What Were YOU Doing at 6:30 This Morning?

Were you tucked in your nice, warm bed, still asleep? Getting ready for school? Making breakfast? Or maybe just getting kids up for the day? We, or I should say Tanner and Parker, were already dressed and outside playing in our first snowfall of the year. They couldn't wait.

Kaitlin Strikes Again!

If I'd have known the propensity which Kaitlin would have toward dressing her brothers like girls, I might have tried one more time to have another girl. Poor boys, they don't realize how many blackmail pictures we now have for their dating years! Parker is the most recent victim:

Kaitlin's First Recital

Kaitlin has been taking voice lessons since school started, and had her first recital. She was really nervous, but did a great job. She is now working on her Christmas songs for her Christmas recital in a few weeks. In addition to that, she was selected for the Middle School All State Honor Choir, which will take place in Eugene, Oregon in January. This is a pretty big honor for her since only two singers were chosen from her school. We are excited to see her concert in January!

Combing Their Own Hair

All the boys are needing haricuts, but yesterday was too busy to get them in. So this morning, as we are getting ready for church, I am trying hard to get too much hair on their heads to lay flat. Tanner, and then Parker, insisted on combing their own hair for church, which resulted in this:

They are a little spiky, especially in the front because they spent all their time just combing straight up the front part. It made me laugh, but also cringe at the same time. because they are going to church with their hair combed staight up in front. Oh well, I guess I should be glad that they want to comb their own hair, right?

Fun with Tanner and Parker

I have some cute pictures of my home boys, and thougth I'd pick a few to put up.

Here are the boys after a Halloween birthday party with their spider hats they made.

The thing Parker is pushing is a roller skate, and he and Tanner have taken to putting their stuffed dogs in them and pushing them all around the house. And heaven forbid we can only find one of the skates, and they have to take turns.

And here is my army boy, with his self-developed army hat. Looks thrilled with himself, doesn't he?

Mastick

You would think that after 13 years of having kids, I should know by now that when they are unusually quiet, they are up to something. Enter Parker, who is proud to show me his "mastick", which I am assuming is his makeup language for lipstick, but confused with mascara. Either way, it's a mess:

Pretty, huh?

Soccer Fever

Soccer is finally over for the season, and while I am not missing two practices and 1-2 games per week, in cooooold weather, I am missing watching Josh and Luke play. They have not played on a team before this year, and I was really impressed with the progress they both made. Josh did really well, getting to play defense and forward almost all the time. Luke was forward and mid-field, and did pretty good as well. It got to be so much fun at the end of the season to watch them play and see how much they had learned. At the party at the end of the year, their coach made sure to tell them to request him for their coach next year, so they could play for him again.

For Josh, two practices and the games were not enough, and you could often find him outside every day after chores and homework playing soccer in the backyard until dark, or until they'd kicked the ball over the fence into the neighbor's yard and couldn't get it back. He got Tanner playing with him, and I think we'll have another soccer player next year. Tanner really enjoyed the time with Josh, and got to be pretty good for a 5-year old. Parker even tried to play with them and Luke, when they would let him. I think Tanner wants to be on a team next year, so I'm sure we'll be twice as busy, with two sets of practices and games next season. I love watching them play, so I'll try not to complain as I am running every night of the week, and spending Saturdays watching soccer games. What fun!!

Halloween and Punkin Carvin'

Carving pumpkins is always fun. The kids saved one for me to carve, but I haven't got around to it, yet. Maybe for Thanksgiving?

Halloween was typical this year. We usually have one sick kid, and this year it was Tanner. We had trunk-or-treating Saturday, so that we wouldn't have to trick-or-treat on Sunday, and Tanner threw up, so he missed out. He was so bummed, but all of his brothers and sister shared their candy, so we was somewhat pacified. He did get to dress up for his school party on Friday, so at least he got to wear his costume.

I tried so hard to convince my kids to be something different this year, but Josh was the only taker. Tanner and Luke were ninjas again, Kaitlin was lady Zorro, Parker was Batman, and Josh was a mummy. I had a lot of fun making his costume, and he turned out really cool looking, but I might be biased. =>

I'm Blue

Life here has been pretty busy lately, but not the busy that brings lots of fun pictures and videos. We run 3-5 days a week to soccer practice and games, voice lessons, piano lessons, scouts, and then whatever meetings or events come up inbetween. So hence, not many posts lately just 'cause there is not much to post about. However, Parker and Tanner and I spend a little bit of time now and then finding fun songs and videos on YouTube. We found one that they listen to quite often, and as we were driving in the car the other day, Parker said, "Mom, I gotta tell you somesing." He then proceeded to do what you see on the video. Tanner, being the bigger brother, said, "No, this is how it goes." and did his own version. Of course, I was driving and couldn't record it then, but they did it for me when we got home. Sorry the video is so dark.

