Importance of color

Lando: Oh, Daddy. You better not put a red shirt on T. It's St. Patriss day. If he's not wearing green, the St. Patriss guy will [pauses and pinches his fingers together a couple times] pinch him.

When Kirsten got home from volunteering in Brynlee's class, she asked why T wasn't wearing green, even though Lando and I picked out a shirt with green stripes. Or maybe they're brown stripes. Now Kirsten's worried that Lando is colorblind also, although I'm pretty sure he's not. I do need to figure out for sure, though, so I know which of my kids I can depend on to tell me what color things are.

International Week

This week was International Week at the elementary school. There were various activities each day during the week. Each morning kids from different countries taught the kids how to say "Hello" in their native language over the loudspeaker during the morning announcements. We have students from 29 different countries at our school.

Today the kids could wear traditional clothing from countries around the world. We called Grandma Kovacs since Ashlee really wanted to wear Korean clothes (last year she wore some things from Paraguay from Rob's mission). A HUGE thank you to Grandma and Mary Anne for sending them so quickly so that they got here in time (and even included some yummy treats in the package). We love you, Grandma!

Here are the girls with their friend, Audrey, before school...

For those of you who didn't know, I lived in Korea when I was about 4-5 years old. My dad was stationed there in the Army. Ashlee is wearing the dress that was my sister's (Allyson) and Brynlee is wearing mine (kinda small for her since she is 7). Audrey is wearing an outfit from China that her grandma got for her.

Fun with Sculpey

Ashlee asked for Sculpey for Christmas after having a lot of fun making little animals out of Sculpey at a friend's house. Her cousin, Jacob, got her some for Christmas and we bought some more at the store last week and now she is making lots of little animals this week to sell at her class store, Ashlee's Wonders. Here are some that she has made already...

She is making various types of animals and will also be taking custom orders so the kids in her class can order a specific animal they choose. She is starting to add such cute details...a bow and collar on the husky, a white spot on the tail of the chocolate lab (specifically for her friend whose chocolate lab has a white spot on its tail), the mouse holding a piece of cheese, the cute monkey with a visor and holding a box of movie popcorn. The picture hardly does these cute little animals justice. They are so much cuter when you can look at them from all angles. She loves it and I love that she is so creative!

Another "Spring" Cleaning...

Those who have been long time readers of the blog may remember my other "Spring" cleaning incident, which you can read about here and here. Well, today we had another one...

This morning Brynlee came running into our room, freaking out that there was a mouse scratching at the storage room door. My first thought is...well, I don't think it would be scratching at the door since there is a big enough space under the door for it to get out. It is probably in the walls.

About a half an hour later she comes upstairs again saying she heard the scratching noise again. Rob got a mouse trap and set it in the storage room. He said when he first opened the door, he saw something so it kinda confirmed that, yes, there was a mouse in there...or so we thought...

He checked the trap a little while later and it had gone off but no little mousie was in it. I was in the downstairs bathroom and could hear little scratching and pitter patter scampering around in the ceiling...yeah, so not cool! The strange thing is that it sounded alot bigger than a mouse! I heard it go from the bathroom down the hall (again all of this in the ceiling of the basement) and back into the storage room. I called for Rob to come check it out. He peeked in the storage room and said, um, that's no mouse. That's a squirrel!

I called Animal Control, not really knowing if it was something they'd even deal with. By this point, the squirrel was scratching and gnawing at the carpet under the door, trying to get out. We put up a board so it couldn't escape and then a police officer arrived. He said that Animal Control was out for the week at a training conference and different police officers were covering for them. This one happened to normally work at the jail in Brigham City. He said, "I'll admit I never do this kind of stuff so I'll need your help." He brought in a box trap, slowly opened the door with the trap in the doorway...nothing. It had been about 5 minutes and we hadn't heard it so I wondered if it had found it's way into another part of the house.

Rob went in the storage room (which is also where the furnace is) to see if he could tell how the squirrel got in and noticed a ventilation pipe that goes straight up to the roof. The end cap had been knocked part way off. Our guess is that the squirrel must have fallen down the pipe from the roof and knocked the cap off and fell into the room. Here's a view up the vent, looking out through the roof and the end cap that had been knocked off...
Rob and the officer started taking stuff out of the room to see if it was hiding amongst all the boxes. The family room was beginning to fill up with all the stuff from the room and I thought for sure it wasn't still in there. Just last week I was in the storage room and thought to myself that I really need to organize all the stuff since alot of the seasonal stuff has just been piling up in the middle of the room instead of being put away in boxes on the shelves.

Almost everything was out and then the officer moved a big Christmas Rubbermaid tote and the squirrel jumped out of its hiding spot. The officer jumped back and I was laughing hysterically! Especially because he had just said that he keeps picturing the "When Animals Attack" show, thinking the squirrel is going to come flying out and latch onto him! Then he pulls out his flashlight, points it in the corner where parts of an extra bed are and says "I have a visual" in the most serious voice. I couldn't tell if he was really being serious (because of his training) or what but I had to control myself from not busting out laughing. Soon after jabs and swats with the broom and cornering the poor thing, it went into the trap.

