What's a blog without Christmas Pictures

Besides laying down all day and taking pictures from one location, the couch, I had a pretty awesome Christmas! I just can't wait for this staph infection to heal completely! Maybe in time for the New Year!

.

Thanks Honey......I love my new camera!

.

And the Zoom lens works great!

Maybe next time you will just smile!

Love ya!

Gross!

Wayne and I were in Mesquite for his work Christmas party on Tuesday. We apparently parked under the wrong tree. Seriously, we were there for less than two hours. How gross is this!

My first stop on Wednesday morning was to the car wash. I was so embarrassed to even drive this car around looking so disgusting!

Every year for their birthdays I take the kids to Brushfire to paint pottery. Hayden spent a good 15 minutes or more trying to decide what to paint....a plate, bowl, mug, Christmas ornaments......We usually paint plates, but this year Hayden chose a monkey mug. The monkey was 3-dimensional. His front side is on one side of the mug and when you turn it around you see his bum and tail. It's a really cute mug. Hayden is very good at paying attention to details. He took well over an hour painting his mug and I'd have to say that he did a VERY good job!

It was fun having Gavin and Amber join us this year. We all had a great night!

Well, we had a fun night last night until Genevieve took a dive into her chair and split her brow. Then it was a little scary. She held her breath until she got so weak that she just lay limp in my arms. She was so ghostly white. It really freaked me out. Tyler was a huge help running to get me a bag of frozen corn and then some tissue to clean off the blood. Then he ran back downstairs to get her some milk so she would lay still while I played doctor. Then he ran to get the phone so I could call Dad and the doctor's office. The nurse told me to see if I could pull it open and check how deep it was. YUCK! That made my tummy churn, but I did it anyway and noticed that it really wasn't that deep. So....no stitches or visit to the doctor were needed. THANK GOODNESS! I still didn't put her in her bed for many hours so that I could keep an eye on my sweet baby girl.

Why does it always look worse in person. I swear - with the blood and the bruise and puffiness - it looked ten times worse than it does in these photos.


This is Genevieve this morning. She woke up yelling, "owie, owie, owie..." until I came in to get her. She pointed to her eye to show me where she hurt. Poor baby!

It was about this time last year that she got a black eye from falling into our desk drawers. We'll have to see if this is a yearly thing for her. I sure hope not!

Turkey Time!

We're having fun getting ready for Thanksgiving! I was tempted to have them start Christmas crafts, but thought that we should wait another week. We'll just enjoy our turkeys for a little while first.

Their pine cone turkeys turned out so cute! Genevieve caught on pretty quickly. She just stuck the feathers in any gap on that pine cone. Every feather was stuck in upside down, but it kept her busy while I helped the boys with the hot glue gun.

Then we spent days on this Turkey Pinata we found on the Family Fun website. Thank goodness Grandma was in town to help out with the gooey paper mache part.

While we finished up the pinatas, Genevieve practiced using the scissors. I'd have to say that she's doing really well!

Get ready for some Christmas crafts in a little while! I'm so excited!!!

Flag Football

Our life is slowing down a little bit now that football is over. We only have one more week of wrestling then we will really be able to have more free time. I'm totally looking forward to it! As much as I love watching the boys try new sports, I really love being able to hang out at home playing games and watching movies together. Anyway, here are a few photos of Tyler and his team.

Hayden the Wrestler

I'm not sure why we signed our sweet, little, non-aggressive boy up for wrestling. It sure is hard on a mom to watch her baby get yanked on by an unknown kid. But Hayden loves it! He didn't really love the first tournament. It didn't help that he'd only had one practice before it, so he basically knew nothing. Now he has figured out how to be a little more aggressive as well as some cool moves. He still hasn't won a match, but he isn't getting pinned every time either. He loses by points instead. But he comes out smiling and proudly sporting his awesome bronze medal! There haven't been any major injuries, thank goodness! He did get a bloody nose at one of his practices. I didn't see what happened, but I was so proud of him for not passing out! However, the next morning it started to bleed again and that time he wasn't so strong. He passed out in my arms. My poor Hayden will never be a surgeon. Anyway, here are some photos from his last tournament. He was such a fighter! This kid wasn't able to pin him down.

I love the look on this kids face. He is trying so hard, but Hayden was not going to give up.

These are the moments I am not a fan of! It's hard on a mom to see her boy's leg being twisted and pulled on.

And his head being pushed down.

But this makes the tension in my back and neck all worth it. I love the smile on my boys' face! Look how proud he is! Good job, Hayden! I'm so glad there are only 2 more tournaments to go. I don't think I can take much more of this!

We have way too much candy! The boys thought it would be fun to make haunted houses out of some of it. So, we called up our favorite neighbors and had some fun building together.

What to do with all the other candy???

Well, we heard that we could take our candy over to the dentist office and they would pay you a dollar per pound for it as well as give everyone a new toothbrush, balloons and free kid meal coupons for Texas Roadhouse. The boys thought about it and we wondered what they would do with the candy. We didn't really want it to be garbage. So, we did some research and found out that the dentist is sending it to the troops over seas as well as matching the money paid out to the kids and donating it to "Coins for Kids". So cool! The boys then went through all their candy and saved about half of it and sold the other half. They made a little money and felt really good about it. Now we just have to pace ourselves with the other 4 pounds of candy we have left.

**Note to self ** Next year, we will skip trick or treating and go to a movie like the Sawyer Family!

Oh, and one more thing - you may be looking at Hayden and wondering why he has a ribbon tied around his head..... Well, for some reason, he's a Nephite.

