Idaho

Brandon recently called me out for being a lame blogger. I have had nothing exciting to report at all. But last weekend we hit the road for Idaho and had a little bit of excitement. We left early Saturday morning and made it in time to catch Logan's wrestling match in Idaho Falls. We didn't even plan that. I learned that the way to avoid cauliflower ear (see BJ Penn, Joe Stephenson or pretty much any other UFC fighter for an example) is to wear those ear protector things. Did you hear that Logan? Wear the ear coverings or you'll never get any chicks.

We had tickets for the Rexburg Temple Open House at 11:30. When we arrived there was a line out the door going around the corner. More people came than expected and so we had to wait a long time. Apparently the tickets didn't matter. It was definitely worth the wait. The kids loved the temple. Zack especially liked the inside swimming pool.

Ben has been saving up his Book It coupons to use at the Rexburg Pizza Hut. A sit down Pizza Hut is a novelty for us since we don't have any nearby. Not any more. We tried to go after the temple and it was too busy so we went on Monday before we left for home. Our service was horrible! If it wasn't for the Book It coupons we would have walked out. As it was, Matt (my Matt) was pretty much our server getting our silverware, the kid's placemats and crayons and a to go box (an unused one from another table). This is the first time we've never given a tip, but she deserved what she got. It wasn't even busy. I think Pizza Hut actually owes Matt money for doing her job. If you want to go to a pizza place in Rexburg, go to Craigos.
Anyway, after the temple tour we ended up at Gringo's for lunch. Haylee was unfamiliar with the practice of soda refills, so she went for the double.

Matt, Scott & Brandon found 4 degrees below zero to be perfect weather to go snowmobiling. But they are crazy. It was really cold so those of us who are normal didn't leave the house very often. This led to some interesting playtime for the kids. Zack and Brigham played in the tub.

The kids decided to draw and then decided that their skills were so great that they should be paid. They set up an art store along the stairs. Two rolls of tape later, they were open for business. Fortunately they were willing to accept most forms of payment including checks. Unfortunately, their moms are not appreciators of fine art and they didn't earn the big bucks they expected.

Noah wrote a sign for the door that cracked me up. He discovered double stick tape which made a handy way to take a payment.
All that coloring did take it's toll:
This gives me a birthday gift idea for Zack. Right now, while I am typing this, my hair is being styled. When it is finished I will look like a princess. That is, if I have any hair left after all the pulling. Do they still make those head only dolls? I might be visiting the girl toys section very soon

3 year old image problems

This is Zack on his first day of preschool. Besides being excited to go to school like his big brothers, he was really excited about his Little Einsteins backpack. He picked it out himself and wore it around the house for a few days before school started.

A few weeks ago, just as we were leaving for preschool, he announced that he hated his backpack--really, really hated it. The empathetic mom that I am, I made him put it on and we went to school. He wouldn't bring the backpack inside. I expected him to get over it, but each day he reminded me how much he hated it. The backpack never made it past the front door. One day they were going to paint and he needed his paint shirt. I handed the backpack to the teacher so he'd have his shirt. When he got home, he was very upset with me. I hadn't realized the real problem: he had a "baby backpack" and I completely embarrassed him by letting his preschool friends see it.

I've decided that this is the tragedy of being the youngest. I know he thinks it's a baby backpack because every time he tries to watch an episode of Little Einsteins his older brothers tell him it's a baby show so that they can watch what they want. At Zack's age, Noah was still watching Sesame Street. Zack barely knows who Elmo is.

I found an old Incredible Hulk backpack and Zack now goes to school with confidence. Little Einsteins is off our Tivo to-do list. And I am sad. I like Little Einsteins much better than Zoey 101 or Drake & Josh.

New Year Fun

I love having company and I am not just saying that, I really do. We have been so excited to have David and Emily's family come we could hardly stand it. Especially the kids who were constantly asking me when they were coming or if I would call and see if they could come any sooner. The boys thought they would come on Saturday and were completely shocked when they showed up on Friday night. I wish I had a picture of the look of total shock on Ben's face when he answered the door.

The boys (all seven of them) get along really well. Sometimes I am surprised at what entertains them. This weekend they liked to dress up. I don't know if dress up is the right word, they would probably prefer I called it dressing cool or something a little tougher sounding. First they dressed as "hippies" which is totally inaccurate but that's what Noah insisted they were.
The next time they were into weapons and spying. They had nicknames: Sam & Noah were the Cool Dudes. Ethan was Chubby Cheeks. He is chubby because he only sleeps as evidenced in this picture. Zack also went for the fat look and was Chubby Checker. Ben was Hawk, but his real name was Alvin. (He really really wanted to be Alvin in the previous Alvin and the Chipmunks game they were playing. By the way, Simon fell out of the tree and died in that game.)
The dads really figured things out right this vacation. They rented movies that we didn't want the kids to see and then watched them downstairs. The result: privacy for the men and noise and chaos for the women. Nice plan, except now I am on to them. Good luck pulling that trick next time. Anyway, one night we encouraged the kids to spy on their dads. They aren't good spies-- way too noisy. Even this solution didn't help much:
Sledding was definitely on the agenda for the kids. I don't know if Cooper was planning on sledding, but I think he liked it too. (To give credit where due, this is where the dads really pulled through for us--in 20 degree weather. The ladies just supplied the hot chocolate).
The two littlest kids didn't get to go sledding the second time. Maybe this was an effort to prove that they were in fact old enough to go with the big boys? Zack did have the perfect mustache. I know because he told me many, many times.
They did get to go play in the snow. Henry is a lover of snow, especially the taste. They wanted to build a snowman, but had to settle for re-decorating what was left of Jack Frost.
While the guys watched Die Hardest and UFC 2581 the ladies preferred a more refined entertainment: puzzle-ing. After the great puzzle tragedy of 2006 we were more prepared. Dianne bought a puzzle mat so that we could protect it from the little kids. Emily brought a puzzle that looked like it might be easier. In the end we didn't use the mat because we were afraid the puzzle would fall apart and the puzzle turned out to be harder than anticipated. We might have clued in to the difficulty level when we had to use a buffet table. But we persevered in spite of the fact that even though a puzzle piece might fit it didn't mean it was in the right spot. Henry and Zack nearly got to it again, but only succeeded in spreading around the loose pieces. I think Henry was truly sorry, Zack-uh, not so much. After a few late nights, we finished and had plenty of time to read and get ready for the main event.
Speaking of the main event. Chad and Angie joined us for some good old fashioned gluttony and gaming on New Year's Eve.

