When Tristen was home over Christmas, I lived it up by handing my kids off to her almost daily. This day, I had some stuff to do downstairs and let her get them ready for the day. It was a perfect set up….Tristen was dying over seeing the kids again, and I had a bazillion things to do because it was December.
Well, about thirty minutes in, I heard Tristen yelling, “I’m Done babysitting!” I wondered why the abrupt stop, and she showed me the reason on her I-Phone.
Oh — big whoop! It happens. I don’t like when it happens, but it does! (Even yesterday in fact!) I will admit that it is a little more annoying when the girl is only days away from being potty trained. So the saddest part was when Tristen was hooting and hollering, Navy decided to do the clean up herself.
Tristen was dying. I thought it was very independent and sweet.
Props to you, Icka.
Bigger props to you when you would hold it out to hand it off to Tristen, and as soon as she went to get it with a massive wad of toilet paper, you pulled it back fast!
That was a really funny game!
I got up early with a grand idea. I had seen a cake that I wanted to copy, so I gathered my helpers and started baking.
They got the best part!
Then I sent the kids off to do their Saturday Morning Chores. Instead, they came back with their birthday hats…belting HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!
After sending them back out to clean the backyard, I caught them playing on their boat as they kept away from sharks.
So the backyard finally got cleaned — and off we went to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house for breakfast.
Then we headed home for naps, and a little more baking from yours truly.
Look at this beauty! Don’t mind the Christmas platter — the others are at the barn. (Wink Wink Jim Zimm!)
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In the late afternoon, we headed south to Chuck E. Cheeses to meet up with the Brockbanks.
The pizza is surprisingly good.
Especially to this little porker.
Off to the games where these cool dudes hit the hoops.
These two hit the photo booth.
Here are Doey and Icka on Safari. Icka wasn’t too sure about the entire car tipping.
Chloe “the saint” took little Icka wherever she wanted to go. Trey “the other saint” took Scout all night long, to the point that I went to find them a few times, and never tracked them down — hence, no picture.
While on one of my hunts for Scout, I ran into this bombshell. Mama Mia snatched a cup full of tokens and hit the skeeball. I literally took 20 photos of her within two feet, and she was oblivious! Classic Patty Poo.
Back to the cake.
Everyone was asking to cut it, but I just liked everyone to sit and think about how pretty it was instead.
I finally gave in and we sang to Icka.
Now remember that I had seen a cake that I loved?
Well this is the picture I saw….
How freaking cute!!!
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Can you see the resemblance?
Micah pointed out where I should have done things differently.
NO DUH!
This just completely reiterates the fact that I HATE TO BAKE!!!!
I’d rather buy.
But don’t you worry — it still tasted great!
Especially right off the platter. I figured that white trash girl goes with white trash cake.
Oh well - you can’t say I didn’t try!
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Happy Birthday Sissy! Your personality is in full force now, and between all of us we say “She is so stinking cute” about 20 times a day. You are still naughty, but you are the absolute joy of my life.
XOXO
Love, Mom
This boy thinks he is hilarity at its finest!
The good news: He sure eats a lot of bananas. This night he had already had a huge dinner, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to slip his dad up again. And just as the icing on top, he didn’t eat just one banana…..he topped off two of them!
I can’t figure out where he got this bright idea — but I’ve narrowed it down. Either Richard Scarry’s story about the gorilla thief who put out banana peels to slip up the cops after him…..or maybe it is just good old Looney Tunes.
Who knows and who cares…..this boy is classic!
First thing Scout said to me this morning was, “I am going to put a banana peel on Daddy’s floor and make him slip.” I told him he could if he ate the banana first, and he jumped up, headed into the kitchen and gobbled away. Three minutes later he came back in, and Daddy asked him where he had gone. He said, “I just ate up a ‘beenana’ and then I threw the peel in the trash.” (His poker face isn’t so good.) Then he said, “dad — don’t you want to get up and go potty?” A few minutes later, Micah finally got up, and headed into the bathroom. With a small hint from me, he went in and took a really big slip. Scout was rolling! I’m so bummed I didn’t get the picture for a minute, because Scout’s reaction was perfect. Then he came back in as proud as can be and said, “That is my only joke today.”