Carving pumpkins

This year was a first for our boys......they got to carve the pumpkins instead of painting them or nailing decorations to them. I was so tense the whole time watching them use these sharp knives. I was so glad when it was over! They both did a great job and were very careful with their weapons. We have never lit up a pumpkin either since they have never been carved. So, that was fun....the boys loved seeing them glowing in the dark. A new tradition for our family. =) However, Genevieve only got to hammer golf tees. (Thanks, Grandpa "Power" for giving us all those tees!)

Pumpkin Patch

Every kid needs a pet

I've always heard that every kid needs a pet, but we aren't really pet people. We had a rabbit before we had kids, but gave it away after a few months. However, we did potty train it. We then tried some fish after Tyler (age 2) received them for a Christmas present from my Dad. They didn't live more than 6 months. We waited another 2 years then gave a dog a try. Poor puppy...we got him from the pound and returned him to the pound 4 months later. We just are not pet people! But the boys have now saved up many hard earned dollars to buy these gold fish and the tank to go with them. We started with ten fish 11 days ago and are now down to seven. I'm not sure what we are doing wrong, but we are hoping to figure it out really soon. These poor fish are dying off too fast.
Anyway, here are photos of some proud fish owners.

Genevieve looks a little bugged by these creepy little swimmers. She really loves watching them though. She pulls the chair up to the counter at least 10 times a day.

Any advice on how to keep fish alive?

No Boys Allowed!

I spent a night up past Cedar with some of my very favorite gals! We had a blast playing games, eating fondue, staying up way too late and laughing. There were many great memories made. And Amber's tops the list for sure!

Thank you Teresa for sharing your cabin with us all!

I can't wait for our next adventure!

Our house guest

There are many things that I love about the fall season like the cooler weather. So, I've been able to leave the back door and windows open most of the day. Well, today a little fly decided to make our house his home. And I have now discovered that we have a child that is terrified of that little, harmless fella. This is what I have been dealing with most of my day today......

It was kinda funny at first, but now it is just ridiculous! Get over it Vieve! It won't hurt you!!!

However, it does remind me of last summer when my Hayden went through a phase where he was terrified of the wind. Actually, it wasn't even the wind. It was more like a teeny tiny breeze. He wouldn't come outside until he checked to see if the leaves on the trees were moving ever so softly. He even screamed at me for taking our, at the time, 6 month old Genevieve outside saying that she would blow away. Thank goodness that is over with. Now, I just have to kill the fly.....poor little guy

Just so you know - I didn't drink out of that cup once I saw the fly land on it. Gross! But I didn't get all hysterical either. =) We also had to picnic in Genevieve's room after I shot this video. She even made sure to shut her door so the yucky fly couldn't get in. Silly girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAYDEN!!

Hayden has been trying to decide what to do for his birthday for months now. He has gone back and forth between Jumping Jacks and Staheli Farms. He also thought about Fiesta Fun and bowling. But the winner was Jumping Jacks. We love going there. We all come home sweaty and with burns on our elbows and knees. But it is all worth it!

I think Hayden had a good day! It started off with breakfast at IHOP with Grandma Bingham. Then they went shopping. Hayden loved all the attention he got at school. They sang to him in his class and at P.E. After school we headed over to Jumping Jacks then it was off to Grandma's for the "nicest birthday dinner" and a special Oreo cookie cake. What a great day for such a great six year old! Happy Birthday Hayden!!!

We saw this done in the Family Fun magazine this month and thought it looked cool. So, the boys and I wandered all over the backyard to find things that resembled the letters in their names. I loved watching the boys look at things from all different angles.

Knockin' Down The Pins

Look who lost a few

Hayden lost his first tooth Friday night while munching on some snacks at Movie In The Park. The tooth fairy gives a really cool gift for the first tooth. So, Hayden woke up to find a new Wii game, Monkey Ball. He was so excited! Then during dinner on Saturday night he lost his second tooth. He woke up to find a dollar covered in fairy dust on the floor (it must have fallen off his bed). Wow, what a special weekend for my Hayden! More proof that he is growing up :( As long as he doesn't loose his cute giggle any time soon!

Back to School

The boys have now been in school for two weeks and it appears as though they still love their classmates and teachers. That's good news! Hayden is still waiting patiently for some homework. He really wants to be big like Tyler. However, Tyler is not a fan of all the homework he has been receiving. It's tough growing up. . . . Hayden has had to deal with a little bully in another class, but I think it has all been resolved and the playground is now a happy place. Thank goodness!

As for me, well, while the boys are in school and Genevieve is napping, I have enjoyed learning how to bake bread and make meatballs. And for all you that know me well know that I hate hAtE HATE to touch raw meat, but I did it for Wayne. You lucky man! I froze a bunch of the meatballs so that I don't have to do that again any time soon. Now, what will I accomplish during Gen's nap tomorrow???

Silly Hair Night

So......we were feelin' silly one night and this is what happened.

Tyler learned how to swim last summer and Hayden figured it out just a month or so ago. But jumping off the diving board was totally new to both of them. I was so proud of them for jumping and then swimming to the edge of the pool all by themselves.

They are growing up!

Sea World

I'm going to try something new.... I'm just going to download the scrapbook page for my blog entries. So, if you want to read what I wrote on the page, just click on the whole page and it will enlarge it for you. Just know that I am new at this whole Digital Scrapbooking thing, so my pages aren't as awesome as they could be. I've got to learn how to use all these cool tools first. =)

I wish I could scan my photo of us all on the Journey to Atlantis ride. It's totally priceless! Wayne and I are very animated as we are dropping into the water while the boys look totally freaked out. It's pretty awesome!

Here we are touching the starfish. Tyler wanted to part in that!