for my kids to see their grandparents be set apart as missionaries.
   Then we came to my house for dinner.  We had the house decked in red and white - Canda's colors.  We had red and white crepe paper and balloons everywhere - my house looked like a candy cane - inside and out.  We had a big sign that said, "Oh Canada!" also.  We had a contest to see who could wear the most things that started W or C (for Winnipeg, Canada) - people came with Wicker baskets and Camo bags full of Water bottles, Cans, Crayons, Corn, Cats; and people wearing Watches, Wigs, Wristbands, and Wooden Camel earrings (double points).  It was hilarious.   The winners were awarded with candy bars - Crunch, Whatchamacallit, and Carmelletto of course.
   It was so fun to spend this fun evening celebrating my parents.  We had thought about playing games like Guesstures with all missionary-themed words, but in the end simply wanted to spend time with each other.
   The next day, Sunday, my parents came to sacrament meeting with my family, and afterwards got in their car and drove off to the MTC.  That's a weird feeling - to see your parents leaving for a mission.  We've always known they'd go, and talked about it for ages, but seeing them leave was hard.  I came home from church sad, but proud of them.
    I can't wait for next summer when we are going to take the 22 hour drive to Winnipeg to see them. My kids talk about going to Canada all the time - I think Emily's final words to my dad were, "Next time I see you we'll be in a different country!".  I'm glad I have a big, fun trip to plan and look forward to - it will help the time go faster.   I'm so proud to have missionary parents.

Happy 75th Birthday!

A few weeks ago we celebrated my father-in-law's 75th birthday.  For a man as amazing as my father-in-law is, he deserved an amazing party . . . and he got it.  Sandy, my mother-in-law, planned the biggest bash ever.  This was a surprise party that involved their 5 kids, 5 spouses, and 18 grandkids.
  Two months before his birthday Sandy started the planning.  We all agreed to meet in Boise, because there are 2 siblings here - 2 houses to house the masses, for the weekend. This involved long road trips for some, and long flights for others. From Seattle to Dallas the family started coming.  We all met in here for a weekend none of us will forget.
   It started Friday night meeting John  and Sandy at a restuarant.  We got John here by telling him that Derek and I were going to Dallas for a few days and we needed he and Sandy to come tend our kids.  That was the bait.  They were going tend from Saturday to Wednesday.  On their drive over from Idaho Falls Derek called John and told him we had told our kids we would take them out to dinner, since they felt bad about not going with us to Dallas and all.  Just meet us at the restuarant John - the trap was set.
   When John got to the restuarant, little did he know what awaited him.  He walked into a private room at Louie's Italian restaurnt to see 29 of his family members there.  We all yelled 'surprise' and waited for him to take in the sight . . . I think 'overwhelmed' described John's emotions.  It was the funnest to see him realize how loved he is by this family.  They had come from far and wide - all to celebrate him.
   We partied there all night, simply enjoying each other's company.  Well, some of us partied there - Logan and I went to a Quick Care place for a Friday night ear infection.  But the party raged on for the rest.
  The next day was packed with fun.  All of the adults went to Tacano's Brazilian BBQ for lunch.  We left the 18 kids at my house, with big kids in charge of little kids, said a prayer (for the kids and the house!), and were off.  Lunch was great - so fun to just enjoy everyone's company. 
  That afternoon was action packed.  We headed to our church to have a little more room - you know you're a big family when you need a church gym to fit in!  We had games and a talent show - a favorite in our family.  Each family gave him 75 of something - there were 75 of his favorite treats, and a 75 pages scrapbook put together by Sandy.  The book was such a great tribute to John.  Afterwards, we headed back to my house for dinner and birthday cake and ice cream. 

   Sunday some family had to head back home, but thanks to Spring Break for one family, and no school on Monday for another family, lots of family were to able to stay until Wednesday.     
    Every night was 'musical beds' as slumber parties moved from room to room and house to house. My favorite line of the entire weekend was from my 4 year old neice Mallory. Mallory fell asleep in Emily's bed, but when her mom went to bed, she moved Mallory to sleep in their family's room. Then I went to bed in Emily's bed. At 1:00 in the morning I was awakened by Mallory simply saying, "I'm supposed to be in that bed."  Hillarious.
    It was so fun to see everyone for an extened time.  This was the first time all 18 grandkids were together.  Cousins played and played.  There is something magical about cousins - it doesn't matter how long it's been since they've seen each other, they simply pick up where they left off - as best friends.  It warms my heart to see my kids love their cousins as much as they do. 
    It was the funnest weekend - all to celebrate John, who deseves a whole lot of celebrating.   He is the most selfless, kindheated, and generous guy there is.