A call went into dispatch....I have one squirrel in custody.

Ward Ski Night

Last night was the annual Ward Ski Night at Beaver Mountain. This was the first year we made the trip up for it. It was the first time skiing for the kids and they loved it. We didn't get skis for Landon because he was happy sledding (with and without a sled) or just playing in the snow....until about 20 minutes before closing time and he decided he wanted to ski. We put Brynlee's skis on him and I packed up the car and returned Ashlee's skis while Rob took Landon down the mini hill a couple of times. He loved it and said it was so fun, especially when he was going so fast that daddy couldn't catch up to him!

Landon was in heaven when he found this huge snow pile. "Look, mom! I'm as tall as the ROOF!"

Sisters!

Brynlee, Ashlee, Emily and Mariah (two of Ashlee's friends)

Brynlee and her friend, Audrey, going up "The Magic Carpet"

Birthday Weekend Recap

To tell the truth, Ashlee had a bummer 9th birthday. On Friday morning she told me her front tooth was hurting. I thought it was her tooth that she broke 2 years ago (the lower half is fake)since sometimes it is sensitive. I decided to see how it was when she got home from school. She didn't mention anything after school and went to Activity Days. When she got home, we headed to Pier 49 to meet some friends for dinner. Ashlee was pretty quiet at dinner and wouldn't eat any pizza. I thought it was because she had treats at Activity Days and wasn't hungry.

On Saturday morning I was looking at Ashlee and she didn't look right. Half of her face looked swollen and when she talked or smiled, half of her face looked paralyzed. I immediately called the dentist and he said it sounded like an infection/abcessed tooth so he prescribed some antibiotics. He referred us to an endodontist for a possible root canal. Our plan of taking her out for her birthday dinner date that night was put off since she still wasn't in the mood for eating.

Sunday was her birthday. She got chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast {which was supposed to be "in bed" but she came upstairs while I was making them and didn't want to go back to bed :)} She was still a little swollen but then pain wasn't as bad. I looked a little closer at her teeth and realized there was an abcess on her gum above the tooth next to her front tooth so it looked like it wasn't her front tooth afterall.

After church we had Grandpa and Grandma Barton over for dinner. When it came time for presents and cake and ice cream, I realized the camera battery was dead. Rob grabbed my iPod and was able to get some video so we at least have some proof of her 9th birthday celebration. She wanted the Giant Cupcake with marble cake and chocolate frosting...your wish is my command!

This morning we saw the endodontist. He said the tooth looks healthy so he doesn't really know why there is so much infection around the root, plus the infection isn't in a normal place (it was around the middle of the root and not at the apex). He said looking at the xray that there is probably a 50/50 chance of saving the tooth. The root isn't fully formed yet so he didn't want to do a root canal. He drilled into the back side, cleaned out the infection, put some medicine into the tooth, and put a temporary filling in (which those are the beginning steps of a root canal). He said we will know in a month or two whether the infection completely goes away and if we can save the tooth. Depending on the development of the root at that point and if the infection goes away and if her tooth isn't still loose, he will finish the complete root canal.

So she's had a pretty bad birthday weekend but when the pain and swelling go down, she'll get to finish her birthday festivities with a dinner date with mom and dad.

Nine Years Old!

Nine years ago at 8:12 p.m. this sweet baby joined our family....

At 8 lbs. 8 oz., we joked that it was all in her cheeks!

Happy Birthday, Ashlee!

Brynlee Turns 7

Everytime I would sit down to blog about Brynlee's birthday, I couldn't find the camera to download the pictures. So finally 11 days later...

The celebration started on Saturday night when Rob and I took Brynlee out for her birthday dinner to Ruby Tuesday since her birthday was the next Monday and Mondays are crazy at our house with tumbling right after school and work for me right after tumbling.

Brynlee loves the book Pinkalicious and a while back she told me that she wanted pink cupcakes for her birthday. When I saw this Wilton Giant Cupcake mold, I thought it was perfect. Strawberry cake with pink frosting. This has been the easiest cake I have ever made! Most importantly, she loved it.
I got home from work Monday night, we had cake and ice cream and Brynlee opened her presents (a new Wii game and a Webkinz Husky)...

Brynlee is my biggest helper at home with the boys. She and Landon play so well together and she is always ready to be a little mommy to Trevor. She gets him out of his crib in the morning and loves to comfort him when he is sad. Now if I could only convince her to change his diapers...

Sledding 101

Whatever you do, don't let go...


Please remain seated at all times...


If at first you don't succeed, try try again...


Watch out for snowboarders...


Never let your 2 year old ride on a sled with your *almost* 7 year old and her friend...


