It's that time of year again...

So... every year for the last six years, we have sat for pictures with Santa.  The lady that takes them does them early in November so that you have enough time to send out cards or prints or whatever.  I love them.  Her Santa is the REAL SANTA.  Look at his guy!  It has to be!!  

That said... I have a picture of each of my children SCREAMING with this sweet Santa.  The last couple of years, my kids have all been small enough to fit in Santa's chair, and he smiled calmly behind them.  This year though...  We unleashed Kate on the poor man.  As you can see from the picture... she's literally turning purple.  I'm pretty sure she didn't draw a breath for a good two minutes.  

That said... Merry Early Christmas everyone!  And a Happy Thanksgiving too!

First Snowstorm

Anyone who knows me knows that winter is my LEAST favorite season.  I hate the cold.  I hate the wet.  I'd just as soon move to a beach in Mexico so I never have to see the stupid white stuff either.  BUT...  I do make an exception... The first snow of the year really is beautiful.  And Christmas really isn't Christmas without snow.  I guess I can handle the snow/ winter thing for about two months out of the year.  There.  Done.  We are officially within the two month time frame, so let's get this party started. 

Enough babble though.  It snowed a good foot this weekend and my kids were sooo excited.  Actually- Ty was excited... and the others just fed off of his excitement.  So I hunted down the snowclothes and out they went.  

I was actually a little shocked.  Kate stayed outside for about an hour and a half- she was totally content to follow her brothers around and throw snowballs.  She's kind of an in and out kind of girl- at least she was this summer.  Maybe winter is her thing... I got my whole house cleaned while they were outside though... so I'm thinking it's a GOOD THING.

Ty kept coming in and asking if there was enough snow to go skiing yet (he came in about 5 times in two hours)... He was disappointed every time when I told him no.  I'm excited to take him again this year- he's actually getting pretty good.  He doesn't need anyone to hang onto him any more and he makes turns all by himself too!  Most of the credit must go to my dad- it was always his dream to ski with his grandkids- I'm just glad Ty is happy to make that dream come to fruition!

We actually took Ryan last year too- I think he went two times.  He did pretty well- skiing is hard enough on my legs- I can't imagine how hard it was on 3 year old legs.  Nonetheless- Ryan is pretty excited to go skiing this year too.

And what giant snowstorm would be complete without a snowman?  None.  I put my boots and gloves on and joined the kiddos... They couldn't lift their snowman pieces by themselves.  I think it was a pretty good effort!  Although... the kids were pretty disappointed in their snowman for smoking...  I guess I'll hide the pipe next time- apparently all those talks about smoking are paying off!!

Wednesday

Sometimes I guess monotony is okay.  It gets a bad rap... but this morning- even though it was the same as any other morning- I wouldn't have changed it for anything.  Kate and I had taken the boys to school and Kate had just gotten out of the tub.  I put her on my bed to watch Mickey Mouse while I jumped in the shower and when I got out- she just looked so stinkin' sweet, I had to take a few pictures.  She looks deceptively sweet in all of them.  

Here's the thing- I know how incredibly blessed I am to be able to stay home each day with my little ones.  Not every mom that wants to stay home, gets to.  My husband works really hard and we make a lot of sacrifices so that we can make it work.  Today- I guess I'm just stopping to be thankful.  

That's not to say that every day is like this.  In fact- more often than not- I probably complain about my kids and how much they drive me crazy (short drive, I know).  But the truth is, I love them.  And I even miss the boys when they are at school.  Because the truth is- mornings like today are numbered.  Kate is getting older too and next year she goes off to preschool two mornings a week.  She is so animated and fire-y... I'll miss her.

Until that day comes though- I'll just have to keep reminding myself how good THESE mornings are when I'm having the really crappy ones.  Here's to you baby girl- love you more than you know!

Halloween

So... I don't know about you- but I have weird kids.  Yeah I said it.  They are weird.  It came time to get into their costumes so we could go to dinner up at Grandma Janet's house.  No big deal- they were happy to put them on.  But when it came time to accessorize ..  They went nuts!  Ryan's costume came with a little mask that he wanted to wear OVER his glasses- obviously impending his ability to view anything other than what was exactly in front of him.  So I pulled out some liquid eyeliner and offered to "paint" a mask on underneath his glasses so that he could still be in full costume AND be able to see.  Win/Win right?  Pfffhhtt! No!  I had to bribe him with all kinds of crap to get him to sit on the counter.  Then he started to cry!  What in the world!!??  Please tell me your kids are crazy too!!  I had to let him feel the tip of the eyeliner before he believed me that it wouldn't hurt him.  When he finally held still long enough for me to draw a quick outline on his eyes, I gave him a hand-held mirror so he could see what it was going to look like.  It took two seconds for him to decide it was... wait for it... AWESOME!!!  I just shook my head and finished filling in the mask.  