Mystery Solved

    For a while we have been having quite a library book mystery at our house.  We have a certain spot in our house for library books so they don't get mixed in with ours, and I try to be on the ball to remember to send the girls' library books back on the right day.  I'm not perfect at it, but I'm pretty good.  Because I think this is something I'm pretty responsible about, this mystery has kind of been driving me crazy.
   All of this school year we've had problems with Bailey's library books getting returned and checked in.  It seems we've been in this cycle of Bailey checking out a book, bringing it home, us sending it back in a week - on the right day, and then 2 weeks of her not being able to check out another book because her last one wasn't turned in.  On the third week she comes home with a not a new book, but a bill for the missing book.  In the interim of these 3 weeks I comb the house looking for this book.  Never find it.  So I send in a check for the missing book - even though I know I sent it in.  Then the next day or so, my check comes home with Bailey with a note saying they found the book on the shelf.  Drives me crazy . . .
   We've done this dance steadily through first grade.  And I haven't ever had any problems like this with my other kids, or other teachers, so I don't know what's going on.  I've been blaming her teacher - thinking that Bailey's turning it in to her teacher, and the teacher isn't getting it to the library.  But then wouldn't other kids be in this boat?  Wouldnt' the teacher realize the kids are being sent home bills?  And this is our third year with this teacher - and we haven't had these problems before.  Baffling I tell you.
  Until yesterday.  Yesterday Bailey came home with my check, once again, saying they had found the missing book, once again.  However, this check also came with a note: 

  Hi Amy -

   We found Bailey's book on the shelf.  I think Bailey has been putting/returning her library book on the librarian's desk.  So the librarain just returns the book to the shelf.

   Bailey needs to return her books in the book slot just by the library, right before she enters the library.  I showed Bailey where it is.

 

Needless to say I talked to Bailey about where her book needs to go.  She claims complete ignorance - she had no idea such slot existed.  Hopefully that girl can check out a book, and I can quit writing checks!

Hypochondriac Bay

      Monday, Bailey came home from school and told me she had been to the nurse 3 times that day.  Knowing the school had not tried to call me I knew I had a bit of the "Boy Who Cried Wolf" amongst us.  The nurse knew it too apparently.  I knew Bailey liked to go to the nurse.  A lot.  She used to come home with stickers or prizes and every time I asked why she had gotten them she said it was because her teacher gave them to her for being so brave by not going to the nurse.  Aye, aye, aye. 
     I thought we were over this until Monday when I got the 3-peat nurse report.  So Tuesday morning before school I was giving her the pep talk of not needing to go the nurse.  I asked her how many times she was going to go to the nurse that day, expecting a 'zero' answer of course.  I was shocked when she said, 'once'.  She's already planned to go to the nurse!  Aye, aye, aye.

Geography Lover in the House

So Logan has a little love affair with maps of the United States.  We have a platic placemat map of the US and he has carried it around the house with him for months.  He loves to ask what each state is and what that state is known for. 
His favorite night in a long time was Election Night.  Every 2 seconds the US map was shown on TV - he was in heaven.  For weeks after he could tell you what state went red and what state went blue.  The presidential outcome did not catch his attention - but what color California went really blew his mind. 
He loves the Ipad app Stack the States - even though he can't read.  It goes so far that a few weeks ago I picked him up from the daycare at the gym and the lady there told me he was really smart.  I questioned why and she said because of his US map prowess.
Today he wanted a slice of cheese so I cut him a piece off of a 2 pound block.  He immediately looked at his slice and asked me what it looked like.  I had no idea. So to his trusty placemat map he went.  Then he put his slice of cheese on top of Montana - apparently I had cut it to look just like the Big Sky state.  That is a coincedence he can appreciate.

Hide and Seek

       Yesterday Logan had a friend named Carson over. They played all afternoon together before they stumbled onto Rosie, our family's favorite hamster. Of course Logan got her out of her cage and the boys played with her for a minute. I didn't think much of it - thinking Rosie was safe in her cage afterwards. That proved to be unwise thinking.
       Emily came up to me all panicked saying that Rosie was missing. "Emmy," I assured her, "she just's burrowed somewhere in her cage hiding from those boys." Rosie is hard to find lately since Emmy's last bedding purchase was for white bedding. That girl is hard to find in there. "No," she insisted, "she's missing!". So I joined the hunt for Rosie. Turned out - not in her cage. Uh-oh.
       "Hey boys," I asked, "where's Rosie?". To which Carson promptly declared, "She's in Logan's swim suit drawer!". And she was. Right there in the swimsuit drawer. Luckily those boys decided to hide her in a contained location!  No more Hide and Seek games with Rosie.

Hamster Hotel

Important backstory info:  in Emmy's hamster cage she has this pink little house for Rosie. 

 It looks just like an igloo, thus we call it an igloo.

    Last weekend Bailey's best friend, Brynlee, asked us to tend her 2 hamsters while they went out of town.  My girls were so excited to add 2 more hamsters to our house.  Hamster Hotel I called it, Hamster Heaven my girls called it.

     Emmy thought it would be a great idea to put Rosie in their cage, and vice versa.  She thought they'd really get a kick out of seeing some new digs.  I told Emmy that was fine, and then a while later walked past the 2 cages and noticed they weren't switched.  Asking Emmy why she hadn't switched them she replied, 'I just don't think Rosie would like those hamsters in her igloo, going through her stuff.'

Call Tyler "Unimpressed"

A few Sundays ago after church Derek asked Tyler how my sharing time was. 

Tyler said, "It was good.  But mom just got it from Sugardoodle." 

Apparently if you get your sharing time idea from Sugardoodle it doesn't matter how good your sharing time is, how creative, how spiritual, how much time and effort you put it into it - all null and void and counts for nothing if you get it from Sugardoodle.  Then I further disappointed him when I told him all of my sharing times come from Sugardoodle - as does every other sharing time that kid has ever seen!  Mr. Tyler is now Mr. Unimpressed.

I hope they call me on a mission!

