Merry Christmas!

Internal Clocks

I've decided that all of us must have some kind of internal clock adjusted to when Tyler is usually home. He's gone a lot, but usually not more than 5 weeks at a time. It seems like now that we've passed up that mark, things are getting MUCH more difficult. Lots more tantrums, emotional break downs, and the latest...


The girls were busy wrapping presents and set down the scissors. For some reason Oliver thought this would be a good time to try his hand at hair cutting. He cut to the scalp, right in the front. Of course it was 8:00 p.m. and things were already crazy as I tried to get everyone to bed. But we had to make a quick trip to Great Clips. Not much that could be done, but I didn't trust myself to get it completely even when it had to be so short. The guy cutting his hair suggested that I should have left it for a few days. Judging from how silly he acted when I had him tell Tyler over the video chat, he was probably right. Hopefully we won't have a "next time" to try out that suggestion.

Oh Christmas Tree

I went shopping for a Christmas tree this year for the first time in a many years. I fully expected to pick one of those perfectly triangle, kelly green trees. But when I got there, and thought about our house and our family- it just didn't seem right. Then, as I turned the corner, I found the perfect tree. I called Emmaline over and we discussed how much we loved the pine cones that were still attached and decided that we would buy it. When we called the owner over, he took one look at it and said, "I have no idea what kind of tree that is. I've never seen one like it. Make me a good offer." $35 later, we had the tree attached to the top of the car and were off. It was just me, Emmaline and the boys since Savannah was babysitting. When we got home, Savannah was there. She took one look at the tree and said, "That is the ugliest tree I've ever seen." Luckily Emmaline and I were secure with our decision. =)

It reminded me of something that happened to Emmaline long ago. I had gone to her kindergarten class to help with the Christmas party. One of the first things they did was a craft where they were supposed to draw a Christmas tree on a piece of paper. After receiving instruction, Emmaline got straight to work. It was only after she finished that she looked around to the other kids' drawings. Then, she burst into tears. When I asked her what was wrong, she explained that her tree didn't look like a Christmas tree like the other kids. Her tree was drawn with individual branches. I wish I could find it! Every other kid in the class had drawn a tree shaped like a triangle. I think that was one of those moments when her teacher could finally see "who" she was. They struggled a bit that year, but I definitely felt like after that incident, she saw that Emmaline's little personality just couldn't conform. She's got more creativity than a class full of kids put together!

So back to our tree. I haven't regretted it for a second and it is definitely a conversation starter when people come over! Since we've gone a little skimpy on decorations with our lead interior designer out of the country- that's a good thing!

If the decorating looks a little lopsided, please understand. We had almost completely decorated it when I discovered I had put the lights on backwards. So we undid them all and re-decorated, only to have Tucker un-decorate most of the lower branches. Such is life in a home with a 20 month old.

Fashion Challenged

Recently my brother Jeffie uploaded a video my Mama sent him when he was on his mission. It was so fun to see her and hear her talk, but I couldn't help but notice it all seemed a bit stilted and unrealistic. Kind of a guarded version of herself. I worry about that a lot. When I read some of my old journals I think they sound ridiculously unnatural. Which brings me to this post. I've thought about it for the last couple of days- going back and forth about whether to write it down. But in an effort to preserve my "true self" for my children, I decided I must write it. I know, I'm such a martyr!

Most of you know, Tyler recently got accepted to "A" Gallery. This is HUGE for him... something we'd hoped for but didn't think would happen so soon. They had a big Christmas show that opened last Thursday where his work was displayed for the first time in their gallery. Since he couldn't be there, I thought I should go to represent him. I stressed about what to wear for weeks. I have no fashion sense and could easily be featured on "What Not to Wear." I finally settled on an outfit that I thought would work, and focused on my next problem- make-up. I'm not a huge fan of make-up. Sometimes I wear it, but mostly I don't due to the fact that I hate the way it looks on me in almost every picture I see of myself. I had asked Tricia Layton if she would give me a little tutoring session on how to apply it, but couldn't make the time to have her help. Another problem is that in the last few years, I've found that my eyebrows have dramatically thinned out and those that are there are mostly white. I've taken to getting them waxed to ensure a good shape and a little tinting. Again- I couldn't make the time to go and have that done... until the night of the opening.

