This, That, and the Other

Michael giving me his best cheesy grin.  

Ornaments the boys made in nursery.  LOVE THEM!  Also love that Preston is now in nursery.  It is the best!

Preston enjoying the great snow we had this week

Here are the boys with our dear neighbors Bobby and Sandra.  They are such great people and we have gotten very close with them.  Michael and Bobby are great friends.  Sandra is battling cancer is a great example to us, and we've had some neat experiences with her lately.  They spoiled the boys and gave them Christmas presents.  Why have I not bought a Mr. Potato head before?  Michael is holding Preston's toy and Preston's holding Michael's.  

I've been making way too many cookies and Preston decided to take matters into his own hands and taste test when I had my back turned.  He is so much fun lately.  The little stinker won't say anything, but he points, motions, and pulls us so we can understand what he wants.  He does say Mamma and Dadda, but that's it!  Kind of nice to have a quiet one :)

Merry Christmas everyone.  Thank you for all of the sweet Christmas cards you have sent our way.  I feel guilty since we haven't sent any out before, but we still get them, which means we've got great friends!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Saturday was the best day for our family.  We didn't have any cleaning or chores to do (well besides Kyle and Michael going to clean the church in the morning), so we played in the snow all morning.  It was the perfect temperature for the boys, and the snow was ideal for making snowballs and snowmen.  After that we each took a boy and went Christmas shopping.  I can't really describe why it was so perfect, but it really was one of those days I will always remember.  Luckily I got my neighbor to snap a picture, so we can always remember it.

On a completely unrelated note, Kyle and I are attending a marriage and family class taught by our Bishop during Sunday School with about 6 or 7 other couples in our ward.  It is the BEST class.  It's basically group marriage therapy, and it's so much fun.  The manual is awesome, our Bishop does a great job teaching it, and we all sit around in a circle and participate. We're bummed we are going to miss it a couple of weeks in a row while we're attending other wards for family things during the holidays.  Kyle said he wouldn't mind going to that class every week just because it's so entertaining!  As I said, completely unrelated to this post.

They Gave Up Their Christmas

My sis-in-law Andrea shared this with us. Talk about a tear-jerker. I remember when I was young going to a vineyard that our church managed here in Pasco, but it was definitely not on Christmas Day.  What a great example these people are.  Merry Christmas.

Awesomeness

If you went to BYU or Ricks (I still have a hard time calling it BYU-I), then you'll love this video.  So funny and so true for so many BYU co-eds.  I'm pretty sure I had a few roommates just like this.  Still laughing....

Fun Fact: I had 36 roommates by the time I got married.  HOLY SMOKES.  If you count living with 40 girls while I was in London then that number would increase significantly, and really I should count them!

Picking Grapes

This picture is from the fall when I took my boys out to pick grapes so I could juice them.  They had so much fun on the farm, and Michael even helped me pick grapes.  Preston tried, but ended up juicing them with his fists.  It was a beautiful day, and one I won't forget.  I love taking my boys out to farms because it reminds me of my childhood.  I love the grape stains on their face and hands, so cute.

Play Date with Michael

When people talk about "play-dates" it always sound so glamorous, but I'm pretty sure we have a different definition of play-dates around here.  I wonder if their moms had this in mind when we invited them over to play with Michael. Never a dull moment around here.  I think they should all take really good naps for their moms.  Currently they are running around in circles, except Michael and Bex keep getting mad at one another and start shoving each other, which is actually pretty funny (but I don't let them know that), especially when Bex rips Michaels glasses off in revenge (Michael deserves it).  My favorite is the top middle picture when Michael came flying off the couch head first.

First Snow

Snow before Thanksgiving?  Say it ain't so!  This morning, this unprepared mom had to make a trip to the store for some snow supplies for my boys.  Too bad Preston lasted two seconds (literally) before he was done.  The big guy's got a nasty little cold, and is teething, so I can't blame him.  He's much happier eating yummy pears in his highchair.  We are supposed to go to Vancouver for Thanksgiving.  Hopefully things clear up for us so we can make the trip. 