       My parents just got their mission call.  They had the papers in for 8 very long weeks.  Every week we'd expect it, just to wait another week.  My mom kept saying Church Headquarters didn't know what to do with them - I think awesome mission calls just take extra time.
       My parents were willing and able to go anywhere, and do anything.  If that meant digging ditches in Africa, they were willing.  If that meant freezing to death in Siberia, they were willing.  If that meant facing my mom's biggest fear ('snakes the size of buses!' in the Congo) they were willing.  They were willing to go anywhere, learn any language, and face all types of poverty, weather, and culture shock.  Sign them up.  Because that's the kind of people they are.
       Finally it came (!) and a big opening party was certainly in order.  We all went to my parents' house - a few were missing, notably Derek and Tyler who were in SLC that weekend for a Utah Jazz/BYU basketball weekend, but the party went on.
       My mom, who loves guessing games, and my dad, who does not love guessing games, had come up with a plan of opening it to appease both of them.  My dad was going to open it, read it, and then my mom wanted to guess and guess until she got it.
     So my dad read it, and my mom started guessing.  She narrowed it down to mission home, English speaking, North America, and then Canada quickly.  It took her a while though to get the official mission . . . Winnipeg, Canada.  They are going to be office specialists.  They were so excited!
      As we read up about the mission we all felt like this was going to be a prefect fit - for my mom who's never been cold in her life, for my dad who wears a coat year-round, and to their mission president who is originally from Idaho, but now lives in Alaska running a fishering touring company (my dad's wildest dream come true) - this is a good fit.
     They leave in 6 short and crazy weeks - just enough time to buy a 4-wheel drive car and stock up on long underwear!
      I'm most excited that it's close enough to go visit.  Only 22 hours by car!  Sign my family up!  A road trip to Canada to see my missionary parents - simply awesome.

Mission Call Opened!!

Here's the official opening video - I had to upload them in chunks because the file was too big. And then of course they uploaded in the wrong order - and because I'm so awesome at Blogger I can't figure out how to switch them!  So watch them in 1,3,2,4 order. 

I get so excited every time I watch the video!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Emily Dear!

 

 

Happy Birthday Emily!

 

Here's a little about Emmy as a 10 year old:

favorite animal: killer whale

favorite food: spaghetti

favorite TV show: Phineas and Ferb

favorite movie: Ice Age 4

favorite book: Tale of Despereaux

favorite color: white

favorite treat: buckeye bars

favorite candy bar: Crunch

What she wants to be when she grows up: a banker at ICON

Where she wants to live when she grows up: Illinois

If she could visit anywhere: Egypt

How her friends would describe her; awesome, smart, full of good ideas

How I would describe Emmy: Emmy is the biggest peacemaker I know. She will do anything to make someone happy. If she is given a candy bar, she will give her siblings half without hesitating. If every chair is open in the kitchen, except the one Emmy is sitting on, and Logan insists on sitting that one chair, she will happily move - every time. She never complains - homework, chores, and piano are all done with a smile. She is my only child who still calls me "Mama" which I adore. I am the luckiest to have a daughter like Emily.

Happy Groundhog's Day

The kids and I had a fun Groundhog's Day. We watched online Puxatwney Phil come out of his little hollow oak on Gobbler's Nob and not see his shadow - welcome spring!!  We celebrated his wonderful forecast by making cute little groundhogs coming out of their holes.  I, for one, cannot welcome spring with open arms enough.  Bring on flip flops, bike riding, and swimming!

Mascot Discovered

My girls are both playing basketball this winter and there is a lion mascot that walks around the gym throughout all of the basketball games.  Today we were getting ready to head out the door to a basketball game and Logan said out of nowhere, "Ya know mom I don't think it's a real lion.  I think it's a person just wearing clothes."  Yep Logan, you have figured out a mascot.

Best Birthday Present Ever

This post is dedicated to my sister Allyson who has been
begging me to post this story since November.  Enjoy Al!

 

 

 

      Tyler started middle school this fall and that meant a little more diversity in his classes.  All year he has one period that changes subjects every quarter - Art, Keyboarding, Computers, and Family Science (Family Science is what used to be Home Ec when I was in middle school). 

      So his first class of the year was Family Science.  The first half of the quarter was cooking. Tyler loved it.  Every Thursday was his lab day when he got to cook something.  At home, we have enjoyed the benefits of this class.  We've had Orange Swirls and French Bread Pizza brought to us by Tyler's new talents.  It's also me realize the can do way more cooking than I had been giving him credit for. 

      The second half of the quarter was sewing.  He made a pin cusion and this cute, furry football.  From  his new found skills, the best birthday present ever was born.  I have pillowcases for my kids for every holiday.  In September my kids all had their Back to School pillowcases on their pillows and Tyler told me that his had a hole in it.  Sure enough, in the seam was a hole.  He told me, and I promptly forgot.  I certainly wouldn't have thought anything of it until next Semptember when I pulled out my holey pillowcase. 

     A few nights before my birthday I was in my room reading.  Derek came in and told me stay in my room.  Secrets were going on.
     Two days later was my birthday.  I could tell something good was coming by how Tyler was acting.  The last present was from Tyler.  I opened it to find our Back to School pillowcase.  I was a bit confused.  Then he reminded me of the hole he had found.  'Look for it' was what I was told.  Looking for the hole I could tell it had been whip stitched together.  By the most recent graduate of Family Science.

