Kindergarten Choir

For part of the school's Christmas presentation, they had a kindergarten choir with 5 kindergarten classes. They all dressed up in their Christmas best and sang 3 songs that they've been practicing in music class. Really cute presentation!

Izzy's First Dance Class

Izzy has long awaited being able to go to dance class. She spent an entire year watching through the window as Olivia did dance. She always wore her dance outfit, and whatever dance shoes Olivia wasn't wearing and did her own "interpretive" dance. The problem was...she was two, and apparently you need to be 3 in order to join a dance class. Izzy constantly told people that when she's three, she's going to dance, so we couldn't deny her this right of passage. She was probably ready an hour before we needed to leave, all giddy with excitement. When we got there, she walked right in, no mommy-clinging, no coaxing, nothing. She followed the class in everything they did up until the last curtsy and stamp on the hand. When she came out so excited, I asked her what her favorite part was, and she showed me her stamp, and said, "I really wanted a stamp!!" --I should have saved all that money and just bought her a stamp!

Yes...it's a helmet, STOP STARING!!

Shayne and I were freaked out that Quinten would look so pathetic in his little helmet, that the day we got it, we headed over to Michael's to buy paint. Shayne did ALL the decorating himself, even mixing different colors together to get the right shade of gold. It really turned out fantastic, this is the finale with the SF decal properly on. Shayne's pretty proud of his work of art, and I have to admit, it is WAY better than anything I would have done.The only problem is... apparently the helmet is too cute!! We are generating a ton of head turns whenever we go out. And it isn't just grandmas stopping to look at the kids. Mostly men come up and tell us, "That is AWESOME!" or "If you want to do Dallas next, I'll help" or nudging their wife and telling her, "check it out, check out the little guy's helmet!" My shopping time has seriously doubled because of so many people stopping to flirt or ask about his helmet. We were warned by other parents of kids with a DOC-BAND that the stares are hard to deal with, so we wanted to make a statement, and not be "hiding" the kid with special needs from the world, but I guess our statement had a bigger effect than we anticipated... Quinten, by the way, LOVES all the extra attention and will flirt with anyone who looks his way!

Prepping for Christmas

We got our bazillion ornaments out of the attic to adorn our tree. It is always loads of fun, but somehow all the ornaments don't get any higher than 3 feet from the bottom. We solved that problem by using a step-ladder this year, and now there are no ornaments lower than 3 feet from the bottom.Every year, we each get a new ornament to hang on the tree. Shayne got a Star Wars landspeeder (surprise, surprise), the girls each got a princess (again surprise, surprise), Quinten got a baby's first Christmas ornament (surprise, surprise, surprise), and Mommy's ornament box was EMPTY! (That really was a surprise, I had a really cute family picture frame one all picked out and bought, but apparently someone didn't want to purchase the box, so they left that and only took the ornament!)

Celebrating with sparkling cider and marshmallows! Yummy!!

Our finished product (after Shayne and I moved some of the ornaments from off the top of the tree).

And our new Christmas decoration for the year...Shayne's own Star Wars tree! He's talked every year that he has too many ornaments for our family tree and that he'd really like his own tree just for Star Wars, so this year on black friday we found a perfect one (he says it's too small, but really it's perfect!) and now Shayne has his own Christmas Star Wars Tree. Now he's looking for a Star Wars Nativity...

Lovin' the whipped cream

Quinten had his first taste of whip cream the other day. He got to lick a beater which is a coveted activity in our house. He enjoyed it WAY TOO MUCH!

Tessa's Tree

In Utah, they have the "Festival of Trees" every year where people decorate a tree, donate it to the festival, someone purchases the tree (usually for a very generous amount), and all the money goes to Primary Children's Hospital. These trees are amazing, it is really a neat place to go to if you ever take a trip up to Utah around Christmastime. My niece, Tessa, lived all her days there at Primary Children's. My brother's office put together a tree in memory of Tessa and donated it to the festival. What a sweet remembrance. It is called "Christmas in Candyland". My sister-in-law, Aria, snapped these shots when they went to see it. What an AMAZING tree!

Rough Week

Quinten has had a rough week. In addition to having to wear a helmet 23 hours a day (which includes sleeping, that's the hardest part), he has also had a head cold and cut through three teeth. Poor guy, just can't get a break!! He's plugging along though, getting more used to it. What a trooper!

The First Look

Shayne spent hours and hours last night cool-ifying Quinten's helmet. We decided to go with: Lil' 49er for the first style of his many fashion statements to come. We have a 49er decal coming, but Shayne got all the painting done. It turned out really cute. QB is still not much of a fan, but we're hoping he "grows" into it quickly...