Our Family Home Evening plans tonight?  Sledding of course!

Halloween 2010

Michael was Chicken Little this year, and Preston was our little lion.  I love Preston's costume....thanks to his Aunt Michelle for sending it to us.  Actually both of the boys costumes were borrowed.  Gotta love that.

My boys are not good about sitting still for pictures as you can see.  We took them to Greenies to have their free Halloween photo taken, so luckily I have a couple of good ones.  My favorite though is the fuzzy one where Michael is pulling on the lion's tail so that he would hold still for the picture.  Michael insisted on calling Preston, lion all day long, and would correct me if I referred to him by anything different.  I can't believe Preston would wear his costume with all of that fur in his face.

Michael's Favorite Song

Michael can sing this song perfect....when he's not being recorded and forced to sing.  This is the best I could get him to sing it while I was recording, and trust me, I tried.  You should see the outtakes, they are funny, but too many to post.  Michael is at a very cute stage, which I love.  Preston too.  I'm seriously a lucky mom.  

Kyle's 30th Birthday

This year was the big 3-0 for Kyle.  Luckily I had one day to breath in between Michael's birthday and his birthday, although it really was one crazy week.  His mom and sister and her kids came into town and were lifesavers for me because they helped me get everything ready.  Thursday night I taught a fashion class at church, so Kyle was left to fend for himself that night, but I made up for it on Friday....hopefully.  On Thursday my sister in law had the idea to surprise him at work with cupcakes, so we packed the kids up and hid in his office and boy did we surprise him.  It was hilarious because we definitely caught him off guard.  Before we left, his friend Lateisha, sang a gospel choir version of Happy Birthday.  It was awesome.  Too bad she wouldn't let me tape it!!!  That girl can sing!

I'm so mad at myself for the LAME pictures I took of Kyle's 30th birthday party.  I'm hoping I've got some pictures somewhere else because I could have sworn I took better ones than what I've got.  Kyle's birthday was on a Thursday but we had his party on Friday.  

Kyle requested a cookie bar for his birthday instead of birthday cake, so we made lots of different cookies.  Kyle loves a good homemade cookie....a little too much!  Kyle's mom wanted everyone to go around and share their favorite memory of Kyle. They did it at her 60th birthday and she loved it so much that she wanted to do it at his.  He did NOT want us to do it, but his mom won out.  I think it made him pretty squirmy, but of course everyone had lots of good and entertaining things to say about Kyle.  My story was the best, but I better not put it out on the Internet for everyone to read.  He'd kill me.  Love you sweetheart....

Michael's 3rd Birthday

I love birthdays, and so I love when my boys and husband have a birthday because it gives us a chance to celebratke!  Michael was SOOO excited for his birthday.  He was talking about October 19th for a very long.  It was so cute because he would always tell people his birthday was October nineteen.  I loved it.  If you asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he's say, cake.  He for some reason was really excited about the cake part of his birthday.

I made him breakfast in bed (waffles), but he apparently didn't like my waffles because he took one bite and spit them out and said they were bissgusting (disgusting).  I cooked them too long because I forgot about them, and apparently he likes his waffles light.  Oh well, it was hilarious and we got it on video.

I'm all about family birthday parties at this stage in life, so we invited over my parents and sister's family for dinner.  Michael is really good at giving reactions when he opens presents, which I love.  He gets so excited, and then hugs and kisses you if you gave him a present.

Michael is growing up and has FINALLY grown out of biting.  I am probably jinxing myself, but the last time he bit someone was the beginning of September (his cousin Kate has been his main victim).  I think I finally taught him that if someone takes his toy or hurts him that he needs to tell them to stop, and then if they don't, then he can come tell an adult.  Anyhow, this has been one of my biggest trials as Michael's mom, was that he was a biter and nothing seemed to cure him of it.  I'm so glad that stage is behind us.