                                                           

   Tyler told me how a few nights before he had told Derek he wanted to fix the hole for my birthday present.  After telling me to stay in my room, Derek helped Tyler find thread and needle.  After he'd done that Derek told Tyler he couldn't be any more help - he didn't know the slightest thing about fixing the hole.  So Tyler went to work.  He whip stitched me the best birthday present ever.

Hamster Happiness

 

Oh Santa, you did good this year.

 

 

 

 

Santa and Emmy are tight these days.  After she received a hamster for Christmas, you might say they're BFF's.  Maybe this was Santa's way of appeasing a 9 year old girl who's wanted a dog for 7 of those years, and maybe this is his way of getting her parents to take babysteps to pet ownership - but either way, you did good old man.

Emmy woke up to find a hamster Christmas morning.  She was shocked, asking Bailey, who was looking in the cage, "What is it?", too shocked to believe it could be a real pet.  In typical Emmy fashion (immediate and completely random) her hamster was named:  Rose.  She now mostly goes by Rosie. 

Rosie gets a lot of attention.  A lot.  Let's just say it's good that the kids have gone back to school so our little Rosie can get a nap!  Because she's nocturnal she goes all night - and goes(!), but because of our overwhelming love for her she also goes all day.  Poor thing needs some sleep.

Emmy looks forward to Saturdays where she gets to don her plastic gloves and clean out her cage (easy said when we're two weeks into it), and has already been to PetSmart to buy bedding and food.  I explained to her that now she has bills - bedding and food.  Water's on me, because I'm generous like that.  I'm glad to see her allowance going somewhere besides candy.

As a side note, Emmy has had a beta fish named Chiffy for a long time.  After Rosie entered the picture Derek started teasing her that she had turned her back on Chiffy.  No, no, no, she still loves Chiffy she said.  Then Tyler started saying he'd like a pet . . . and maybe he could have Chiffy.  Emmy, who now has bills, seizes the opportunity and says, "5 bucks and he's yours".  So Emmy has Rosie, and 5 extra dollars to buy hamster bedding, Tyler has a fish and quickly renamed him Rex.  All is well.



Once there was a snowman

My kids have been loving the snow we've had this week (except for the fact that it has not resulted in a snow day!).  Yesterday my kids were out building a snowman when they needed items for the face.  As I scrounged through the pantry for them I found some of those really big chocolate chips (the kind you buy to melt).  This will do I thought and sent them out with my kids.  The snowman was built, face applied, and everyone happy.  A while later I looked out the window to realize that half of our snowman's face was missing.  Odd . . .  And then a while later realized his whole face was missing.  In comes Logan with a mouthful of chocolate.  After asking him if he knew where our snowman's face had gone, he insisted it had already melted.  Yep . . .  Logan ate our snowman's face off.

Westward Ho!

Emmy has just started a Pioneer unit in school.  As part of the unit, they are each assigned identities, and will go with their family across the country.  Emmy has been so excited about this - and tells us all about her family, their ages, professions, etc.  Last night Emmy had to write down her supply list - everything she was going to take with her on her journey.  She had 1000 pounds to allocate however she wanted.  After she had written down her giant "To Pack" list, I helped her add up pounds to make sure she was in the 995-1000 pound range her teacher had assigned.  We added them all up and she was way over.  So I suggested she look over her list and figure out was was a neccessity, and cut the rest. The first thing I pointed out was her spinning wheel (for a whopping 25 pounds!).  That was met with, "But Mom, you know that spinning wheel is the thing I'm most excited to take."  Ok, on to something else . . .   Then I came to a fiddle.  I told her she should only take things that are going to help her surive - anything else had to go.

Emmy:  Ok, I'll take off the fiddles.

Me:  Fiddles??  How many did you pack?

Emmy:  3

Me:  why 3?

Emmy:  Because this is their only entertainment and I wanted each person in the family to have one!

In the end, the fiddles got cut, the spinning wheel stayed.  To the pioneers I say:  Too bad you didn't have Emmy with you.  Sure, she would have bummed food off of you, but she would have brought entertainment.

Lion Love

Tonight at dinner we were going around the table saying our favorite things in different categories.  We got to animals and decided everyone should say their two favorites.  Here's how it went:

  Tyler:  monkeys and tripod fish

  Emily:  hamsters and tiger

  Me:  penguin and tiger

  Derek:  moose and squirrel

  Bailey:  lion . . .       . . .   I love lions so much I don't know what could be second!

It Takes All Kinds ...

Bailey came home from school yesterday and told me that her friend had hurt her feelings.  I asked what happened and here's the tale I was told: 

Bay:  Well, Brynlee and I made up a club at school, and it's called the

 Just Say No to Drugs and Just Say No to Bullying Club. 

And we invited Bryn to be in our club and she said,

 "No, I've been in that club before and it was terrible!"

And Mom, that really hurt my feelings.

While listening to this tale of woe Tyler did not let the moment of sacrcasm go, and quickly told Bailey she should name her club the Counselor's Club.
I had to explain to Bay that some people like drugs, and some people like bullying, and some people like both.  But we just have to be tolerant of all.

Dare to Dream

Derek and I have been talking to Emmy about what sport/activity she wants to do.  She's done clogging for the past few years but this summer decided she wants to quit.  We're fine with her quitting, but want her to do something physical.  A few nights ago Derek and Emmy were talking about what she'd like to try - soccer, basketball, swimming, - hoping Emmy would like one of his suggestions. 
    The conversation ended with no plans of what Emmy would like to do next.  A little while later Emmy came out of her room really excited.  Calling Derek she said, "I know what I want to do!  I know something I'd be really good at because I"m little!"  Derek was all ears.  Finally, Emmy had decided what she could do.  He was a little shocked at her idea.  "I want to be a horse jockey!"  Yeah ... we're going to go with swimming.