Toothless

My poor little Luke. For the last, oh I'd say, probably a month, he has been walking around with Billy Bob teeth. Do you know what I mean? The fake ones you can buy that are all crooked and black so you look like a redneck? Well, that has been my Luke, minus the black. His two front teeth were loose, and had the permanent teeth coming in behind them, so they literally stuck out at at least a 45 degree angle, if not more, and were twisty and crooked. We have been bribing, begging, threatening, anything we could think of for him to wiggle those teeth and get them out. Shane even pulled a Grandpa Clayson and threatened to get the pliers out, but Luke was not having any of it. He eventually lost one of them right before we went to visit Susy, and the Tooth Fairy found him there, but the other has been hanging on for more than two weeks past that one.

Again, we have been begging, but mostly threatening pliers or string around a doorknob, for him to get it out himself. Well, yesterday, he and Josh were playing soccer in the backyard. They have become little soccer nuts since starting soccer this year. Anyway, Luke suggests to Josh that they play tackle soccer. Thank the Lord for small blessings, this was what we needed. Luke had the ball, and Josh tackled him to the ground. Luke's face, and mostly tooth, hit the ball, and out it popped. Thank goodness, that drama is finally over. And just in time for school pictures tomorrow. So he will look like this:


instead of Billy Bob. I think I'll take the toothless picture.

Diaper Free!!

Another exciting thing has happened that we need to blog about. Thirteen years ago, Kaitlin was born and diapers began. I did get a little break in between her and Josh, (she asked to be potty trained when she was 2, and Josh was born when she was three), but we have had diapers for the last 10 years. I shudder to think how many diapers we added to the landfills, but there was no way I was doing cloth diapers, so there you have it. But in August, under the bribe of $10 from Dad, Kaitlin started to potty train Parker after we got home from visiting family in Idaho. Within 3 days, he had it down.

He's only had two accidents since the first of August (that I can remember). One was yesterday, during his nap, because I forgot to take him to the bathroom first. The other was about a week or so after he was potty trained. We were watching a movie as a family, and Parker was on my lap. I started to feel something wet and warm, and I yelled and kind of tossed him off my lap and said, "You peed on me!" I must have startled him, because he turned to me with a wild look and said, "It's your fault, Mom!" So there you have it, both accidents were my fault, in one way or another. He only has to have a pull up or diaper at bedtime, because he's still 50/50 for staying dry through the night. But I'll take it. It has been so fun not to have to carry a diaper bag around. I love it, and I love this kid.

Parker and the Mysterious Ticking Noise

Parker is a musical little soul. Just last night Shane got me to hear him singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" in bed as he went to sleep. He will now make up words to songs to try and be funny. He thinks he's hilarious. => Kaitlin found this on youtube, and it has became Parker's favorite. He sings it almost every day, and tries to have other people do other parts, so that we can all sing together.



If you want to see what this video looks like without Parker singing to it, go to Youtube and type in Harry Potter Puppet Pals, and look for the one labeled "The Mysterious Ticking Noise." They are kind of fun.

3 Birthdays

Tanner's birthday came first this summer and he turned the big 5. Yes, we have another kindergartner. We debated about sending him, seeing as his birthday is so close to the deadline, but Shane and I felt it was the best thing to do, so there you go. He got the two things he wanted most for his birthday; a pair of binoculars, (he calls them night glasses) and a stuffed puppy that he named "Rhino." He was very excited.

I love in this video how Tanner has the puppy dance .




Josh's birthday was next, where we had him turning 10. We now have our first Webelos scout (bonus points if you know what webelos stands for =>). He got a Red Ryder, you'll-shoot-your-eye-out BB gun, with accompanying accessories (bbs and targets.) The cake was cheesecake, because he wanted it to be so. Watch Parker in this video try to get closer and closer so that he can blow out the candles.



Shane's birthday was next, with him turning, well, let's just say older. => I try to convince him to say he's in his early 20's like me, but for some reason he rejects that. Maybe it's because we now have a teenage daughter, but I don't know for sure. Anyway, he got shirts and a new sleeping bag for camping, and a date night with me to shop for the rest, 'cause he's kind of picky sometimes, but his schedule hasn't allowed him to take advantage of that gift yet. Maybe soon?.... Anyway, we couldn't put the number of candles on the cake to match his new age, mainly because I didn't have that many candles, but we worked it out in the end. His cake was blackberry shortcake, because we had wild blackberries camping the weekend before and he had a hankering for more. It was very yummy.