Also, now that Michael is 3 he has decided he's potty trained.  It was a LONG month of potty training, but we finally succeeded. He was very difficult to train, but the last week he has gone all by himself and hasn't had an accident.

Michael is one smart boy.  He is observant and fun for everyone.  Still goes non-stop, but that's what we love about him.  He still sleeps in a crib because of his crib tent, and takes a really good nap for me everyday.  People tell me I'm lucky, I just tell them they should have bought a crib tent, ha.

This week Michael started calling one of his blankies, "sister."  He always grab his "sister" and tells me how much he loves her.  I asked him why he was calling it sister and he told me because he didn't have a sister and so his blanket is his sister.  Now he's calling the blanket his baby sister and telling me that she sick and needs a hug, or that she's sad, or happy....it's pretty funny.  Just now I asked him if he needed to go to the bathroom and he told me  "no Mom, I don't need to go to the bathroom, I need a baby because Preppy's not a baby anymore."  Oh boy!

I can't believe my baby is 3.  Makes me really sad, but I just have to look forward to the next stages in life.  I think 3 is such a fun stage.  Lots of work, but also lots of fun.  I love you Michael, thanks for loving me back!

 

Andrew's Home!!!

My youngest brother Andrew, came home from his mission on October 12th, and it's great to have him home, although we've hardly seen him.  He's been working hard, and is busy with a new church calling, and I think he's even started socializing (no dates yet though, he's single and available).  Oh well, guess it's better he's busy than lazy!  He was a great missionary, and we are grateful for the good example he is to our family.  Houston, Texas treated him well!

I need to update....

Lots to update:
Little brother Andrew coming home from his mission to Texas
Michael's 3rd Birthday
Kyle's 30th Birthday
Relief Society Fashion Class
Company from out of town for birthday and missionary festivities
Bifocals
Canning
Wonderful fall weather-until today

I'll get to posting soon.  I miss updating my blog, so I'm going to do better, promise.

Side note--Kyle came home from work sick, and I went in to see if he'd taken medicine and he told me that the last time was when our boys were in the 8th grade.  I told him we don't have boys in 8th grade, and he said, "yes we do."  Then he told me he needed to get up and watch TV.  I told him he better stay in bed.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Tonight after family scripture study and family prayer, Kyle said, Chels I think I can hear Michael in your scriptures.  I hurried to find him because I didn't want him tearing the pages.  He was thumbing carefully through the pages and said, "Mom, I'm looking for God."

Talk about a melt my heart moment....

Today's the DAY!

I can't wait until 9 pm tonight when my little bro, Andrew gets home from his LDS mission to Houston, Texas.  Seriously, so excited.  Last time I saw him I had Michael, a 10 month old crawling baby, and now that 10 month old is an almost 3 year old with glasses, and we've added sweet Preston to the family.

This picture was taken two years and 6 weeks ago when he left. (They extended his mission by 6 weeks, so we've had to anxiously wait longer!)  I'm excited to hear all about the last 2 years, but also really excited for him to start the next chapter of life.  Glad we get him for the next couple of months before he leaves for BYU (he already has his AA from running start).

Present Ideas

Michael's 3rd birthday is coming up, and I need some ideas.  What are some of the timeless gifts that your children love?  We would like to get him something that is educational or at least hands on.  Michael is a BUSY boy and so I would like something to help him focus.  I am also in need of some age appropriate book suggestions.  Help!

This was taken at the fair in August.  Michael LOVES animals and anything to do with farms.  Forgive his crooked glasses (this was his backup pair).  Actually today he's supposed to get his bifocals.  Not really looking forward to that.

Yesterday was Michael's first day with NO accidents.  We are finally getting in the groove of potty training.

