New Year

Well another year has come and gone and I find myself looking back on the last year to see those things that have past. Of course we added another little person to our family which is such a great blessing. It doesn't seem that long ago that Ryan and I bought this little two bedroom condo thinking that it would be all we would need because we could not have kids. Now look at us three amazing kids that make me smile, laugh, and scream all in the same moment sometimes.
Mason is growing so fast...he got his very first tooth on the 1st of January and his second tooth a few days latter on the 5th. He is not too sure that he likes having them too much because he keeps biting himself. He also had his 4 month check up and he is 16 lbs. and 25 inches long now. He is almost rolling over from back to front. He gets up on his side and just about rolls over but his arm keeps him from going all the way but I'm sure it won't be too long before he gets it.
Ethan went back to pre-school today. He wasn't happy about getting up so early but I think he will be happy once he gets back into the swing of things. Ethan would much rather be playing with his figures or playing some kind of video game. I have to watch my self not only him with video games because he is getting really good and distracting Mom so that he can play just a little more. Little stinker!
Holly is very upset that she can't go to school yet because she is very excited about being able to go soon. I just keep telling her that she can't go to school because "they don't little girls who still were diapers go to school". I don't think she is quite ready to really be potty trained yet. We have tried but she has more accidents than she makes it. But she is trying and loves to have more of Mom's attention when Ethan is at school.
Ryan and I are still plugging away and getting more discouraged at the fact that we haven't had any offers on our condo yet. Our little family is not so little anymore and we really want to be able to have some room to move and the kid to play. But I guess we take what is dealt to us and do the best we can.
So looking back over the past and looking forward to the future I only have to see how much I've been blessed by the wonderful children around me and my perfect husband. Yes perfect...as I told Ryan he might not be the perfect husband over all but he is the perfect husband for and to me and that is all that matters because he is mine! I hope that everyone can and does have the perfect husband for them because I know I've been blessed.
I wish everyone a great new year and that we all may be blessed in the time to come.

Christmas

Merry Christmas, late of course. We got so busy with all the the holiday goings on that we didn't take the time until now to write anything.

We all had a wonderful Christmas. We went' over to the Ropers for Christmas Eve and when we came home the kids got to open one gift. We always get them PJ's with a new book.

Mason woke me up at 7:30 Christmas morning and when I went to go get him Ethan was not in his bed. I don't know when he got up but he had gone down stairs and turned on the Christmas tree lights. Ryan likes to already be down stairs before any of the kids so that he can video tape the kids coming down and seeing what Santa brought. Oh, well...

Ethan got a digital camera from Santa, the "Ben Ten" watch he wanted and some new super hero figures.

Holly got a doll daybed, swing, and stroller from Santa, a dress up chest and the "Little Mermaid" DVD.

Mason got a activity set and some clothes.

Toopher (our new kitten) has gotten really good at climbing our Christmas tree so we had to keep getting him out of the tree all day long.

We when down to Midvale around 5 pm to Ryan's parents house and had dinner with his family and a few gifts afterwards. Auntie Annie and Uncle Dan gave us a great sled for the kids which we tried out the next day. Holly got to have lots of rides around the back yard and Ethan learned how to make snowballs, which he loved to throw at his Dad.


All in all we had a great Christmas with family and friends.

Ninja Kitty!

Well, Christmas is indeed proving to be very intersting. Toofer has decided he likes the Christmas tree. Not only to climb in and sleep, but also to attack when no one is suspecting. The other day he sprung out of the tree at Holly....she started screaming, woke up Mason! Grrrr.....
He also likes to hang out under the dust ruffle on our bed and attack feet-the number one victim? That's right...Holly. Her little feet have scratches on them. She keeps pleadng for band-aids.
Barb took the kids to see Santa the other day. I was expecting to hear stories on panic-instead, they took to him like Grandpa. They loved it!
Rented a good movie tonight. "Rescue Dawn" starring Christian Bale (the new Batman) as a Navy pilot who is shot down over Laos in 1966. It details his internment in a P.O.W. camp and his daring escape. Based on a true story. Great movie. Four out of Five stars.

Guitar God

I was in YouTube tonight and came across this video of a kid playing a song by one of my favorite bands "Dragonforce" in Expert mode. This made me sick. It is all I can do to get through songs on the Hard level. Hopefully Santa will bring me Guitar Hero III. My hat is off to this kid though. It made my arm hurt to watch this.