After getting home from Holiday Inn night #1, the kids wanted to go sledding. Rob headed over with the 3 older kids since T was taking a nap but we joined them after he woke up. It was a reminder to me that having a child who sucks their thumb is no fun in the winter time. They won't keep gloves on and Trevor hates coats or gloves or hats anyway so it was a double whammy. I knew I shouldn't have let Brynlee take him on his first run down the hill but oh well.

Me and Trevor after the above incident....


Rob brought T back up the hill to me and then we headed down on the sled. It was my first and last trip down the hill before going back home with a sad and cold 2 year old. It was fun while it lasted. The funniest part was at the end of the day when there was a rack of swimsuits and the rack of snow clothes next to each other in the laundry room.

Holiday Relax-Inn

It’s the new year so I guess I better wrap up 2009. Rob was able to take the last two weeks of the year off since he needed to use or lose his remaining vacation days. We had two free nights at Holiday Inn from our trip to New York in August (they had a deal at the time…stay 2 nights get 1 free and we stayed 4 nights) that expired on December 26th. On Tuesday night we stayed at the Holiday Inn in Logan. It was built about a year or so ago and was really nice! It was the perfect family mini getaway. It was only 5 minutes from home. No one complained “Are we there yet?” In fact when we pulled into the parking lot, they all said “We’re already here?” We checked in, swam in the heated pool, relaxed in the hot tub, ordered take out from a nearby restaurant, and snuggled in the king size bed while watching the BYU Vegas Bowl game. I’m not quite sure why we were all in the one bed since we had a two room suite with king beds in both rooms. It was fun, though, to snuggle with the kids before sending them off to their own room! In the morning we ate breakfast (Holiday Inn Express has one of the best free continental breakfast by far) and swam some more. Checkout was at 11:00 so we hurried and threw everything in our bags, checked out and were home in 5 minutes. Would recommend this hotel to anyone.

Trevor in his "boat". I think he said "boat" over 100 times that night.




For free night #2, we decided to go a little further away… to Salt Lake. Rob’s family was getting together the day after Christmas in Draper so we decided to stay the night at the Holiday Inn by the E Center the night before the get together. We weren’t as lucky this time getting a big suite (only 1 room with 2 queen beds this time) but this place has a mini indoor water park instead of the normal pool and hot tub. The downside was the pool was not-so-heated, but it was fun to have a kids play area and a tube slide (which Brynlee went down 30 times!). Of course the hot tub was plenty warm to soak in after playing the "cool pool" which Landon called it. Not sure if he meant "cool" as in fun or temperature. We drove down Christmas Day late in the afternoon, played in the water park, bowled on our new Wii that we brought down with us, slept (in a not-so-warm room since we couldn’t figure out the thermostat, which we finally did about an hour before we checked out the next morning), swam some more and then headed to Cheryl’s house for a yummy “Christmas” lunch. It was a fun, relaxing way to spend some time together as a family amongst the hustle and bustle of Christmas.

Trevor Turns Two!

How could I forget to blog about my little man, T?! Probably because I posted birthday pics on facebook...man, it's hard to keep up with all the social networking these days.

Trevor turned two years old on the 20th. Grandpa and Grandma Barton joined us as we celebrated with a dinosaur cake and opened presents.


Such a cute picture of Trevor and his Grandma Barton (whom he lovingly calls "Pompa", not to be mistaken with "Pompa", meaning Grandpa)


Notice the change of clothes before eating the cake...


Trevor does not like to be sticky after he eats. As soon as he is done eating (cake in the instance, but usually it's pancakes/waffles), he holds up his hands and repeats "sticky, sticky" until you wash his hands.

Playing with his new train table...


The next morning I found him quietly playing. I think he likes it...


Trevor LOVES animals. Like he has to have some type of animal with him at all times. I took pictures of him on his birthday and out of the 20+, here are a few to let you know how it all went...







So the next Sunday we decided to try again and this is how it went...


Again more animals (this time the ones he got for Christmas)...







Trevor is really improving as far as his verbal skills are concerned. One thing people say about him is that he is so expressive when he talks. It really is hilarious to see the faces he pulls and the different inflections in his voice as he tries to communicate. As he is starting to say more things and put together longer sentences, he is also starting to be more demanding. Most of the time it's "Come on, mom" (while pulling on my leg) or "Follow me" when he wants me to do something or get something for him.

Happy Birthday, T! We love and adore you!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

May visions of sugarplums dance in your heads. Merry Christmas!

Would You Rather

Lando: I'd rather have my head cut off than have my legs cut off, because if you didn't have legs, you couldn't move around.

Rob: If your head was cut off, you couldn't eat anything, though. So would you rather not be able to move around or not be able to eat?

Lando: Actually, I'd want to be able to eat, so I'd want to have my legs cut off, even if I couldn't move around.

Hillcrest Festival of Trees

Every year at the elementary school, each grade decorates a tree for a Festival of Trees in the library. The year the first grade did a Santa-themed tree...

This is the ornament Brynlee made...

And the third grade did a cowboy-themed tree...

Here is Ashlee's ornament...