I know that is usually a BAD idea, but I didn't feel I had another choice. I had an extra 30 minutes where the girls were home and I decided to rush over to the salon. At the salon, the brows looked great- good shape and no greys. It was only after coming home and seeing my full face in the mirror (as opposed to the small mirror used for inspecting brows) that I realized what a disastrous mistake I had made. The tinting had gone too dark and I looked like I had painted on brows. Seems like there was some Seinfeld episode similar to this, but it was decidedly much less funny when happening in real life... TO ME!!

Tyler "messaged" me about then and I sent over a picture so he could give the verdict... "very dramatic." Not what I wanted to hear. I was panicked. There was nothing I could do and I was already going to be in an uncomfortable situation going to the gallery alone... even if I had my natural brows- which I now did not! Well, I finally decided I just had to do it. It was unfair to Tyler to do anything else. So I got myself together and talked myself into it. As I was getting ready to leave, I took one last glance in the full length mirror to find that earlier, when Tucker had given me a leg hug, he left a snot imprint of his face. And of course these were my "best" jeans- "best" meaning I can squeeze myself into them. I spot cleaned them the best I could and blow dried the wet spot and I was out the door.

The night turned out to be fantastic. The paintings were gorgeous, there was a huge crowd- and I got to hang out with the artist guys. Tyler's gonna love them. I'm glad I went. I've since decided the eyebrows must not be too noticeable. Emmaline is usually the first to mention anything that she finds a little off or "awkward" (as she likes to say) and she hasn't mentioned them. Luckily I think they will fade before Tyler gets back.

**P.S. Yes, Tricia and Tim- this is the real reason I didn't meet you on Thursday night. But Tucker truly does have a cold and that's why I couldn't meet you at "Festival of Trees." We'll get together soon!!!

**P.S.S. After the first couple of comments, I have to say... THIS WAS NOT AN UNDERHANDED PLOY FOR COMPLIMENTS. Thanks so much, but it's okay to just laugh and agree with how ridiculous the whole situation is.

Thanksgiving in St. George

Savannah had a soccer tournament in St. George over Thanksgiving weekend, so we all headed down to watch. Her team played well, but in the end were unable to make it to the finals. But we all had a lot of fun, including Savannah and the team.
Savannah's coach is pretty strict about the team while they are at tournaments. He wants them to stay together the whole time so he can monitor what they eat, when they sleep, and what they do. The schedule always includes ice baths to keep their muscles from cramping after a long day of play. This is Scout (a guest player) and Savannah in their ice bath.


They're still smiling- needed more ice! =)
Can't visit St. George without a trip to In-N-Out.


Before we came home, we decided to take a quick hike in Snow Canyon.





I expected it to be quick, anyway. I didn't anticipate how long it would take the kids to hike 1.75 miles- especially Tucker! He didn't want to be carried. Even after falling on the volcanic rock and getting a huge knot on his head, he insisted on walking by himself. At the end, he finally let Savannah carry him. I guess he felt like if I carried him, he was a baby. If Savannah carried him, he was still part of the kid group. He was so exhausted he fell right asleep, even in this crazy position.


Unfortunately he only stayed asleep for about 30 minutes. He woke up and began screaming on the ride home. Eventually he screamed so much, he made himself throw up. Yes, he is a joy! He did calm down though- so overall the trip was a success!!

Turkey Trot

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Salt Lake Arts Academy (the school the girls go to) always has a "Turkey Trot" race. Everyone participates by either walking or running 1.5 or 3 miles. As usual, Emmaline didn't take any of the practices with the running club very seriously. On Monday, she started to get worried realizing that, after last year, she had a reputation to maintain (she won first place last year). She asked if she could start running with me. After I told her that it was too late to train and she would only make herself more tired for the race, she decided to start lifting weights. I wish I had taken a picture of it, but she was a little self conscious after Savannah told her that lifting 3 lb. hand weights while tracing the alphabet in the air was the stupidest thing she had ever seen. Savannah, on the other hand, decided she wouldn't run the race, only walk it. She didn't want to "risk an injury so close to the soccer tournament". So with one speed demon, totally unprepared, and one lazy teenager- my expectations weren't high.
I began my usual slow pace, pushing 70 lbs. of boys and dragging one overweight dog with me. Imagine my surprise at the end.