Teen Makeover

I have loved all of my makeovers, but this one was definitely the most fun, and the easiest (which is always a plus for me).  Genny is such a sweetheart.  Go check out her before and after photos, and her rockin' new wardrobe!  HERE

Genny is a foster child, and her foster family is working towards adopting her.  Hopefully it all works out!  Come to find out we are members of the same church, but she's only been a few times in her life and doesn't know much about the church, and hasn't been for years (she thinks maybe 4 years).  I took her to mutual with me last night, and I think she's interested in going more.  I really feel like this makeover was not a coincidence, but that it was meant to be.  You'll have to ask me the story sometime. 

October 1st Slip 'n Sliding

I was mowing the lawn this morning and Michael came across his slip 'n slide in the storage shed. He insisted, and since it's going to be 87 degrees here today, I didn't argue. I can't believe this weather, I LOVE IT!

Last of Summer: Visitors and 3 More Reunions

This summer I was in charge of 3 reunions (Lybbert Reunion, 10 Year Class Reuion, and Mahuika Reunion-25 people at our house), plus two baby showers, among having other house guests and everything else that summer entails.  I'm going to try and sum it up in this one post, so I don't have to keep doing summer posts.

My best friend Candace came to stay with us for 5 days in July.  She lives in Tennessee while her husband goes to law school, and I wish so much she could live closer.  Her husband had to stay back for work, but her and Laura kept us company.  Every day her daughter would appear with an adorable dress, bloomers, and hair bow.  All made my Candice....I started feeling bad about my crafty skills the longer they were here, but luckily Candice made me my own hair pieces to tie me over until I can figure it out on my own.

I have lots and lots of memories with Candice that start in middle school. We were roommates in college a couple of times, and have always kept in close touch.  I wouldn't even pick a wedding date until I knew what day she was coming home from her mission, but once I picked the date she decided to extend for 6 weeks so she couldn't even make the date that was picked just for her.  Don't worry Candice I've forgiven you. :)  I wrote Candice every single week of her mission.  Now that's dedication!

Next up in our summer of craziness was my 10 year class reunion.  I went to a small school, but I haven't hardly kept in touch with anyone even though I went to school with most of them for 13 years.  It was really fun to see everyone, and felt like yesterday we were all together.  I hear some people say they hate their 10 year reunion, but we actually really enjoyed mine, and Kyle did too, which is always a plus when the spouse can feel comfortable.  I wish that everyone could have made it because there were lots of people that couldn't come.  Here are some of us at the reunion...

 
This was the second year we did the Casper Reunion at my parents place.  It's always fun to get together with the Casper family.  I just wish more of my older cousins could make it who live away.  Next year???  I dominated the handstand water competition, but I got smoked in the swimming competition by my aunt (so much for all that triathlon training!).

All the cousins who could make it this year.  There are 51 cousins total.

These two fed each other, pretty cute!  Don't you love Louesa's blone curls?  I used to have hair exactly like that.

Last but not least was the Mahuika Reunion which I volunteered to be in charge of and host.  Not sure what I was thinking offering to host 21 (25 including us) out of town guests for an entire week, but I'm glad we offered because we had a lot of fun.  The weather was perfect the whole week, and we jammed a lot of activities in.  We had people sleeping in closets, on floors, and in the laundry room, but each family had a room.  5 of the adults who don't have children or aren't married, stayed at Kyle's cousins house, but people still showered and did all of the activities at our place.  I actually didn't take very many pictures because we had an in-house photographer (sis-in-law's boyfriend) who took all of our family pictures and lots of reunion pics.  It was nice to not have to worry about taking all the pictures, but my pictures don't show everything we did.  Oh well.  

Thursday and Friday: Everyone arrived
Saturday: Swimming and BBQ at my parents
Sunday: Church and family pictures
Monday: Moses Lake Aquatic Center
Tuesday: Jet Skiing on the river
Wednesday: Relay Races at Park and Float Yakima River
Thursday: Departures