Merry Christmas

One of the memories I have of Christmas is my extreme lack of sleep. It was so hard to go to sleep on Christmas Eve and so hard to stay asleep. We weren't as early as some but we were usually up around 6 am. The moment my eyes opened I was up and ready to see the cornucopia of gifts in the living room. My kids have yet to grasp onto this concept. I was quite positive with the excitement on Christmas Eve that Whit would wake up early, but she surprised me and slept in until 8:15. She still claims she was up really early, but it was only about 30 minutes earlier than usual. Ryan, my normally early riser, slept in until Whitney came in to wake him up.

Santa brought Whit the #1 thing on her list, a barbie house with twirly stairs. She has loved it and was even more excited to see it sitting in her room later that day. After all presents were opened, Whit sat down next to her loot and said, "Mom, we need to send Santa a thank you card." Yes we do. We will be getting that off in the mail shortly.

My favorite memory of Whitney this year was how many times she read us the nativity story. She gave a talk in church the Sunday before Christmas so she had pictures and the story all written out so she could read it. She gave it as a talk, she gave the lesson for family home evening 3 times and then read it again to me today. She won't let me put the pictures away. She also wants to act out the nativity tomorrow because we didn't get a chance to do it before. I'm glad she remembered the true meaning of Christmas even after all the lights and presents were gone.

This was Ryan's face when he saw what Santa left him. The other side of this picture was a big brown box!! Just kidding, but you may never know because we somehow missed getting a picture of it. Okay I'll go ahead and tell you. If you look in the next picture you will see the corner of a train table and it was the reason for the super big smile. That Santa's a great guy. Ryan loves trains. He loves going to Teagan's grandma's house because she has a train table. He also loves the book store. Not for the books, but for the train table. He was willing to unwrap two gifts then refused to open the last one for about an hour because he was busy playing with his trains and dinosaur.

My favorite memory about Ryan this year; Ryan wanting to hold baby Jesus and kissing the picture of Jesus Whit used during her lessons.

Whitney's Song

I finally got the video to work. Thanks Tiff. You're the best!

Scroll down for the clip. Enjoy!

Christmas Concert

Whitney had her Christmas concert today. She was so excited because she got to sing a solo. Well, all parts are called solo parts but it was actually a duet. Her teacher was very impressed with her at their first practice after giving Whitney the part because she was able to sing it all by herself after only hearing it once. I helped backstage this concert and I can totally appreciate all the work that this takes. With all the hard work and super long practice last night the kids did a fantastic job. Whit was so prepared, she wasn't even the least bit scared. I was very impressed since she was in front of an audience of about 1000. (There were 1046 seats available and only a few empty seats throughout.) Here is a clip of her special part.



Whitney I am so proud of you! You did such a good job!!!

What's your name?

Recently when in the store with Ryan he is always asked two questions. After watching him for a minute another customer will come over and say, "Your cute, what's your name?" Ryan usually just stares so they either look at me for an answer or they ask another one: how old are you?. So I have been working with Ryan on answering these questions correctly, because nothing says I'm cute better than responding on your own!! How old are you was a simple one. I got that one down really quick. What is your name has been a bit of a struggle. When I ask the question his answer is always the same, Me. I am glad to know that at this stage in the game he understands the difference between you and me but that he thinks he is the only me does say something. What exactly I am not sure but it can't be a good thing.

**A note on the pj's. This picture was not taken the same day as the pictures in the previous post. These happen to be his favorite pajamas and he only takes them off when forced. Dinosaurs and bears playing ball, I don't think it gets any better than that!

Back Pack and other new words

Ryan's vocabulary has been growing like crazy. He says at least one new word everyday. The amazing thing is not that he says it, but that we understand him! His newest words this week have been: popcorn, Teagan, Whitney, back pack, and cheese. He is now at the point that when I ask him to say something he actually will do it instead of just looking at me silly. He is good at everyone's names except Jean. For some reason when we ask him to say Jean he says moon. He consistently calls him moon and we can't figure out why. The best part is that Jean just laughs and answers to it anyway.


Ryan loves to do what Whitney does. Sometimes this is good and sometimes not. When Whit is in a particularly good mood she will help out by using good manners at the table or try to get him excited about trying a new food. Whit was getting ready for school so Ryan decided that he needed to get a back pack and shoes on too. If you notice in the picture with the gorilla slippers one of them is backwards. They were a little big for his tiny feet and turned as he walked. After he would not take the back pack off I tried to find the most masculine back pack we had. This was all I could find, but I will remind you that the lady bug in A Bug's Life is a boy!! (Note: in this picture he is saying cheese!)