They both won! Emmaline came in first for all girls and Savannah came in about 30 seconds after her. As far as prizes go, that meant Emmaline got first place for 6th grade girls and Savannah got 1st place for 8th grade girls.
Emmaline also won the contest for designing the shirt.


One girl commented that she guessed winning just "ran" in the family. Cute, and it made Oliver happy. He literally cried in the beginning because he couldn't believe that I was letting everyone pass us up!

The Thanksgiving Dilema

For Thanksgiving, we are going to St. George for Savannah's soccer tournament. Georgia offered to let Oliver or Emmaline stay with her to help lighten my load. Emmaline is having a difficult time deciding whether to come with us or stay with Georgia. To help her with this, she sent this email out to her friends. (I thought it was so funny, I had to post it.)

PLEASE READ AND SEND IN THOUGHTS
Dear great friends. I need help, because that's was friends are for. I need help deciding where I should go for Thanksgiving Break. St. George or my aunts house? You send in what you think .
St. George Pro's:
watch movies while driving
fun sleep-overs with good friend
lots of restaurants
family time
hot weather
gift shops
Aunt's House Pro's:
be spoiled
watch cable
fun back yard
snow time
shopping
sleep in a comfortable bed

SEND IN VOTES NOW
Thanks- Emmaline

Be spoiled? Georgia, she's got you all figured out.

If you ever wondered why I never got to choose anything in our house...

While Tyler is gone, I decided to get a little work done around the house. Seemed an easy enough task, until I have to do things like choose doorknobs. I finally decided to just bring home all the options and decide later. When he gets home he'll just appreciate having it done, right?

Say "Cheese"

Over the summer, I saw various blogs with adorable pictures posted of their children. I thought it wouldn't be overly ambitious to attempt the same- and use it as a Christmas card. Mexico seemed to provide the best setting. If only my kids would understand my wish of JUST ONCE having the perfect Christmas card. Tucker immediately went into the ocean at the beginning of the shoot and things just went from bad to worse.

If I was a little more secure, I think I would just send this one out.

It shows all of their personalities so well. Savannah, the teenager, couldn't be less interested. Emmaline, the model, with her picture perfect smile. Oliver, the mischeif maker, this is the funniest idea Mama has ever had. And Tucker. What to say about Tucker? I think his face says it all.

"Strong Guy" Meeting

When I went to pick Oliver up from kindergarten today, this boy runs up to the car, starts opening the door saying, "My Dad says I can come to the meeting," I hear Oliver on the playground yell to another boy, "Hey, lets go. It's time for the meeting." When they get to the car I ask what meeting they are talking about. Oliver explains that they are having a meeting at the studio. When I asked why we couldn't just have it at home he said the studio has places that look like where you meet and this was a meeting for "strong guys." So we headed to the studio.
They had fun running around, playing with tools and getting dirty. I could hardly snap a picture, they were in motion so much of the time.

Later, at our house I noticed that one of the boys was a little skiddish around Megan. Finally he asked me, "That's so weird that you have a coyote for a pet. Where do you even get one of those." I guess Oliver told him Megan was a coyote. What a rascal!

The Angel

Tucker loves all gadgets. You have to watch where you put anything down because he has figured out how to work lots of things. His favorite things are the girls' ipods. This morning, while I was cleaning the kitchen, he disassembled my computer. At first I thought it must have been Oliver since some screws were even undone, but no- it was Tucker. Luckily it still works!

His curly hair is very deceiving as well. It causes people to believe he is angelic. On Sunday, he spent the hour before church screaming at the top of his lungs. FOR AN HOUR!! After we got there, at least 3 people commented on what an angel he was. That of course didn't include the nursery leaders. They are very aware of his antics. He spent the first couple of Sundays laying face first on the ground, kicking his legs, flailing his arms and crying the entire time. The last 2 Sundays have gone much more smoothly but I don't think he's achieved angel status in their book, yet. We'll give them a few more weeks.

Just when you think you've got them all figured out...