A Letter to Cousins

Emily just wrote a letter to her cousins Kamryn and Halli.  It was so cute I had to put on here (no editing was done, pure Emily) - enjoy!

Dear Kam and Halli,
    A couple days ago Tyler and Bailey and I went to a across the street garage sale.  They had a bunch of stuff!  Seriously!  They had Thanksgiving stuff, Halloween stuff, Christmas stuff, clocks, stuffed animals, bikes and scooters!  They had everything!  Bailey and I were looking around but then I saw this turkey decoration! It was so cute!  And it was only 25 cents!  So I went home and told my mom about it.  She said it was ok to buy!  So I ran to the garage sale!  I paid for the turkey!  I've never bought something from a garage sale before!  Then Bailey and I looked around somore.  Then Bailey found a little carebare in a box.  It was 25 cents!  Bailey and I ran home to ask our mom if we could by it.  She said it was ok but you only have 3 mins.  So Bailey and I ran to the garage sale.  Bailey picked up the carebare and bought it.  She was so happy!
Love,
  Emily

Leapster Love

Things I don't love about this picture - kind of couch potato-y.

Things I love about this picture - out of the whole house they choose to play their Leapsters next to each other, and they both have their beloved blankets.

Caught?

My caption of this picture:  "Logan just dumped out yet another bottle of shampoo and

 turned the water on without any worry of the consequences."

Logan's caption:  "Uh oh"

Ironman: Chapter 3

With Derek out of the water and on his bike the fun could start.  We headed out to the bike course to see him.  The bike course is 112 miles.  After going into town for 20 miles, the athletes start a 45 mile loop they do twice.  This has some massive climbs - one almost a mile long called lovingly The Wall.  We camped out at mile 66 and waited for Derek.  There he was - flying by, and smiling!  The wind continued throughout the bike, and though he expected to have a 6 hour bike, the wind slowed him down to 7 hours. 
  We were there at T2 when he got off his bike and onto the run.  He said as he transitioned he didn't know how he'd be able to pull off a marathon.  Physically spent and emotionally drained.  But he just started - one step at a time.  As he passed us he said, "Here goes the death march."  He tried to run a few times, but the cramping would begin, and he'd be back to walking.  Due to the tear, he couldn't put weight on his right leg. He walked a very quick 15 minute mile and kept clicking off the miles.  The run course was awesome for specators - it was an 8 mile loop they did 3 times.  And it would be down a street, back up the same street, over 2 blocks, and down and up again.  We could see him many times throughout the race.
   We also saw Brady and Doug - still running, still looking great.  Doug caught Derek on Doug's last loop, and Derek's second loop.  Doug walked with Derek and they were able to swap war stories of their day.

Derek in blue, Doug in white

 Then Doug was off to the finish line.  Derek kept plugging away.  He was getting closer and closer.  As the sun began to set Derek had to come to grips that he was going to finish in the dark.  That was never in the plans.  As we thought about his pace we knew he would have about an hour of wiggle room before the midnight cutoff, so we felt great as he kept on walking.
   After Doug had finished, he crossed the finish line, and kept on walking.  Back to the run course.  Back to Derek.  He started walking with him.  Again.  After doing his own Ironman.  140 miles isn't enough for some people!  He ended up going 8 miles with Derek.  148 miles in one day for him.  How Doug had it in him to do that I'll never know, but I'll always be grateful.  It was great to get the fatigue and pain off Derek's mind by talking to his friend.
   At 11:00 that night, Derek was minutes out from the finish.  The excitement of Team DK was palpable.  We could see him coming!  As he came down the chute we were simply beside ourselves.  We felt like we'd just completed the Ironman!  He summoned his courage to run the final bit, and finish looking amazing. He finished under the bright lights and we could see him get his medal on the jumbotron.  I videoed it on my phone and Derek's sister Angey is on it screaming, "They just medaled him!!".  We all felt like screaming, and crying, and sleeping.

  After finishing he headed to the massage tent to get some much need work done.  We gathered his gear, his bike, enjoyed the last few minutes of our Iroman experience. As a hobbled Derek walked the block to our truck, he kept saying, "How did Doug do that??"
  All in all about 500 athletes didn't end up finishing, due to that relentless wind.  That gave the race a 29% Did Not Finish rate- one of the highest in Ironman history.  The pro woman who won said she's done 44 Ironmans and never done one this hard.  In her interview at the finish line Mike Reilly asked her about her swim, she said "I thought I was going to end up on an episode of Lost".
  It's an emotional thing - to be done with something you've really put your heart and soul into.  It's humbling to have an amaing support team - wherever they were.  It's scary to have such a rough experience in the water, and then it's faith-promoting to be blessed enough to finish your day.  It wasn't the race Derek envisioned, by a long ways.  He thought he'd be around 12 hours, he was 16:03.  But Derek worked incredibly hard, reached his goal, and became an Ironman.  My absolute favorite part of watching an Ironman is the finish line when Mike Rielly, announces the finishers.  All day I heard him say, "Come on home, You Are an Ironman!".  All day I kept saying, "I just want him to say 'Derek, you are an Ironman".  Turns out we were all screaming way too loud to hear what he said.  But to Derek I say I couldn't be prouder - and you are an Ironman.

