Happy New Year!!

New Year's Eve was full of partying!

We cleaned up around the house for Talie's New Year's Eve/Goodbye Party.
I went to visit with Carol.
Benson went to the bank and Kennedi opened up her very own bank account!
Then Talie had her party at our house & Dallin went to a stake New Years Dance.
The rest of us went to the Bates' house for a fun New Years Eve Party, where we ate yummy fondue, played the Game of Things and counted down to Midnight with sparkling cider, party hats, and very noisy horns!

The Boys catching up on sleep in anticipation for the BIG night!

Kennedi really enjoyed her horn - I'm sure it wasn't annoying at all;).

Happy New YEAR!!

Christmas Eve Eve Camping

So our family has the crazy, that's right honey, crazy tradition of camping on Christmas Eve Eve. When people hear about it, they always have to clarify that that is what we really said. So, on Christmas Eve Eve, we go camping.

 (I feel a little unqualified to blog about it, since I have only gone once, and that time we took a trailer. I've only missed because I've always had a baby up until last year Tanner was 3 and was old enough to go.) This year, poor Tanner, was so excited to go camping and talked about it for days. But earlier that afternoon, he threw up all over in the car right as we were pulling into Walmart to do some last minute Christmas shopping. Luckily, we had wipes in the car, cleaned it all up & sent Kennedi & Ashy inside to buy him some new clothes so that we could finish shopping. Tanner kept throwing up, so needless to say, he didn't go camping (I was the saint who volunteered to sacrifice and stay home and take care of him=). Instead, he and I set up a tent in the basement and slept warm and cozy in that, while Talie, Ashlynn, Peyton, Kennedi and Benson braved the cold.


 It was so cold that they even let Ashlynn win Monopoly, just so that they could burrow deeper into their bags. I got up at midnight and wrapped presents until about 5. So, I probably didn't get much more sleep than they did, but I was warm=). Tanner keeps asking when we are going camping again.

Kennedi's Nose Bead

So, today, I get a message from the school that went like this, "We have Kennedi in the office. Somehow she managed to get a bead stuck in her nose. She's pretty upset. Could you please call us back." Great! We've been through this before - Dallin in 2009, only it was a popcorn kernel, and cost a trip to the ER! $1,100.00 later, learned an expensive lesson: don't listen to overzealous nurses that assure you that you need to take your child to the ER! 

Talie was picking up the kiddos from school, so I call her and she is sitting in the parking lot. I ask her to go in to be with Kennedi until I can get there.  I pull in 10 minutes later with Tanner. We scurry into the office where we find Talie, Peyton & Kennedi. Kennedi, now is calm, but has big red eyes; evidence of an earlier melt down. I pull her into a hug and ask, "Were you in art or in your class? How did you get the bead up your nose?"

 To which she replies, "I saw a bead on my desk, and then it got stuck up my nose." Hmmm, her story is missing a few important details. The 6 of us are all sitting on little cushion topped crates lined up against the wall outside of the principle's office. Then I turn to Peyton and ask, "Well, how was your day?"                  

He said,"it was good at first." 

To which I have to interrogate,"It was good until what?" 

"Until Ian told Mrs. Cooper that I bit him."

"What? Well, did you bite him?"

To which he replies, "I don't know." ??????

So, we don't know how a bead magically ends up a nose nor if we bit somebody!

Luckily Talie was there to laugh with me!

So that night, after watching Ashlynn's volleyball team win, I race home and call the nurse, at Kaiser, to see what she suggests. She is very helpful, and first asks me to plug Kennedis right nostril, have her hold her breath, and blow into her mouth (aka mouth to mouth) - poor Kennedi! After four times of no success, we decided that that is more than enough tries! The nurse then recommends unbending a paperclip and trying to carefully wiggle the bead to see if we can unstick it. Ashy runs upstairs to Dad's office, finds a paperclip, and runs it down to me. We lay Kennedi on the counter, unbend the paperclip, and after two tries, walla: a surprisingly large, clear, sparkly and wet bead pops out of her nose!! Costing  a mere 3cents. 1cent for the bent paperclip - which we could bend back and reuse - nah! and 2 cents for the ziploc baggie that we had to save the evidence in. I would call that success!

Little Moments

   I'm going to admit that lately, I have let myself be grumpy and forget to enjoy the phase of life I am in. Well, tonight I was going to a tennis lesson, taught by the generous Tiffany Layton, and Benson is in California with Ashlynn, and the big kids are at a Laser tag party. So, I bring the three little ones with me, to play at Bison park, while I hit tennis balls (or attempt to=). We pop popcorn, bring fruit snacks, a big blanket, three flashlights - to cut down on the fighting, and my phone with Frozen downloaded on it to help us survive 2 late hours at the park. We pull into the parking lot, and huge drops of rain start to pummel the Suburban. The tennis lesson is cancelled . . .  but  Kennedi asks, "Mom, can we still play at the park?" Tanner begins to cry as he realizes that the plan is to go home. They all three beg to stay and play in the rain. Three bundled up figures dodge across the parking lot, fighting against a rush hour of the families scurrying out of the park to escape the downpour.

   I watch my little ones run around and play for 45 minutes in the downpour. At one point, I swear a pitcher was being poured from up above. I think it just added to their adventure! At this moment, I am reminded how much I love the joy of children. I love being a Mom.