"My Earlies"

To give him credit, he is not calling his ears his "earlies" much anymore, but for a while that is just what Trev called his ears. I am not sure why.
The other night Trev was in his room for bed, not sleeping and entertaining himself. He called out "help!" Steve opened his door and he was just standing there, he walked into the kitchen and said, "cause I need milk". OK, I took his cup, but looked twice at him because he had big wads of paper packed in his ears. I took them out and noted they where from a book that he must have scavenged from under his bed, ripped it and placed little pieces in his ear. In fact, little enough and far enough in there, that we couldn't get it out with noble attempts.

 Let me back up and tell you that Trev has been weird with books. He went through a phase when he would chew the edge off a book and shove it up his nose, the wad would be expelled with a  hardy sneeze or tweezers. Other times, he just went ahead and ate the book. Many of our board books are mangled from him. Hence the reason that he must have "scavenged" this book, because if he is bored, I know the books will suffer. So he doesn't have any in his room anymore.
 Our ped clinic has after-hours, so I took him in. He was so excited to go in. He must have talked a mile a minute in the van. Jenna came too. She said, " Do you think that he is talking loud because he can't hear?" That was funny. Maybe he was extra loud, and he surely was excited,
 The MA said to him, "did you put paper in your ear?" He said, "no, it's trash!"
 The doc got it out. Trev left the office with a heavy head and slumped shoulders. The ear digging wasn't that fun. Do I think he learned his lesson? Probably not.

 Oh Trev!

First Grade Program

Last Thursday was Zac's First Grade Christmas Program. The night before, he advised me that he should get up early and not be late for school, and also that he should look "his Sunday best". This must have made an impression on me because I actually did have a bad dream that he was very late for school and he was devastated and there was no one to blame but me. Anyway, he woke up on time and happily got dressed and looked very handsome.  He posed in front of the tree for a picture.

Once I arrived, he spotted me and was happy to have an audience. In fact he was definitely wound up, to the point that the child next to him appeared to be a near dead zombie due to his lack of animation (let's face it, that kid was well-behaved in comparison.). After it was time to sing, he settled in which helped my anxiety,  and in fact grew bored and migrated to the bottom stair. Also note that in the 30 minutes his shirt also became untucked.
 I love Zac and his energy most of the time. He did pretty good, I think. I could tell that he was very happy to have Steve and me there. What I love is that when we come to watch him he looks right at us. He is truly putting on a show for his mom and dad. That is kinda cool and very sweet.

Tree and Temple lights

This is an ornament from our first Christmas.

The tree is up and decorated. The kids were so excited to decorate the tree, we did it Wednesday after dinner. The kids liked seeing all the ornaments, especially ones that they made or ones from when they were a baby. The did a great job.

We watched Christmas Vacation and ate caramel popcorn.

 We went to Temple Square to see the lights. We actually didn't fight the throngs to see all of the lights, it was sooo crowded and frigged despite our layers. The kids said they had fun though. Afterward we went to eat at Bucca Di Pepos. The food made the trip. The kids were really well behaved, it was one of those times that makes you think, "maybe my kids aren't so bad. We will try this again." :)

It's beginning to look a lot like....

CHRISTMAS!

So far, we...
Have watched Elf and eaten Steve's famous carmel popcorn.
Picked out the tree in freezing weather.
Have the tree in place and the lights on.
Have watched Charlie Brown's Christmas.
Put up the Gingerbread wall cling (year 3 of this one- now that is quality)
Have read some Christmas books.
Drove around looking at lights.

 More fun to come. It's a good time of year.

The tree, about to take off the netting.

Yes, Jenna is a great sister.

Mischief maker

Gage is growing up. He went from baby to toddler. He is my little mischief maker, that I love!

Little climber

Steve and I were down stairs, when we came upstairs, he was chillin' in this chair. So proud of himself.

Cute, drool and all.

In my purse

Leaves

I sometimes feel urgency to not be a slob. Nevermind that there are other portions of the property/house that need attention, it was the leaves that were yelling at me last Monday. Steve was home, and so I went out and started raking the front yard. As I raked, I recalled raking in my youth, and that Buddy and I would jump in the leaves. Isn't it a mandatory activity to do as a child?- Jumping in a pile of leaves?

 After the raking was mostly done, the kids came out and helped make a massive pile. Then they jumped. It was fun.They helped put the leaves in bags/the trashcan when they were done. In a week's time the temperature has plummeted. Bring on the snow, we are ready for snowmen. They won't be leafy snowmen, however there may be dog tokens in the snow. Oh well.

Breaking Dawn

This was one of those experiences that still gets me excited and giddy. I loved the movie, and I love the books. I realize that there are some haters out there, but I loved it. No questions, no buts, totally enjoyed the movie! Especially the end!
 Liss got tickets for us, reserved seating no less!, the day they were available to buy. We went out, as per tradition, to PF Changs, went and shopped a bit, and headed up to AF for the movie. Yes, it was the midnight showing and yes, of course, we made shirts. It was so much fun with Lissa, the perfect person to go with. Thank you, Liss!

Possibly the cheesiest pic ever.

YES!

Fans