This is Ryan's new favorite hiding place. He can't actually get into the cupboard but he likes to hide here then jump out at me and say boo. It is so funny to watch because he thinks he is actually well hidden. We will have to work on the basics of hiding later.

Halloween....Just a little bit late.

So I logged on to the blog today to finish our Vegas trip pictures but Tom beat me to it. I guess he was sick of waiting for me. Thanks Tom. Now I can catch up with some Halloween pictures. For some reason I feel that I have to blog events in chronological order, so when I get behind, I really get behind. We had a great Halloween this year. Adrienne and Brad came to visit in October and were here to celebrate the holiday with us.

Our festivities started early this year. We had a three day celebration starting with Whitney's Halloween parade at school. She was so excited to wear her costume three times. She loved showing it to all her school friends. In front of her is her friend Paige (also Kenna's cousin). You can't see it but Paige has a super cute fur lined hooded cape. Whit and I really liked it! It was very Belle.

With Kenna here we had a pseudo cousin sleepover. Everyone present was a cousin to someone just not to everyone. That night we went to the Trunk or Treat played games and got loads of candy. They had a spook ally that the older boys had made. It was really good. Whitney was not going to go in but Kenna and Paige insisted that they were brave enough to handle it. They weren't. They freaked out at the beginning and I had to drag them through to the end. By the time we were done they were both crying. To get them to stop I told them that the scary things in there were just boys wearing make-up and it was only scary because it was dark. If they turned the lights on then we would have seen how funny they looked. That seemed to do the trick because after that they were okay and mentioned to Whit how brave they were. The three of them were so funny all night. Here are my three favorite things.

Paige and Whit were counting and they counted to 110. Kenna came running into the kitchen screaming that they had counted to the last number. Not quite!

To get them to relax I had them do some yoga with me right before bed. Paige said, "This is my first time doing Yoda".

And last but probably my favorite Whit told the other girls, "Your moms should be like my mom." I'll remind her of this statement when she is a teenager.

Ryan wore his costume for the trunk or treat but I couldn't get it on him for actual trick or treating. He was not so happy, it didn't have a dinosaur or a train on it so it was not worth wearing. Brynn was more composed about the outfit change.

When it was actually Halloween we went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Before they went out I told Whit that I had spent $32 in candy and she needed to make sure that she and Ryan got enough candy to recoup my cost. I think they did it!!

Vegas Trip

We stayed at the Excalibur on the 26th floor, which Ryan enjoyed riding the elevator both up and down. After throwing our stuff in our rooms, we went for a walk to see the Luxor before our dinner show at the Excalibur.

We sat in the Hungary section and cheered for our King during the jousting and sword fighting. The show was rather entertaining, especially for Ryan and Whitney.

On Tuesday we went to the Mirage to

see the lions and tigers. These cats really

have the best situation to be in. For those

that have seen Madagascar with the

scene of Alex getting a manicure and

beautified, these cats have that kind

of care. They get washed on a regular

basis and as you can see with the male

lion, probably a fair amount of conditioner

to go

into that mane. They are beautiful

animals and we saw them move more in

the little time that we were there than we

have seen our own lions move at our zoo.

On Wednesday we went to the Paris and

went up the half scale Eiffel Tower with Mike

and Carolyn. Again Ryan and Whitney enjoyed

the elevator ride and being up that high. It's a

good view up there and would be a great place

be at night to watch the Belagio water fountain

show across the street.

It wasn't the same as the real Eiffel Tower, but

will do for the time being until we can make it

over there.

We had a good time down there even though it

passed by quickly. It was a nice break from work

and the cooler weather that we were having.

Vegas Trip Start

On our way to Salt Lake City we made a stop,

at Hill Air Force Base, to let the kids get out and see some cool planes. We made it in time to let Whitney play in their discovery center for a few

minutes.

So Jess and Whit jumped into a cockpit and tried a few other aviation things before they kicked us out.

Tiffany and Nate met us there and walked

around with us. We found this small tire for a B-19.

We saw a SR-71 Blackbird, F-14, F-18,

B-17, B-21, B-52 Stratofortress and a lot of

other cool stuff.

Jess obviously didn't know that one must run

around with arms stretched out wide when

you're "flying" between grounded planes.

Las Vegas

Last week we went with my family to Las Vegas or rather I should say my family came with us to Las Vegas. A few months ago I found a killer deal on airfare so I called up my sisters to see if they wanted to come. Then I decided it would be fun to have my kids with me, but this posted a problem for late nights in Vegas, thus, my mom and dad were invited. (They knew this was why they were invited and they didn't care!!) We had a lot of fun. It was fun to go with everyone and it was great to have the kids with us. Here are the pictures I have so far.