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Scout has become quite the jokester lately. Just yesterday I went in to get Icka her diaper. I came back with three envelopes full and one stack of cash. I put them behind my back and asked my mom if she had forgotten about an old hiding place. She said, “Probably….why, what did you find?” When I pulled the loot from behind my back, she said, “NO…that’s from my purse!” We then looked directly at Scout. He knew that he was going to be in trouble based on my mom’s reaction, so he blamed Icka. Then after a while he fessed up with, “Well, Icka held some and I held some, and we just hided them in the diapers.” We were cracking up at how innocent it all was, but how bad it could have been!
I have never wanted to put Scout in preschool for more than one year. This has proved to be a bit difficult because most preschools are full, and they take repeaters before new comers in the subsequent years. So when I spoke with the school I’d like him to attend, this was originally the case. But there was a hiccup, and it looked like there would be an opening the second half of this year for my boy. Which in turn, would allow him to be a “returner” the next year.
When I got the Email that Scout was the one accepted for the spot, I went in and told Micah. I was really excited, but then the emotions came on strongly. I cried the rest of the night. I can’t believe that my companion, my best boy, my sidekick, my best friend, my confidant, and my heart was not going to always be with me anymore. And would he know how to choose the right when I wasn’t there urging him along — have I prepared him to the best of my ability? I cried and cried and cried. Then Micah came in to console me and said, “I understand.” Then I said, “No you don’t!!! You’re not crying like me.” But he went on to explain, and I think he does understand.
So the next day, I took the little weasel down to register. I was getting him excited for the big moment. I was holding back my hesitancy to keep him really pumped. He loved it. We spent a few hours learning about the school and each detail while Scout played and discovered his new school. While in the conversation, I asked when he should officially report to school. She said September. I was confused, and finally figured out that he was accepted to next year only. She was a little apologetic, and I was beyond thrilled! I couldn’t be happier about how everything worked out. YEAH!!! So I still get my boy until next year, and when he does leave — he will be going to a place where I know that he will be loved.
And the best news of all came when she said to me, “You must be a really good mom because Scout has really good manners — way ahead of his time.” How nice! But what she doesn’t know is that we had a very serious talk before we went in about how you talk to adults, and what good manners are! I told you he is my best boy. He is always making me look good!
(Minus sacrament meeting — where I look like the biggest failure of moms from the beginning of time!)
Two different times in the night I was up. Once when I nudged Micah to go and get the Crying Icka. And twice when Scout came in to our bed with all of us. It was crowded. See for yourself.
Notice my pillow half way off the bed. And doesn’t it look like Micah is basking on over half the bed?
At least these two got in some good sleep.
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After church…..
Scout was on his activity table with play dough. I was in the next room, and could hear him whisper as his imagination was going wild. About twenty minutes in, he called out, “Mom…I made you something.” I was so excited to see what his little mind came up with. So I called out, “You did! What is it?” To which he replied, “Come in…..I made you some dog poop!”
Even worse than him making me dog poop, was that he went into my utensils to get my Parmesan grater as another “cool toy”.
WEASEL!
Our sweetest littlest thing is two today! I would love to say it was an absolute blast — and in the beginning it was. But by dinner, I couldn’t wait for her to be two and one day! The poor girl can’t be blamed though…we were at the tail end of our trip, she had been without naps for days, she had played like crazy, we waited on Seth for too many hours to count (The Original Weasel), and dinner was WAY too long after lunch. Hence the absolute craziness.
But there were a few bright moments –
Like when we went bowling, and she loved it! She especially loved carrying her own ball. It is a miracle that she didn’t drop it her own feet.