Bubba's Got Band

Shayne always swore our kids needed helmets. In fact, he always said that he should invent a baby helmet so that their precious little noggins are protected while they constantly bash them into the floor, walls, drawers, etc. Little did he know, modern medicine was one step ahead of him.

For about 4 months or so, Shayne and I have noticed that Quinten's head shape was looking a little odd. We asked multiple times at the pediatrician's, and friends and family, but everyone said it was fine, just fine, but a mom knows, and his head just doesn't look the same as it did when he was born.

Finally, our pediatrician gave me the info to a cranial specialist to have Quinten's head evaluated, and guess what?... I was RIGHT! of course I was right, a mom always knows when something's wrong (and I happen to be really talented at being right, ask Shayne, he'd vouch). Although his case is not severe, his head is definitely wider than it should be, taller in certain spots, and flatter in others. Personally, we think he's still the most adorable thing that exits, and his hair covers any oddities, but genetics being what they are, he is predisposed to premature hair loss (early baldness, let's just say it, he doesn't have much of a chance). I figure, we can't really change genetics, but maybe we can help him have a NICE looking bald head. With the Doc-Band (helmet, but don't call it that in front of the doctors, they'll correct it every time) the average time wearing it is 4-6 months (depending on how fast his head grows and re-shapens). Wearing a helmet for 4-6 months is definitely worth a nice shaped head for the rest of his life, so Bubba got his Doc-Band today.

He's not a fan, but he didn't throw as big of a fit as I thought he would. Hopefully, he'll adjust quickly and it won't slow him down.

Here's the dilemna...How do we make a helmet cute? We've been throwing around a few decorative ideas:
49er helmet
Lil' Rockstar: put band stickers around
Future Jedi: Star wars theme

But we would LOVE to hear any ideas that you may have. Hopefully we can make his helmet wearing days MAKE A STATEMENT!

Yelling at Toys

For some reason, Quinten has to yell at everything. He yells at books, shoe laces, fabric, toys that turn, etc. We haven't quite figured out why he's doing this, but he does it CONSTANTLY!

My kid can beat up your honor roll student

Olivia was deemed "Student of the Month" in her class this month. This means that she gets to receive a certificate in front of the WHOLE lower grades at an assembly. She was VERY proud. Like a faithful mother, I attended the assembly and took pictures of her 10 seconds of fame. However, the whole time I was thinking of a bumper sticker that read: My kid can beat up your honor roll student.

Early Morning Sanity

Quinten has followed in his sisters' footsteps and is an EXTREMELY early riser. It is still really dark outside (usually in the 5 o'clock hour) that he wants to be up and playing. Luckily I have found sanity in this hour. I can turn on Baby Einstein and he will quietly play with his toys and watch the show for another 1/2 hour or so. He loves these shows so much he screams and claps when he sees the disney castle and tinkerbell come on or the baby einstein caterpillar.

QB is 8 months old!!

I can't believe he is this old already! Sometimes the time has flown by and sometimes crept, but he has always kept me on my toes. Quinten has become a total pro at so many things...

• sitting--it's his favorite talent
• spitting up-definitely close second favorite talent
• waking mom up multiple times a night--it's just plain fun
• removing all shoes from his feet--every time
• throwing fits--usually when we have a food he wants (ie. ice cream)
• whining if mom is in the room--purely for my benefit I'm sure
• pulling his sisters' nice hair--way too early to have discovered this talent
• opening and closing drawers and cupboards--systematically removing ALL contents
• magically appearing in different spots--he doesn't crawl yet, but somehow he gets where he wants to go.
  

Shirts vs. Skins

We were driving down to Olivia's soccer practice and passed a field where some guys were playing soccer.

Olivia and Izzy: MOM! They're NAKED!
Mom: No, they are actually playing a soccer game, but they don't have uniforms like your team, so one team wears shirts and one team doesn't wear shirts. That's how they can tell who's on which team.
Olivia: Yeah, but girls don't play that, because they've got BOOBS!
Izzy: yeah, boys just have red dots...
Olivia: They are called nibbles, Izzy.
Izzy: yeah, right now I have red dots, too. So does daddy.
Olivia: Yeah, but I'm growing boobs (she puffs out her chest) I'm growing them right now!
Izzy: (puffs out her chest) yeah, me too!!