Sorry to go on and on about the stomach flu- but that appears to be our life for now. Last night both Savannah and I were struck. I was changing a diaper, thinking about how awful it was that the two most competent individuals in the household were sick at the same time- when I called to Emmaline because I needed to take a quick trip to the toilet. I was so weak, it took me a while to make it back to the nursery and by the time I did, I found Tucker in his pajamas and in bed with Emmaline sitting beside him, reading to him. After I got Oliver to bed, I went to bed myself. Later, when I went to the bathroom, I could hear some animated discussion going on downstairs. I hurried down, expecting another argument since Savannah started one earlier by saying, "Thanks a lot Emmaline, for making us all throw up." Yes, she's a teenager and she's sweet like that.

What I found couldn't have been more opposite. Emmaline and Savannah were both in the bathroom. Savannah was spread out on the bath rug moaning, Sprite in hand. Emmaline was propped against the wall reading to her. She explained that Savannah didn't want to be in the bathroom being sick alone, so she came in to keep her company. Now that's love! Someday hopefully Savannah will remember it.

And that reminds me of another post that I wanted to write long ago about Emmaline. There is a little girl in our ward, about a year younger than Emmaline. She has some kind of degenerative disease that causes her to have mini-strokes all the time. She needs assistance to walk and cannot talk other than making one syllable noises and pointing. Emmaline always makes a point of trying to include her and talk to her and she in turn ADORES Emmaline. A while back, her teacher wrote a note to Emmaline to thank her. It read:

Emmaline,
I wanted to write and tell you how impressed I have been with you in Primary. I have watched you interact with Eliza Jane and have noticed how kind and loving you are towards her. She loves that you like to sit by her, help her out when needed and work together. I believe this is probably a highlight for her during Sharing Time. I just wanted you to know that your kindness does not go unnoticed; you will be blessed for having such a loving heart!

Emmaline has so many struggles, but things like this help me remember what's really important and give me faith that we are actually going to make it!

The head flu, the led flu

The kids waited a whole 3 days after Tyler left to get sick. Emmaline threw up last night and when I got Tucker up this morning he had thrown up at some point during the night. I got an email from the school secretary requesting that parents email teachers directly for missing assignments since 33 kids were home sick today. Since there are only a little over 200 kids at the school, that seems pretty huge. As we got ready for bed tonight, Oliver told me, "I think I'm getting sick. My head hurts so I'm pretty sure it's the head flu and the led flu." I guess he figures if we are going to make up crazy names like "Swine Flu," he might as well make some up that make sense to him. So it looks like I've got another night of laundry and Odo Ban.

I received several emails from people asking why and where Tyler is gone for three months. I thought I wrote that on my blog before... but I guess that was just the imaginary blog in my mind that I wrote it in. Come on, I know the rest of you slacker bloggers do that as well. You think up a whole really great post, then never get around to actually putting finger to keyboard.

Anyway, Tyler was asked to create designs for the decorative finishes in the LDS temple in Cebu, Philippines. I don't really know how to describe what he is doing other than to say it is a lot of gold leaf designs on the ceiling. All the fancy stuff up there. So now he and 3 of his guys are there to do the installation. They expect it to take about three months and won't be coming back until it is completed. That means they will miss Thanksgiving and Christmas at home. It will be hard for us, but it is a great opportunity for him and one I am sure he will thoroughly enjoy- especially since he gets to skip all the throwing up and freezing winter here!

Fortune Tellers

The kids got these out of there fortune cookies the other day. Crazy when they really apply, huh?!

He made it!

I've talked to Tyler twice tonight... on video chat. That's really the coolest thing ever. Makes him seem much less far away. Which can be bad. Tucker was so angry when we hung up! Anyway, they made it there without incident. He says the jet lag is not so bad, but the food is! Everything looks, smells and tastes a bit like canned dog food. Just what I was afraid of since he definitely does not have weight to lose. Oh well, hopefully he'll figure that out with time and the Marriott they are staying at is very clean. What an adventure! =)

Could I Have Some More, Please?!

The boys LOVE to wrestle. This morning was a wrestling marathon so they could save up for the months when Dad will be gone.

Don't you love Tucker's "more" sign? We think it's the cutest thing he knows how to do!!

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween. The kids decided (on their own!) that they wanted to go "themed." Tucker was an octopus, Savannah was a mermaid, and Oliver was a dolphin. All easy costumes, so I was happy. We couldn't get a good picture because we had to have them sitting, but they were adorable.