Covey, Scout and Grant loved it too.
We spent most of our day in the BYU bookstore (my favorite place), and Scout and Icka chose these CTR silly band bracelets. She kept hers on for over a minute!
And the last shining moment was this split second where she was still, quiet (because she had a spoon stuffed in her mouth), and not whining. The only other time was when they came out singing Happy Birthday Los Hermanos style — really loud and crazy. That got her attention.
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Happy Birthday Ickity Dickity Dock.
You really take this “terrible twos” thing seriously.
That’s my girl — always following the rules!
We decided a few months back to head up to Utah in January for a ski trip with the Seastrands. We stayed at Sug’s place in Midway, and had an absolute blast! But before we went, I checked up on the weather, and I was a little hesitant. It was supposed to be below freezing, and I wasn’t sure how 5 days in the cold were going to be for my sweet things. Luckily, the weather forecast was off, and we couldn’t have hit better weather and conditions! And the best part was how much Scout LOVED the snow. He could have been out in it all day long — and he was most of the days!
Here he is with a perfect snowball.
RoRo was showing off the slide they made over Christmas break.
Scout got really good on it the next day with some creative and sweet moves.
This was when I made Scout finally come in! He would have stayed out all night if I would have let him.
Sissy wasn’t as big on the snow. But mostly because she wouldn’t keep her gloves on, and her little hands would freeze
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Ice Castles
There is a guy in Midway that creates these fantastic Ice Castles. So the first night, we went to check them out.
Apparently, these get to be over 40 feet high by the end of the season!
Here are our hosts with the most!
(Scummy AKA “heastest with the leastest” you should call these guys up and take a few notes!)
My favorite part of the trip was getting out a new hat for the kids each day.
Especially the rainbow one for Scout, since it is the one I grew up wearing!
But nothing topped this hat — it was a recent buy that is going in the ski bag forever!
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IGLOO
Micah and Jay worked on this igloo for two days.
They came in starving every day, and were so proud of themselves.
This is towards the end of the first day.
By the middle of the second day, Micah and Jay had fully completed this beauty!
The kids were loving it.
So just when we thought the boys were all done, they decided to build a slide with a set of stairs on the side of the igloo.
It turned out awesome, and we were so excited to spend our full last day in Midway on the sweet new snow amusement park.
We had a good sleep, and woke up to sunny skies the next morning. We thought it was perfect for our day….until Micah yelled….”Dude — our things gone!” We didn’t know what he was talking about, until we looked in the same direction he was.
And this is what we saw:
Can you believe it….it just disappeared! Apparently the weather forecast was WAY off because it wasn’t freezing by any means.
No biggie….we still had the slide that the kids payed on a bit.
Check out those sweet stairs — nice precision Jay.
Another sweet move by Stinky!
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Another victim of the sun was the snowman on the porch. Another holdover from Christmas, and it was literally the best looking snowman I have ever laid eyes on.
This was pre-decapitation from the sun.
And post.
I looked out, and this is what I constantly saw Icka doing…..eating the snow. This time she was trying to take a love bite.
I guess RoRo is a little protective of his snowman!
So instead of the winter wonderland, Micah took the kids sledding behind him instead.
Scout was in love….Icka was in hate!
We finally ended our last night with some good old fashioned wrestling. My kids do this with their dad every night at home, so they were so excited to be doing it after a four day drought.
The spinner is always a hit.
Look at this happy and warm girl!
Belly showed up for the last two days, and we had SO much fun with her.
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Amongst the other stuff, we did TONS of REALLY GOOD eating. I mean REALLY GOOD — homemade ice cream, gourmet tacos, pork tenderloin with coconut rice, Micah’s famous fried rice, Brit’s delish cake, buffalo chicken picks, huge breakfast with caramel syrup, snackies galore, etc….
We also hung out later than adults should, and just laughed.
We also met a potential suitor for Tristen — thumbs up.