And I have to end with this picture, just because it cracks me up.

The Clayson Reunion

Yes, this one is really behind, end of June behind. It was so much fun - we stayed in WWII army barracks in northern Washington on Puget Sound. The rooms were army spare, with two twin beds or twin bunks in each room. We had to bring blankets to put up over the doors and for bedding on the bed. When we first got in the room, there was a smell of death in the room, and we finally found it in the drawer of a bedside table. Some kid had brought some shells into the room, but they still had critters living in them. The kids had left, but the dead critters were rotting away in the drawer. Once we got them out, the rooms smelled much better.

The kids had such a fun time playing at the beach. The water was really cold, but the kids were tough and played away. They made boats of driftwood and watched them float out to sea. Parker spent his time looking for crabs and trying to spear them on sticks. We found jellyfish, and even a starfish, combing the beach for seashells. We toured the grounds, which had some old guns and buildings still in place.

There was a great big kitchen, with room for all 30+ of us, and a huge kitchen that made cooking and clean up pretty quick. We played games and visited, and just had a really good time. I look forward to seeing where we get to go next time.

Time to Play Catch Up - Again - The Bake Reunion

So, again I am behind and having to remember almost two months worth of stuff that we'd like to share. Part of the blame goes to a busy summer, with several trips and catching up on mundane stuff like laundry and dishes in between. Part of the blame lies with kids that kill each other if I'm too engaged in something else to stop the fights, so it's been easier just to not do it then start and have to be interrupted 10 thousand times. But with school starting tomorrow (Hallelujah!! and several cartwheels) I think I can start catching up. I have decided since I stink at keeping a journal, maybe one of my Sunday activities can be blogging about the family and counting that as part of my journal. But I have also said that before, so I won't promise anything. =>

So - where to start? Probably at the Bake reunion we had this year. (Yes, Aunt Kathy, this one is for you. =>) I love that my family loves to camp, so for our reunions we go camping. We headed up to New Meadows this year, and found a great spot with shade, a creek, bugs, and a great time. We played "survivor" - almost everyone ate a bug - what fun!! No, no one got sick. Most of them were ants - we were all chicken, I think. Luke ate a big purple one, so he was the best at it. We played "Minute to Win It" games, and Dan, freshly showered in the creek, took one for the team and laid down in the dirt to balance ding dongs on his forehead. I was running those games, so I didn't have time to take pictures. Actually, as I look back through my pictures, I realize most of them take place at camp and I don't have any of the creek, or the games.

So all you get are ones around our camp, sorry. All you get are grubby kids who looked like they rolled in the dirt on purpose, and thoroughly loved it, kids jumping off the "king of the mountain" rock in the middle of camp, and Tanner using every stick that remotely looked like a weapon as a weapon. Since I don't have pictures of everything I'm talking about, I'll just put up a few of my favorites.

Grandpa took all the kids on a "Grandpa Hike," which I think was fully enjoyed by everyone, especially Grandpa Bake! Luke came back talking about caddis flies and may flies, and how to find them, and Tanner talked about eating wild strawberries. Parker collected sticks on his way, and had to take all of them along the hike as he went. Thank you Grandpa, for some wonderful memories. Since my father-in -law passed away, you are the only grandpa they have, and I appreciate you taking time to do that for them. Thanks Dad!!

The highlight for me, besides being with my family, was the devotional we had the day before we left. Dad talked about Helaman's stripling warriors, a story in our Book of Mormon, and compared those boys to our children today. He made up a song that was so touching, and played it on his guitar while he sang it. If I had known that was coming, I would have brought out the camera and caught it for posterity. Next time I come, Dad, I will ask you to play that song again for me. It was so neat.

The only down side was one of my brothers and his wife couldn't be there because of work schedules. We missed having them with us, but we were able to bring their kids to play with the cousins, which was nice. I loved getting to be with my brothers and sisters and their families. I miss not being with them more. I love that they all want to come and get dirty and not sleep at night because we're in tents and it's cold and the kids keep you awake, so that we can all be together as a family. I love them and their children and look forward to the time we get to be together next.

Up next - the Clayson reunion, which actually took place in June, but I'm a slacker as you know, and so you get to hear about in at the end of August.