One from the Ward Party.

Gavin came to trick-or-treat with us again. I think the pumpkin lanterns were his favorite! He didn't want to wear his mustache to go along with his costume. No problem, Tim and Tyler wore them instead.

VERY SCARY!!

There are a couple more cute pictures on Georgia's blog with Johhny. (All of mine were blurry!) One more thing I thought was funny, but forgot to add it to the last post. While we were carving, Oliver said, "Next time, I need you to get some of those tweeze things so we can tweeze my nose because this thing is stinky!"

It just wouldn't be Halloween...

without the traditional bath by the light of the jack-o-lantern. Kevin started this years ago and we thought it was such a great idea, we've done it ever since.

Bracing for the future

This morning Oliver told me, "When Dad leaves I'm gonna have to replace him."
Me: "What do you mean?"
Oliver: "I'm gonna have to do all the things he usually does like give Tuck Tuck hugs and tell the girls their room is a mess."

Don't worry, Tyler. Oliver's got the "Daddy Duties" under control =)

So I guess you don't love swimming?

Today I ran a race with the girls. It was just little, for a boy in our ward's Eagle Scout Project. Emmaline took off quickly at the start, with Megan. After only about 3/4 of a mile she really started slowing down and eventually walked (she blamed it on Megan- it's true, that dog is out of shape since I haven't been taking her running).

Anyway, Savannah struggled to run the whole 3 miles with me (she focuses so much on sprinting and speed and agility that she usually only runs 1.5 miles). As we ran together, we talked to try to keep her mind off of what she was doing. In the middle of our conversation, she said, "Let's not do swim team next year." What? Where did that come from? So I guess, although they got much better, neither of the girls learned to love swimming laps this summer.

(Emmaline is second from the bottom- far left. Savannah is third from the bottom- far right.)

Too bad. Oh, you're wondering about my New Year's Resolution of learning to swim? Well, I was all set to take an adult's swimming class at the beginning of the year. A lady in our ward took it and LOVED it. She said just going helps you realize how much farther along you are (some people are still afraid of water). Anyway, turns out we didn't have any money in January so that idea was out. I didn't think much about it until we went to Mexico. One day, while no one was watching, I went out to the pool and started swimming laps. I don't know how I looked, but guess what? I remember how to swim! Guess in all the years I've spent on the side of the pool watching my kids learn, I've picked up a few things. I think when Tyler leaves for Cebu (in 2 weeks- for 3 MONTHS!!!) I'll start incorporating that into my non-existent exercise routine. I can't go to the gym during the day because they won't keep screaming kids like Tucker in the nursery and I have trouble waking up early when I am up late helping Tyler (yes- I'm blaming that ALL on him). Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it!
Oh, and by the way. Savannah did finish the race with me. (Please excuse the hopelessly hideous picture of me.)

It was fun.

Like a fish takes to water

I've noticed something interesting about Tucker lately. All of my kids love to go to Tyler's studio. It's filled with all kinds of things and ways to get messy- every kid's dream, right? Usually, when we get there, they all go about doing things like opening paint cans, dumping things and just generally getting dirty. Tucker, however is different. He definitely knows how to get dirty, but he is much more deliberate. He immediately goes to the brush can and begins rummaging through the brushes and then begins to paint. Sometimes, if we don't catch him quickly enough, he even "helps" Tyler fix his paintings. =)

Sleepover at the studio

Tyler often stays at the studio overnight to finish paintings. I guess the fact that he is painting, something the kids see as "fun," makes it seem like a big clubhouse to them. Oliver has been begging to have a sleepover there. Since the weather is kind of cool (necessary since there is no climate control in the studio) and he had some kind of crazy holiday, we finally obliged. He had a whole list of things he wanted to do.

Shooting BB guns.

Making a painting.

And watching a movie.

While they were sleeping, Tyler found that Oliver still laughs in his sleep. He also told Tyler, "We shouldn't have sold the big, big van. That was our best car." (We used to have a huge step-van for carrying equipment that he LOVED to use as a playhouse.) I think it was everything he hoped it would be. The girls are so jealous!