And for the best part…..
we also went skiing.
It was nostalgic, a workout, and a really fun afternoon with the Shmickity Dickity — the best boy in town!
Because have you ever seen anyone rock white sunglasses the way my husband does?
(Babe, you and HeMan can never be let out on your own again!)
I think I forgot to mention that Scout and Navy got two insanely cute and creative gifts for Christmas. The first came from Trey — who had Scout’s name for the cousin gift exchange. Megan told me a few times that Trey worked on Scout’s present for two entire days. I couldn’t even imagine what it was, but when I finally saw it, I was really impressed.
Trey put together “Scout’s Memories Game” completely by himself. He picked all of the pictures (each with Scout in it — solo or with someone in the fam), he printed them off, he backed them, he laminated them and he color coordinated them. (The color coordinating is so Scout can either play a short game of yellow, blue, red or green — or he can combine two, three or all of them to make a massive game.)
Scout loves them. And it is so fun to see him remember where and when the picture was taken.
Here’s a close up of Trey’s immaculate work. He is a total stud!
And just to think that Navy had his name, and all we got him was a hand-motioned candy dispenser. Thank goodness I remembered to include the candy at the last minute. Can you imagine who looks like a real loser at out family functions!?!
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The next day, Scout opened this:
Megan completely customized a Guess Who game to the cousins. Can you believe that on top of every single class party, team party, service project, and her entire own Christmas, she found the time to do this! She is CRAZY!
Can you believe how cute this is! And can you believe that our number was almost perfect. Jake and Cade had to double up, but they are almost twinners, so it totally works!
Scout and I have played this a ton of times, and we think it is so fun. At least we do …until Icka comes and turns down the doors of people she shouldn’t.
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EVERYONE……
Let’s raise a glass in honor of Trey and Megan.
WE ALL STAND IN AWE!
About a month ago, I was up with Navy for most of the night. After she went down, I figured I would start on my Christmas cards. So I turned on the television for a little company, and started stuffing. The background show was in honor of bacon lovers everywhere. Then they started talking about Slater’s 50/50. I thought to myself that Micah would die over their 50% ground beef 50% ground bacon burger. (Hence the name 50/50.) I started watching a little more closely, and when I found out that it was LOCAL, I was so stoked. I ran down to my computer and checked it all out, and told Micah and B. /tacky the next day that I had the answer to all of their dreams.
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Fast forward a month. (Keep in mind that the entire last month I have been getting Tacky and Micah ready for the big surprise. No, I never told them anything about it except that it would be a hit.) The Tackys, Bunkers and we all headed down in Blake’s new ride. Scummy back-seat drove the whole way, while I navigated to the final destination. I was so excited to finally let the cat out of the bag when Micah said, “I just really hope we are going to the Bacon Bar by Red Bull”. Well we weren’t….and nice way to trump Slaters. But it was all good, because Slaters turned out to be amazing. (Minus the maple bacon shake that most of us thought was disgusting.)
Look at those burgers by design. We just checked off every single thing we wanted on our burger, and it magically showed up fifteen minutes later.
Look at the Bunks. Can you imagine a cuter baby? And she was perfect the whole time too!
Here I am with their award-winning “Peanut Butter and Jealousy” burger. It had a 50/50 patty with bacon, peanut butter and jelly on it. It might sound crazy, but it was really good.
We had such a fun time, but mostly because we were with really fun people. Afterward, we headed to the Santa Margarita Stake Dance to get ideas for the Tackys new calling. It was classic to see all of the teens being “cool”. Props to the group for making it all I had hoped. Blake (Micah’s twin) was hilarious. Micah was dramatic (which some people found funny). Mikelle is always happy and good company. Tacky is up for anything, and if it had been a total bust, he would have made me feel like a million bucks anyway. And Scummy — poor little Scummy….well, she pulled a fast one at the end of the night. But what’s new? You gotta love that little twirp!
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