'Roid Rage

Izzy was recently diagnosed with Bronchitis. To battle the inflamation in her lungs, the doctor prescribed some steroids. The pharmacist warned us that when she's taking these, she might have trouble sleeping, and she might be a "bit" on the grumpy side. "Bit", that's what he said. WOW! I hope she never takes steroids as an adult because I can only imagine how GRUMPY she'll be. She is in a defiant trance: knocks things over just because, then yells at it for being a stinker; tells me that Olivia is a stinker and Quinten is a stinker, and I am a BAD mommy, and EVERYONE is a stinker...EVERYOOOOOOONE! Then she sulks in her bedroom like a brooding teenage boy, screaming at people if they walk near her door. She refuses to clean up anything, and when I put her most prized posession in "time-out" she says she doesn't care if DeeDee ever comes back! WOW! 'Roid Rage is real and VERY alive in our house.

...Enter at your own risk...

A Princess Celebration

Izzy REALLY wanted to do a princess party, and I was all for it! I love princesses! I asked her what she wanted to do at her party and she came up with this list: put on lip gloss, pour tea out of her teapot, and twirl. So we set off to do all those things...Everyone came dressed like a princess. They were all so beautiful. Once they got to the party, they put on a tiara and earings, got their nails painted and put on lipgloss.
We were lucky enough to have a REAL princess come! Izzy's Aunt Averi was willing to come be Snow White for the girls. She read them some great princess stories and helped out with all the activities. The girls all loved it!

Of course we had to re-apply our lip gloss multiple times throughout the party. A princess can never have too much make-up on.
We played, "Get Cinderella to the Ball", which the girls did amazing at (I think they all cheated because Cinderella miraculously made it to the perfect spot every time).
Then we had a tea party fit for a princess. The girls all made their own jeweled princess cups and loved pouring their own pink "tea" from a tiny teapot. I think pouring their own drinks was the highlight for everyone! We also had some tiny tea sandwiches, fruit skewers, jell-o and cheetos. YUM!

We dolled up some colorful cupcakes to make them "Princess" cupcakes.
And of course, you can't forget opening presents!
It was such a fun party! Izzy did do some twirling to some princess music, but the other princesses weren't that into it, so it didn't last long. What a fantastic birthday party!!

A Black Child

Olivia asked if she could put on some make-up, a daily occurance in our household. I was busy doing whatever, not really paying attention to her. She came back in and told me that now she matches her name. I didn't even know we had that much eye shadow.

New Favorite Toy

Quinten has a new favorite toy... a toothbrush. He holds onto that thing for dear life, takes it to bed and sleeps with it, wakes up with a death grip around it. If you try to pry it out of his hands, he FREAKS out until it is safely back in his grip, back in his mouth. Today, during church, I had to take him out during Sacrament meeting to walk the halls. Somehow, we made it into the hall without the precious toothbrush. When we got back into the chapel, Shayne had a mournful look on his face. He told me that while we were in the halls, the girls decided to scrub the chapel floor with Quinten's toothbrush. I guess we need to go to the store and get a new one...

Izzy turns 3!

I can't believe you are three! You are growing up WAY too fast for me. I want you to stay my tiny little princess forever, but you keep telling me you want to be a BIG princess. I have so much fun with you at home, I love all your antics and sayings, you keep me in stitches most of the time, even though I can't always show it because you are being punished. You are the life of the party at our house right now. I love that you wear princess dresses and tiaras everywhere because you truly are my princess. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!


Our semi-annual measurement. I am always amazed at how much they can grow in six months!


Of course a pretty princess cake, for a VERY pretty princess!



One of Izzy's favorite things about birthdays is the Birthday Song. She beams whenever anyone sings it to her. In fact, she'll randomly ask me to sing the song to her as if it's her birthday throughout the year.

Halloween Night

For Trick-or-treating, Quinten went as a football player, and the girls went as his cheerleaders. Of course we made out with TONS of loot!

Star Wars lives Happily Ever After

Izzy and the neighbor boy Caden were playing Star Wars. We have a bucket full of Star Wars characters. I overheard Izzy telling Caden how to play Star Wars...

Izzy: First, you have to find a girl and a guy. Then, they go to the temple and get married. They do true loves first kiss and then they live happily ever after. See? I have Han Solo and a pirate girl, they are in love and going to go get married. She'll change into a princess dress and they'll live happily ever after.

Caden didn't quite agree on how you play Star Wars. I'm pretty sure Daddy wouldn't agree either.

Daddy Daughter Date

Izzy got to go on her Daddy Daughter date this past weekend. She chose to go see "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". They started of with a read of the book to remember the storyline, and then the two of them went and enjoyed a movie together. They both really liked it, Izzy said there is a part where people swim in Jell-O, that was her favorite, along with eating M&Ms during the movie. What a great daddy!