Ironman St. George finishers:  Brady, Doug, and Derek

looking a bit better the next morning

Ironmen and Ironmates:  Amy & Derek, Alison & Doug, Andrea & Brady

At home waiting for him.

  *This was an Ironman post, and anyone who made it to the end is an Ironman reader in my book!*



Ironman: Chapter 2

Here we were - the week of the race.  The 3 guys headed down to St. George on Wednesday.  We rented a house for the 3 couples to stay, "Athlete's Village" as it was quickly dubbed.  They needed to sleep in their bed a few nights, they needed to feel settled, they needed to check-in, get their gear to each transistion, and they needed to rest.  Andrea, Alison, and I headed down Friday morning.  I had my kids spread out from hither to yon, so I could spare them going to St. George.  Megan and Lance (Derek's brother) got my boys, and Toby (my sister's husband) got my girls.  We were off . . .
   Friday, Team DK began gathering from all corners.  My parents came, my 2 sisters, Jen and Allyson, came, Derek's parents, and Derek's 2 sisters, Angey and Rainie, all covereged in St. George Friday night.  They came with posters, cow bells, sidewalk chalk, ribbons, and mounds of support for Derek.  I got us all matching t-shirts that said, "Derek is our Ironman on the front" and "Team DK" on the back.  We proudly sported our shirts Saturday, answering many questions about who is Derek, where he's from, how many he's done, etc.  With our group of 9, we stood out.  Derek could find us - which is exactly what I wanted.  At one point on the bike course, he spotted us before we spotted him.

     I feel very humbled when I think of the outpouring of support Derek had.  Not only did he have family there, but he had people supporting him wherever they were.  His brother Lance and his wife had our boys, and Toby had my girls. Toby was Mr. Mom that weekend because Jen had come to St. George.  Tate, Chris, and Paul, my 3 brothers-in-law were also Mr. Mom that weekend to allow Derek's sisters to come.  We had people emailing and texting all day asking about him and pulling for him.  It is in no way an understatment to say he probably wouldn't have made it out of the swim if it weren't for this support.  To all of you who watched kids, and thought about him that day, I say thak you.  Thank you.
  Saturday morning - everything you can do is now done.  The months of training, eating right, getting your gear to Utah, getting it to the right spot - it's all done.  It comes down to one day - your day.  Derek certainly had a terrible night's sleep.  Everytime I woke up he'd be pacing or on his laptop.  Finally it was 3:00 am and time for him to start the day.  He went off to the finish line where they bused the athletes up to Sand Hollow Resevoir for the swim.  It was when Derek got off the bus he realized he'd forgotten something - his wetsuit.

At 4:56 a.m. Andrea, Alison, and I all got this text from him:  Is anyone awake?!!!  Me:  I am.  Do you need something?

         Then he called.  It would just be really great if I could bring his wetsuit to the start.  I can't imagine the panic that went through him.  I assured him I could get it to him with plenty of time.  The girls and I got out of the house a little quicker than we'd planned to get him his wetsuit.  After parking and being shuttled to Sand Hollow I got off the bus, and found a very anxious Derek inside T1.  He had plenty of time to get it on, and calm his nerves.  His day was back on track.  Team DK was there, and Derek got very emotional as he saw so much support for him.
   The athletes began the long walk down the ramp into the water.  I love thinking about the thousands of hours these 1800 athletes have put into training for this one day.  All of their hopes and dreams were happening.  This is the moment they'd all dreamed of.  It was all coming to fruitition.   It was a beautiful morning, great weather conditions, thousands of spectators cheering them on - at the end of this day they were going to be called an Ironman. 

  They headed down the ramp, the national anthem was sung, the professionals were off, and then the cannon blew.  The race had started.  It's amazing to see 1800 swimmers all start at the same time.  I imagine it's less amazing to be one - and be kicked, and grabbed, and swam over in the chaos.  But they were off.  Fifteen minutes into this swim the wind started.  It picked up fast, and stayed.  The newspaper the next day called it a tempest.  Where did this wind come from??  I'd watched the weather for 10 days - it was supposed to be under 10 mph - and this wasn't that.  The wind was strong and we started seeing the havoc it created.  Kayaks were capzing and rescue boats were pulling people in - by the dozens, and dozens.  Athtletes were already back on land - telling everyone how horrible it was out there - they couldn't see the bouys, they couldn't see where to go, they couldn't breathe - it was horrible out there.  People were holding on to rocks and bouys waiting to be rescued, but the boats would have to pass them by because they were full.  Many wondered if they'd cancel the swim - but how do you call back 1800 swimmers?  I'm sure that if the wind had started 15 minutes earlier, the swim would have been canceled, it was simply very dangerous to have swimmers out there.  I feel very fortuante that no one lost their life out in the water.  All in all, 300 swimmers weren't able to finish.  As the swimmers would come out of the water Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman, would tell the athletes, "I know, that was a rough swim. But look forward, and have a great race."
   Derek had told me when to start looking for him - 8:15.  So we were looking, and looking.  We knew he'd be behind his goal because of the wind, but we checked every swimmer that came out of the water.  Doug came out first - looking great.  The wind had not be been a problem.  Then Brady came out - looking great too.  Now  . . . where's Derek?  We waited and waited.  8:30, 8:45, 9:00.  He should've been out of the water by now.  He's a strong swimmer, and the wind shouldn't have slowed him down this much.  By 9:00 it was evident something was wrong.  What, I didn't know, but definitely something.  He had either had a leg cramp - which plagues him, or the wind had been too much.  Is there anyway we could have missed him?  Not likely, with 9 of looking for him, but perhaps.  Andrea went to look for his bike -still there.  I honestly hoped that his bike would have been gone.  I would rather have missed his transition than know he was still out in the water.  9:15.  Andrea tells me she's going to check the medic tent.  As bad as that would have been, it would be better knowing where he was.  I kept thinking, "This has got to be a dream".  I mean, this is Derek's day.  He can't have it end now.  The other nagging thought about his absence was the ticking clock.  Athletes have 2 hours, 20 minutes to get out of the water.  If they don't make the cutoff, their day is over.  No bike, no run.  You're simply done.  So I'm watching the clock thinking if he's still out there, he has got to beat this 2:20 cutoff.  The clock was ticking, getting to 2:18, 2:19, and then the dreaded 2:20.  I was crushed.  I was still waiting for Andrea to get back to see if he was in the tent when I see him come up the ramp.  HALLELUJAH!!  He was safe, he was upright, and he made the swim on his own power.  Now to the incessant clock:  Ironman's rule is that if you are standing in the water before 2:20 you're ok.  We were at 2:22 by the time he'd gotten up the ramp, where the timing strip was, so it's possible to have a time over 2:20, but still be under the cutoff - so had he made it??  YES!!  They were pulling timing chips off those who hadn't made the cutoff, but the official made a call about Derek and he had made it.