The great thing about this chocolate cake is that it doubled as breakfast for the kids the next day. Yum!Here Sam is, rockin' like a hurricane.
Mike and Di were forced to take a turn. That's all it took to get Di addicted. Besides Grace, these three were the only kids who made it until midnight. They all have fancy glasses, but I am sure you will agree that Ethan has the fanciest. Cheers! Like I said, I love company and hope we can entertain more often. In other words, come visit! You may have noticed Cooper (the dog) in the house. That's the closest my kids will probably ever get to a pet. But don't get any ideas Lacey, leave your cats home.

Christmas

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. We did. A few highlights:

Family! PaPa and NaNa were here for all the festivities. The kids had been counting down the days to their arrival since the first of December. NaNa brought all kinds of fun things for entertainment. Poor Zack was dying to bake the Christmas tree cake and decorate the gingerbread house. He had to suffer for 2 days before we finally had the time to sit down and create. He was in his glory though. The kid loves to bake, well actually he just likes to decorate baked goods.
By the way, this sugar cookie tree might be the best sugar cookie I have ever had. The secret: cheap Western Family dough. Delicious!

Presents! Noah has had an uncanny ability to predict his gifts. Granted, the remote control car was a little obvious. But I can't figure out how he could pick up a present that I bought and wrapped while he was at school and know exactly what it was. I put a DS case and a book in a shoe box and he shook it once and knew just what it was. Weird.

Are these kids really that excited to open their Christmas pjs? I think they secretly hope it will be something fun.
I do have my suspicions about Noah though. This year was the first year that Santa brought a wrapped gift. When I went in to get the boys on Christmas morning, Noah said, "wouldn't it be weird of Santa left us a big wrapped box?" He claims he had a dream. I think he may have been doing some sleep-peeking.
The boys running in to see what Santa brought: Notice Noah is a little slower, I think it's because he already knew....This is one of my favorite pictures. I can usually count on Ben to react well to a gift. He was also ridiculously excited about the Mario toothbrush Santa brought him. SNOW!!! We have had lots of snow. On Christmas Eve we had a nice big storm. I loved it, it's my idea of a perfect Christmas Eve: to be all snuggled up inside with lots of treats to eat. Then on Christmas day we took the kids over to the school for a little sledding. Emphasis on little, it was so cold (for the adults at least) that the kids only went down a few times. I even took Zack down once. He is a little thrill seeker and would have stayed longer but the adults were wimpy.

Deck the Halls--Zack Style

Zack has been really into Christmas decorating this year. He especially enjoys all the ribbons and bows. He also thinks that anything can and should go on the Christmas tree. I have pulled a rubber band, various papers, a spoon, stuffed animals and a measuring cup off the tree. Here are some of his little decorating touches.

He makes occasional changes to the entertainment center. Sometimes he likes ribbons on the knobs, sometimes he just uses bows. It depends on his mood and what supplies he finds. He is the proudest of his idea to put bows inside the doors too. Nice touch.


Matt asked if the candy canes were new door knobs. He was quickly corrected that they are only decorations.

After this bow decorated his head, he put it in its current location.

Feliz Navidad

Last night was the second annual Spanish Immersion Christmas Concert. It's sort of an odd thing to go to for me because I don't speak any Spanish beyond the basics and they perform everything in Spanish. Some of the songs like Silent Night (Noche de Paz) and Jolly Old St. Nicholas (Mi Querido Santo Clos) I could figure out. But El Burrito Sabanero really stumped me. I figured a burrito must be a burro or donkey. Then again, a burrito is a Mexican food and they speak Spanish in Mexico so would they really name a food after an animal? So then what does a burrito have to do with Christmas? Obviously I needed help and asked the one person who should know the answer, after all he did sing the song. Noah had no clue. Apparently they don't worry about teaching them what the song is about. (I asked some other parents and their kids didn't know either). It's a fun song though, here's a little clip:


I Googled it and got a bunch of responses in Spanish. Great. A little more searching & I finally found the lyrics. The song is about a person with a donkey going to see baby Jesus. Tuki Tuki means hurry up.

But why do they eat burritos?

Holiday Hoopla

Brandon was in Salt Lake performing with the orchestra. We met up with him Friday afternoon. He is such a nice boy that he gave up going to the movie with a cute girl just to hang out with us. This is the thanks he got:
When it was dark enough and because we really like to be cold we went to Temple Square to look at the lights. Normally this is something we do on a weekday when it is less crowded. I forgot how many people come to see the lights. The traffic was crazy and so were my kids. I don't know what it is about needing to touch and climb on everything, but they were making me crazy.

Ben really thought this star had fallen down. See that garland, that is one of the things he had to touch as he walked along. I was waiting for a missionary to come along and kick us out, for him to pull it out or knock it down, or for me to lose my voice from asking him to stop.

After walking all over the Gateway and all around Temple Square, Zack was wasted.