Preschool Halloween Party

Preschool wouldn't be complete without some Halloween celebrations! Izzy is a princess every day, so for the Halloween party she decided to be a cheerleader. She had lots of fun, with lots of friends!
They decorated "Cookie Pizzas", YUMMY!


We also made a "spooky hand", such fun!



Izzy called up her daddy on the phone to tell him what she was going to be for her party. She then started to chant, "ASU, ASU, ASU" (which gets indoctrinated by some friends... However, Shayne bans that cheer both inside the house and inside the car). When Shayne told her that was not allowed to be cheered for, Izzy responded, "It's Halloween and I can be whatever I want!!"

Kindergarten Rodeo

Olivia's school did a Kindergarten Rodeo, which the kids LOVED! They got dressed up as cowgirls, which was probably the best part. Then they had all sorts of cowboy games to play. Kindergarten is so much fun!!

Old-fashioned sack races.


Barrel Races


Panning for Gold


We even saw a "WANTED" poster of Olivia. (on blue background right above her head)


Face Painting


The rodeo was so much fun, but we had to cut it a little short on account of the weather. Yeah, it was actually cold! Maybe not Utah cold, but since we don't own jackets... we went home for some much needed hot chocolate...YUM!

Soccer Mom

We had a soccer game on Saturday with Olivia's team, the "superheroes". Let me give you a little background...

Olivia's team is made up of 5 and 6 year olds. They have a volunteer coach, who is so fantastic, and just coaches because he loves his daughter and loves soccer. His family is die-hard soccer, they play 24-7. He also has two nephews on the team along with his daughter, they are all REALLY GOOD at soccer. Even though each child plays the exact same amount of time at a soccer game, it is really obvious that these three are in a league of their own. When Olivia is collecting rocks on field during the game, they are scoring goals. When another little girl takes her shoes off to get the grass off her socks during the game, these three are scoring goals. When our goalie is admiring the goalie gloves she is wearing instead of defending as the ball is coming, these three take the ball and go score a goal. Needless to say, we have not lost a game yet.

Our latest soccer game, showed me just what happens at 5 year-old soccer games. I've heard stories, but never seen it first hand. The other coach got frustrated right off the bat. We don't keep score, but it was pretty obvious who was winning. He had them stop the game and came over to tell our coach to stop having our players throw elbows. Sorry, most of the kids aren't that coordinated at running, to be thinking about where the soccer ball is, and to jab the other players in the gut with their elbows on purpose. That just really is a skill 5-year-olds don't quite possess yet. Then, the other coach stopped the game because our "subs" were too close to the goal and it was confusing his players of who was in the game. Once again, they are 5, and I don't think they look at anyone else on the field, they just look for the ball and run after it. One team could have 20 players and the other 5, and none of the kids would notice, but apparently, it was confusing the other 5 year olds, so we moved our subs. Then the comments started between the other coach and some of our parents. WOW! Jeering about what the score was (remember, we don't keep score...supposedly), and who was tripping who (I'm not sure there was any tripping, these kids fall down by themselves... A LOT!) Right after the fourth quarter started, the other coach came out on the field yelling that our coach pushed one of his kids down on the ground, and that they were leaving the game, they didn't need to deal with this "crap". This game is for KIDS and supposedly we were RUINING it. So, the kids didn't even get to finish playing their game. They were all confused by what was going on, and hearing these two groups of parents bad mouth each other, didn't help the situation. I learned later that the other coach asked the ref to check all of our team's birth certificates because he thinks we are trying to get older kids into the "younger" league. Really? I don't think I have the gumption to be a "soccer mom" if this is how you have to be. I thought these games were to let our kids run around for an hour and then get a twinkie and a capri sun afterwards...I guess I have a lot to learn.

Fire Station Field Trip

Izzy's preschool class had a field trip to the fire station. We went all the way into Phoenix because one of the preschoolers had an uncle who was a firefighter, and boy was it worth it! He showed us every nook and cranny of the firestation. We even got to see where he sleeps, and experience the alarm that wakes him up if there is a call in the night. He said that they can get up to 40 calls a day!

After the tour, we became junior firefighters with hats and badges of our own! That was way cool!
Since we were junior firefighters, we had to practice using the equipment. He taught us how to use the firehose. We are so ready to put out some fires!
Then, of course we learned all the inner-workings of the fire truck. Man I wish they had a call while we were there, we were so ready to go save a kitten in a tree or something!