Determination

The other day while we were at Emmaline's soccer game, Tucker spotted the beginnings of a hole in the fence and determined that he MUST crawl through! I don't know what about it caught his attention, but he couldn't leave it alone. First he tried to crawl through on his belly, but his shirt got caught. Then he tried backing through it. He would leave it for a little while, only to come back a few minutes later. After about 30 minutes...

Success!!

What a little monkey.

Is it just me?

I had one of those days today. You know, the kind where everything is a mess and everything is broken. My washing machine got a sock stuck in it and broke the hose, so I was off to the laundry mat. The hinge on the dishwasher broke because Tucker kept standing on it. My laminator broke because Emmaline had the brilliant idea to use it to press leaves.

So I finally feel like I have a handle on things... I've done the laundry, cleaned everything up and scrubbed the kitchen floor. Then it's Emmaline's turn to choose an activity for Family Night. Okay, so it's always Emmaline's turn. The rest of us would just as soon play cards, but she always wants to do something different. And what does she choose? Making goo from cornstarch and water. I could say "no," but I get sick of being the mom who "never lets us do fun stuff 'cuz it's too messy." Instead, I spend another hour scrubbing that darn slate floor again. Uhhh! I'm off to bed!!

Babies and more babies!

Since my brothers, Jeff and John were in town after their 10 day arctic adventure to Wyoming hunting elk... we decided to have a little get together. We've got so many babies in our family these days, it's always fun.
Tucker's so big now... we can hardly call him a "baby," but he enjoyed walking around, eating any cake leftover on plates.

Simon wished we had started the party a little earlier! =)

Issac and Aaron have such easy smiles, Uncle Jeff had fun making them giggle.

And Papa John kept his arms full for most of the night.

By the end, we all felt about like Baby Chloe (Ryan and Kristine's Newfoundland puppy) and Johnny.

It was fun... let's do it again soon!

She didn't get my teeth...

When you look at Savannah and Emmaline's teeth, it looks like Savannah got Tyler's teeth and Emmaline got mine. Apparently not so! Emmaline recently had to have 2 teeth pulled and 1 filled.

The teeth were pulled because they have already been filled twice. She grinds her teeth so much at night, the fillings fall out and cause her a lot of pain. Often kids that grind their baby teeth stop the habit when permanent ones grow in. Hopefully that will be the case for her and the permanent ones are so close to the surface, it made sense to pull them out. At least, that's what Emmaline thought. She didn't expect it to hurt quite so much. She named the teeth "Bits" (because it was pretty much in bits by the time it came out) and "George". She spent some time complaining to them on the way home about how much they hurt. What a funny girl!

Our front porch

We put tile on our front porch.

Tucker loves it... and so do we!

Random Things

As I was cleaning out some paperwork today, I found a couple of things that the kids did this summer that I loved. First of all, Emmaline's list/drawings of her trials and blessings.
First, her blessings:

And now for her trials:

The most notable being swim team (she never learned to love that), food coloring (she is always using that when I tell her not to and it gets EVERYWHERE), and swear words. I also love that money is on both the trials and the blessings list. Interesting that she already has that figured out.
Then, while we were in Arkansas, Emmaline caught an anole lizard. Oliver spent some time on the trip drawing some pictures of her.


I think the little dead guy was supposed to be a cricket, but it also turned out to be an omen of things to come as she met her unfortunate demise while we were in Mexico.

Autumn Pickings

Yesterday we decided to welcome in autumn with a "pick your own" extravaganza with our friend Shukri and his boys- Adam and Alex.
We began the day picking raspberries.

It's been pretty cold the last week, so we definitely got the last of the crop. As Tyler said, it felt more like gleaning than harvesting.

There was a great little farm next door with ducks, deer, and turkeys. Oliver loved collecting feathers.

I was worried that we wouldn't get enough to do any canning, but we ended up with 17 lbs! Hooray!
Then we went to Cracker Barrel for some breakfast.
I always love the rocking chairs there!

Tucker wants to be a big kid so bad.

Then it was off to the pumpkin patch. One of my friend's cousins has a huge farm. It is always so exciting when we pull up and see so many pumpkins! The kids just race right out to look at all the variety.

Oliver had a hard time deciding which pumpkin to get.

Emmaline almost decided to get this squash, she thought it was so unique.

Have to take a picture with the hay rake!

It was a great day even though it makes the autumn seem REAL, and thus winter is just around the corner- bleh.