   He got out of the water looking a bit like a drowned cat, but the relief was evident on his face.  300 yards into the swim his leg had cramped.  Not being able to stop it, the cramp tore his muscle.  Now he had almost all of the 2.4 mile swim ahead of him and a calf muscle that won't stop cramping.  As he fought against the waves, that were pushing him backwards, he knew that the swim would not be the only killer of the race.  His run was ruined now too.  He's cramped enough to know that he'll be fine on the bike, but his body won't let him run.  As he was faced with the decision of what to do, and looking at the chaos around him, he had to tap into a type of mental strength I simply can't imagine.  He thought about his training, and Team DK on the beach, and simply dug deep enough to say, "This is still my day." 
   Relief for all spread over us as we saw him get on his bike and pedal away.  We were all quite worried that this day was going to have a very different ending.  Hugs were piled on me, and we couldn't stop smiling that he was on his bike.  No doubt a miracle that he was still on this journey.

Ironman: Chapter 1

This is one of those "Where do I begin?" posts.  But begin I must.  I'm warning you now - it's going to be long.  So get some popcorn and get comfy, or plan on taking some breaks, or stop now and save yourself some time.  But here goes the Ironman saga:

Derek has been doing triathalons for years now.  It started years ago when my brother talked him into doing one in Burley.  This was his first one, Olympic size, and a big deal.  He trained hard, and did great.  For several years he kept doing smaller sized tri's, and really began enjoying them.  He found it to be very motivational for him to get exercising. 
Four years ago he made the jump from Olympic tri's to his first half-Ironman.  This was a big jump.  Our first experience with the Boise Ironman was realizing that this was the big leagues.  This was definitely not put on by the local YMCA, but Ironman was a brand, and very professional.  He did the Boise Ironman 70.3 3 years in a row.  After the half became do-able, the full became something not as far out of reach as he'd always thought.  Somewhere between these half Ironmans doing the full landed on Derek's Bucket List. Both of us thought that some time down the road, a ways down the road, he would do a full Ironman.  Sometime when our kids weren't so little, and training time wouldn't be so hard to come by.  But 2 good friends sped that timeline up.
Derek has 2 good friends named Brady and Doug.  They are also triathletes and have done the Boise half with Derek.  They have enjoyed countless hours swimming, cycling, and running together.  And oddly enough the 3 of them are in our ward's Elder's Quorum Presidency together. 
These 2 started talking about doing the full - Ironman St. George.  They talked about doing St. George, for reals.  And I think as far as Derek and I were concerned, we thought they should do it, for reals.  Derek, not so much.  Brady and Derek decided what we needed to do was to go to St. George last year and watch the race.  Drive the course, scope it out - and then we would could make an informed decisison.   So off we went, Brady and Andrea, and Derek and I. As Brady reminded Andrea and I as we were off to Tai Pan, this was a business trip - not a vacation. But don't worry, Andrea and I snuck in a vacation.  We had a great weekend - watched the race from 7:00 am to midnight - and loved it.  Watching an Ironman when you don't have an athlete in it is awesome!  Just fun and still very inspiring.  After we'd seen the course I thought that would make the decision easy - no way.  This is the hardest course.  Literally, it's between the St. George course and a course in Europe for which course is the hardest out of all Ironmans.  The bike course is a killer, and then there's the run.  Now, to our benefit, the run course had been changed this year because of road construction that made the run course considerably easier.  The reason we would do St. George over an easier one is because it is one of the few in the US on a Saturday.  Most Ironmans are on Sunday, so our options were smaller.  So we came home from St. Georege and the talk began.  Doug and Brady were in.  Derek - on the fence.  We came to the conclusion that if a full Ironman is on the Bucket List - you might as well do it when your 2 best training buddies are doing it too.  So Derek was in.  He registered for the Ironman.
  Training began in November.  To toot Derek's horn I have to say he was incredibly considerate of our family being involved with this.  Almost all of his swims took place in the 5:00 a.m. hour. He was always out the door 2 hours before anyone else was even awake.  He rode and ran during his lunch hour and was always home at night.  Saturdays he would run and ride early - to be back before the day really started.  He'd ride 100 miles and come home to a honey-do list, and do it.  He never said (or probably dared) say, "I'm tired - I just ran 20 miles!  I can't mow the lawn."  He'd just mow the lawn.  This impacted our family as minimumally as possible.  Doing an Ironman is a family committment, but Derek really paid the bulk of the price by training when the rest of the world was still asleep.
   To be more trained for the race Derek did Ironman California in March.  This is a half Ironman distance, allowing to guage how you feel, to make adjustments, and to give your body a really good training day.  So Derek, Doug, and Brady all wanted to do this race.  Doug's wife, Alison, and 2 more guys from our ward all did the race too. This happened to fall during our kids' spring break, so we turned it into a family vacation - with 5 families from our ward (more like a ward vacation). 
   This deserves its own post, but lets be honest - that's not going to happen!  So here's the highlights.  We went to St. George the first day, so those who wanted to ride the bike course there could.  This was great for Derek to be able to actually ride the course.  It actually put his mind at ease, knowing he could do it.