Just when you think you've figured it out......

So today I was rather bored at work. It is the end of the year, my branches are all operationally sound and everyone is happy. I decided to come home from my office for a quick lunch and then head up to Logan for some quick visits. Barb and I decided that we probably wouldn't have any more interest in our home until after the holidays so we decided to pull out the Christmas decor and get things set. I think both of us could do without the tree this year, but this is such a special time for the kids and Ethan is especially excited. Why punish them right? So, needless to say, when I came home it was an utter disaster. The kids were all into the decorations and it seemed so messy.

As I was pulling out of the garage, Barb called me on my cell (amazing how we communicate these days-she could have just run out!) and told me the realtor just called her and said that a couple were coming over to view the condo. I told her that I would stay home, pulled back in the garage and helped her get the house ready. It was a miracle and we were able to have the house spic and span for our potential buyers.

Now as I am writing this blog, Ethan is making his 8th trip to the bathroom since family prayers. I really wish he would go to bed and fall asleep. He wanted to stay up with me but Barb said that he couldn't becuase he had school tomorrow. His response: "I don't care about school". I could immediately feel the surge of the angst of Jim Granquist rising. I remember the good old days of middle school with my "C" grades. I wish this wasn't starting so early. Well, I better go now. Have to wipe my son's bum.

Houston...We have a name!

After much deliberation we finally have a name for our new kitten. Toofer (too-fur). Now before you say "where on earth did you get that name from", we will tell you. Ryan and I have gotten into the NBC show "30 Rock" and there is a character named Toofer so...that is where we got it from and it fits the him, believe it or not.

The kids didn't really like the name at first because they both wanted to name him Elmo, but we just couldn't call him that. I tried and Ryan wouldn't even entertain the thought.

Ozzy has accepted him and faster than we expected. He let's Toofer play with his tail and they have already wrestled a little. Ozzy is good to not use too much force, or bite to hard and I haven't seen him even use his claws yet. Ozzy has even given Toofer a bath a few times. So things are going great with our cats.

I never knew I could be as involved in a pets life as much as one of my children. Go figure...

Blue Man Group

Well, I got back from St. George the last night. I had to go there for "Business Meetings"-the official way to now say Offsite. We do this on an annual basis-my manager takes all my peers to a location for "meetings" which usually culminate in eating too much food and not getting enough sleep. Wednesday night we all drove to Vegas to go see the "Blue Man Group" at the Venetian. Much, much better than "Mama Mia"-Euro Disco sucks!

It was way-cool. I've never been one much for avant-garde art, but this was pretty cool. The show was about two hours long and full of some great music and imagery. They had a cool band in the background that was playing that I initially thought was some kind of animatronics. They were actual human beings. I especially loved the "Rock Concert Manual" where they gave instructions on such actions as the head-bob and the fist-pump.

Hopefully one day I can take my kids to see them-way fun!

We got back to St. George a little after 1 a.m. I don't recall much of what happened the next day. Oh well, it is good to be back home.

So are the Days of our Lives...

I really should have waited to get this kitten! Ethan is so in love with this cat he spends every moment he can with it in our bedroom. I've set up a litter box and food & water in my (Ryan's too) bedroom until Ozzy gets used too him. He is just a baby, only about 8 weeks old and if Ozzy wanted too he could really hurt the little guy. So to be safe the kitten is in our room for now.

Anyway - since Ethan is in our room most of the time Holly has to be too and she seems to think that the litter needs to be spread all over my bedroom and bathroom floor!!! It took me over half and hour to vacuum it all up the first time she did it. I was so mad I made her sit on her bed until I was done cleaning up. She knew she was in real trouble but now she has done the same thing two other times only not quite as bad. The last time I spanked her which I don't do very often. I think this was the third time in her whole life she has been spanked. Now she has been banned from the room and Ethan has been in trouble for just watching her do it. Where am I, you might ask? Holly is a smart girl, because she doesn't get into the litter box until she knows I am feeding Mason.

With Ryan out of town until tomorrow it has been an adventure and I am feeling very ganged up on, not to mention that is kitten doesn't really let me sleep too much because he likes to curl around my neck and purr.

Well Ryan is on his way home tomorrow and we should give this kitten a name soon. We will keep you posted to the on going saga.