This was Whitney's third airplane trip, though she insisted that it was her second because she only remembers going to see Kenna. She acted like a pro. We had a little turbulence on the way there. After the first time she said, "Wee, do it again." You could here a few groans form around us, obviously not everyone felt the same. This was Ryan's first airplane ride and he acted with satisfying enthusiasm for all of us watching. I don't know who was more entertaining to watch Ryan or Grandma and Grandpa watching Ryan!

We spent some time at the Shark Reef at Mandaly Bay. I highly recommend this exhibit. It is very well done and cheap for Vegas standards. The kids really enjoyed it. Ryan liked standing in the tunnel where the sharks swim over top of you. Whitney's favorite was the octopus and the jelly fish. The best part about this exhibit is that they don't have information things that you have to stand in front of to read. (any parent knows this is impossible with kids by your side and even more so when there are so many cool things to look at!) Instead they give each person a listening device. You type in the number of the fish you want to learn about and hold it up to your ear to listen. This was great because I got to learn about a few fish without sacrificing the entertainment value for my kids!

The Mirage has a dolphin habitat where they do research and conservation. Whitney wants to be a dolphin trainer when she grows up. She loved watching and would have stayed longer but the rest of us were done. The dolphins do not do a show, but the trainers come out to periodically work with them. We were there for a few training sessions. Whitney asked one of the trainers what she had to do to become a dolphin trainer. She was told to study hard, be good at cleaning because the dolphins can't do it so she will have to, and to learn how to swim. The trainer told her to practice by keeping her own room clean. Of all the advice she gave her this one was my favorite.

Of course no trip to Vegas would be complete without walking the strip late at night. Thanks Mom and Dad for hanging out with the kids for this one.

Stay tuned for our trip to Sigfried and Roy's secret garden and our journey to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Baby Zebra

Ryan has been very fascinated with babies lately. Anything becomes a baby. He will push around his basketball, dinosaur or most recently this zebra in the stroller. Jean's parents sent a package and included this zebra. Ryan loves zebras, and adding to the fact it is small makes it a great baby. He has been carrying it around for the last few days saying "baby, baby". He has to take it with him everywhere we go. (We actually made it to church today without it, but that is because he was traumatized by the fact that Tom changed him out of his dinosaur pj's and dressed him into church clothes. He was a little side tracked!) Merci Anne et Philippe, il l'aime!

In other Zebra news. Tom and Whitney had the unusual good fortune last month to hear a zebra fart. I was at the lion exhibit with Ryan so we missed it. But both Tom and Whitney swore it was the zebra not one of them!

I grew some

peppers this

year. I had a

variety of four:

Bell Pepper

(assorted color),

Jalapeño, Banana

Supreme

(sorry no pics)

and Long Red Slim.

These did really

well in hanging

pots around my

deck.

The

interesting part

came about with

having these

plants close to

each other. So

this is what you

get with a green

plant next to a

red producing

plant and a

purple producing

plant.

I love the red Jalapeño peppers, especially since most of them turned red after I brought the plant in to the garage. Now if only my tomatoes did this well. The salsa that I have made with them has also turned out very well.

Tom

Jackson

We went to Jackson Hole last month. While we were there we had our family picture taken. I think this one really portrays everyone's personalities the best. Whitney being silly, Ryan looking like he should be in trouble, Tom surly, and me (for lack of a better phrase here you go Oliver) high maintenance.

Smart Girl

So Whitney was put into a class called Discovery at school. Apparently it is for kids that are already reading. I don't know much about the program because they only sent a small note home stating that she will participate in the class once a week. The goal of the class is to help challenge these kids. (I am not trying to be a bragging parent it is important to the rest of the story. But she is brilliant!) Anyway, yesterday after school she was sitting at the kitchen table coloring and singing a song about being smarter than all the other kids. Our conversation went as follows:

Me: Whit, you are very smart, but it probably isn't a good idea to tell the other kids that you are smarter.

Whit: Why?

Me: Because people don't like to hear it.

Whit: But, I'm think 'n' it in my brain!

Me: Okay, just don't say it out loud.

Really, how do you respond to that one? Maybe the key is knowing what to say out loud and what not to say. We have been working on this with physical aspects. Someone may have big ears but we don't need to point it out. The person in front of us in line at WalMart may be smelly, but we don't say anything. It is now time to transfer that over into the intellectual sphere. After all, I think in my brain that I am smarter, better looking, funnier.... Oh wait, did I just say that out loud?