The next night we were in Vegas where all of the girls went to Phantom of the Opera.  Amazing.  We spent 3 days at Disneyland - happiest place on earth.

 Then we all headed south to Oceanside for the race.  The 5 families all stayed in the same beach house - don't worry, it was quite big enough.  Right on the beach - absolutely beautiful.  We went to Seaworld, played at the beach and then it was race day.  Oceanside was great - Derek had a great race, and his new personal best time for a 70.3.

    We came home, had a few more weeks of training, and then it was here.  Time for the race. 

*After writing all this, I see this is going to turn into a chapter book -

so I'm going to do you a favor and end a chapter here.  More to come . . . *

Participation Mandatory

Background:  My girls share a room, and my boys each have their own room.  Emmy asked me a week ago why she had to share, and the boys don't.  I told her that she and Bailey have the biggest room, so they have to share.  The boys' rooms simply aren't big enough to share.  She said, "Well give them our room then."  Quite genius of her.  So after mulling it around for a few days Derek and I decide the girl's got a point, and we're up for having the boys share for a while.  Here's how that went down:

Me:  Tyler, this summer you and Logan

 are going to move into the girls' room,

and the girls are going to get their own room.

Tyler:  I am not participating in that.

Bay's turn

My last post was about the funny thoughts of Ty's, but Bay's had her own gems lately.
Last night we took our kids to a live nativity - which we love by the way - and on the way home we asked each kid what was their favorite thing. Here's the run-down:

Tyler: the camel

Emily: baby Jesus

Derek: the city gates

Me: the angels

Bailey: the cookie buffet

She must have really been touched by the meaning of Christmas.

And then another gem today: I have been sick all day and it was my turn to drive the kindergarten carpool. So I went to pick up the kids a little too casual, and the kindergarten kids all were asking why I was still in my pajamas - which by the way, I was not in my pajamas! It was a little casusal, but not pajamas. Think more like yoga pants and a hoodie. Agreed, not my best, but not pajamas. So tonight as Bailey was going to bed she said, "I hope you feel better tomorrow so you don't have to wear your pajamas when you pick us up again." That's one sympathetic little girl.

Musings of Tyler

Tyler's had a few gems lately - so here they are:

Today he and I were driving home and we were talking about different stores. He always asks why we don't have a Super Target - ya got me kid.

Tyler: Every store should have everything, so you don' t have to go muliple stores.

Me: Yeah - like Walmart - they have everything.

Tyler: Yeah, and every store should have a gas station.

Me: That would be nice.

Tyler: And they should all be shaped like castles.

Me: . . . speechless . . .

Then a few minutes later we had moved on to restaurants. And he started saying that every restuarant should have food that you not only buy to eat there, but you buy restaurant food that you can cook at home.

Tyler: so that way you could buy a McDonald's patty and cook it at

home when you feel like a McDonalds hanburger.

Me: yeah, that'd be cool.

Tyler: And then, when you're having a real fancy party - like really fancy -

you could cook up some 5 Guys burgers.

Then a few weeks ago we were having dinner and the kids were talking about their day at school. Tyle rtold us that he had seen Emily at recess, and she was "trying to go all popular". What does that even mean?? Now we always ask Emmy if she's still trying to go popular. She gets really mad and insists there's nothing wrong with having a lot of friends.

Kids are too funny.

A Fishy Tale

Yesterday while I was in and out of my girls' room I noticed one of Emmy's fish was not looking good. She was just hanging on on the bottom of the tank, not swimming at all. Everytime I looked at her I was surprised to see she was still alive. Emmy came home and quickly noticed the same thing. She came into the kitchen to tell me the news:

Emmy: Mom, Lolly's struggling.

Me: Yeah Emmy - I saw that too today.

Emmy: Should we just flush her now?

Me: . . . stunned silence . . .

Needless to say Derek and I have reservations about leaving her in charge of decisions when we're in our golden years.

Just as a side note, before she got her fish she was thinking of what she wanted to name them. At one point she was going with Lollipop and Sucker (you know, both types of lollipops), but wouldn't you hate to be the one named Sucker? Luckily she settled on Holly and Lolly (and Lolly's still alive!)