****UPDATE****
For those that expressed concern. The song she was singing she made up herself, and yes I did tell her it wasn't nice!

It's a joke.

Whitney has started telling jokes. I spend a lot of time laughing. Not because the actual joke is funny but rather her concept of a joke is hilarious. Her first joke: Why would a sun be black and yellow? Whitney laughing looked at me and said, "It's a joke". Oh!!!

Figuring that she did not know that she was supposed to answer the question I told her a joke. She picked up quickly because her next joke went like this. Two men walked into a bar, oh wait, let me try again. Why would grass be yellow? Because we are in Africa. She got a little risque after that one..... Why would a square be naked? It's clothes are in the dryer. I think the funniest part is that knowing that she has to answer the question she gives quite feasible responses. I am sure that a lot of grass in Africa would be yellow. And honestly, how large of a wardrobe does a square really have? If he only has one outfit it stands to reason that if his clothes are in the dryer then he would be naked!!

We put our Halloween decorations up today prompting a few spooky jokes.

Why was the goblin wearing a tie?......It was a boy! Ha ha ha
Why was the spider wearing a dress?.....It was a girl!! Ha ha ha

Needless to say we have been doing a lot of laughing around here lately.

To Kill a Spider

Whitney and Teagan were playing out back last week. Whit came screaming into the house because of a spider in the back yard. I asked her if it screamed because she was so huge. She looked at me a bit odd, then went to the closet to for winter boots!! When she came back this was her outfit.

The boot to kill the spider while protecting her foot from any contact. The hat to cover her ears so she wouldn't hear the spider scream when she killed it!!!

Lucky for her by the time she got back to the backyard Teagan had already killed the spider for her. And he was only wearing sandals. Our hero!!!

Asiago Cheese Bread

I decided to try to make this bread today. Mostly to use up the asiago cheese in my fridge before it went bad. I was a bit nervous since the last time I tried to make bread, well, lets just say it tasted okay, even if it was a bit on the dense side. So to my utmost joy, this bread not only looked like the picture but also tasted fantastic!! So for any of you asiago cheese bread lovers here is the recipe. It is so simple even I could do it.

Ingredients:

3 3/4 Cups flour
1 (2 1/2 ounce) envelope dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/4 cup milk
2 tbs butter cut up
1 1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese
1 large egg

Directions:
Combine 1-1/2 cups of flour, yeast, salt, and pepper. Melt butter in milk to 120-130 degrees. Stir milk mixture into flour. Mix until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of cheese.

Gradually stir in about 2 cups flour to make soft dough. Knead in mixer or by hand until smooth and elastic, adding flour if needed. (I added another 1/4 cup)

Oil large bowl, add dough, turn to coat. Cover with clean damp towel and let double. (It may take 2-1/2 hours, must be the cheese)

Punch down, form into 2 long thin loaves. Spray baking sheet, sprinkle with cornmeal. Or use baguette pans. Place loaves on pan, let rise covered until doubled. (about another 45 minutes). Preheat oven to 375

Slash dough with serrated knife. Brush with lightly beaten egg and sprinkle top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. You can add basil and/or parsley if desired. Bake 30-35 minutes till done. cool on rack.


***************In other news****************

There is a hole in the floor in Ryan's room. This hole does at least have a vent cover on it, but the cover is not secured. I imagine that the previous owners put it there to try to get the heat from the fire place to move upstairs. It doesn't work well if that was their intent. What it does do is provide curious little boys a way to throw objects down to the basement. Audrey's boys where so helpful showing Ryan that the cover could be removed when they were here visiting last. He has had a marvelous time seeing what he could stuff down the hole. At first it was just an occasional toy, but recently he has been throwing things down on a regular basis. (He spends a lot of time in time out for this offense.)

Today I was unloading the dishwasher when I heard Ryan say: "Mom....Mom....MOM!!" As I walked down the hall toward his voice I asked him if he was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. His response, "Yeah!" As I turned the corner to his bedroom I saw half of his body sticking out of the floor. He was clinging onto the carpet trying not to go the rest of the way through. Apparently half way through he decided that maybe this wasn't the best idea, so he called for help. Thank goodness he did.

For those that want to know why I don't have a picture, I figured it was more important to save him from breaking both of his legs then risking him being able to hold on long enough for me to go get the camera. So here is a picture of him later today showing off his muscles. I couldn't get clothes on him until he wanted to play outside, then he at least agreed to put on shorts.