Then I had to do the same thing for Kate- she was "CatWoman" but didn't really understand what that was- so we kind of made her a kitty instead.  It took a whole package of smarties to get her to hold still long enough for me to give her a nose and whiskers.  (*as a side note here... as I was putting her in bed that night, I tried to wash OFF the kitty whiskers and SHE WOULDN'T LET ME!  She said she liked them*)

I was already exhausted and the evening hadn't even begun yet.  Yeeesh.

But here they are in all their Gotham Glory.  Batman.  Robin.  and CatWoman.

Despite being stinkers they are pretty cute.

We had dinner at my mom's and then trick or treated around their neighborhood for a little bit before we came home and hit our neighbors houses.  Because Halloween was on a Wednesday this year- my little trick or treaters were sugared up, showered and in bed by 8:00... and it was pretty great!  I'm kind of digging the middle of the week thing!  Happy Halloween!

Now onto the Holidays...

Ryan's Halloween Program

You know what irritates me?   Okay- really- a lot of things irritate me.  But this time it's something specific!  Ty and Ryan's Halloween parades/programs were about an hour apart from each other.  How can someone be in two places at once!?  Whatever.  

We RACED over to Ryan's school right after Ty came through the auditorium and slid into the seats with a few minutes to spare.  In fact- we even snagged a picture of Ryan with Miss Tammy.  What we would have done without this woman- I don't ever want to know.  She really has been sooo sweet with our shy little guy.  Seriously.  It's like she's a miracle worker- you wouldn't recognize him from last year.  And again... sorry for the yellow picture- but I do have some good news...

I played with the camera settings while we were sitting there waiting for Ryan and LOOK!  Pictures that are NOT yellow!!  Woohoo!

Ryan was very attentive during the program and sang "The Monster Mash" very loudly!  We are so proud of him!  Love you little bear!

Ty's Halloween Parade

As a preface... these pictures are awful!!  I haven't figured out how to take not orange pictures INSIDE a giant gym...  I hate that.  I'm pretty sure I could make them better if I played around in photoshop, but I don't have the time this morning.

Stupid pictures aside... Ty had his Halloween parade in school last Friday.  So dad took the morning off work and helped me get the other two up to the school in plenty of time.  

Kate sat down on the floor and waited- she was totally absorbed in a tootsie roll that a neighbor gave her when we got there.  I don't think she cared about much else. But please... pause a moment to check out her skirt... I totally made that!!  I know I know- I'll take my bow.  I'm sure Project Runway will be calling in the morning to book my appearance.  It's all so exciting.  

But I digress... here comes Ty's class!

After a long wait... the Dark Knight finally appeared at the door!

And seriously... check out those GORGEOUS brown eyes peeking out from behind his mask.  Heartbreakers one day.

Ty's class had a party after the parade.  I had called the room mom earlier in the week to see if they were having snacks and what they might be... the answer:  Doughnuts.  Really?  Really?  Or is it donuts?  Either way... she offered up the idea of him having a sucker instead.  I felt like reaching through the phone and giving her a good shake.  Granted, I'm glad she had another option for the allergen-challenged... but seriously?   A Sucker?  No.  So we set to work the night before to figure out gluten free donuts.  They turned out pretty good- good enough to pass a 7 year old's inspection and make him feel like he was a part of the class... but I still think it needs some work.  Still though- I have to thank Nicole Hunn at Gluten Free on a Shoestring for the original recipe.  It was better than a sucker.  We'll get it though Ty... hang in there with me!

Night with the Runnin' Utes

Anybody that knows us knows that my boys are Utah fanatics.  I don't know if there are two "bigger" Utah fans anywhere- what they lack in size- they make up for in heart!  That said- my dad is a close second behind the boys... he has season tickets to Utah Men's Basketball and he is so sweet to let my boys go with him when the game isn't on a school night.  Thanks grandpa.  That said- college basketball season is getting ready to start and the Utes hosted a "Night with the Runnin' Utes" where season ticket holders could come and get some Ute gear and a tour of their new locker rooms.  

My boys were stoked to sit in the same chairs as their idols...  

They loved the LONG walk down "the Tunnel"- okay- actually they ran the whole way pretending to hear the crowd cheering for them at the other end.  Their cute cousin, Cam, ran right along side!

The basketball team was also doing a mini clinic for the kids in their practice gym, and were giving out basketballs to the kids that participated.  Okay- I use the term "kids" loosely... because to be honest- my dad walked away with a couple balls and so did Shaun and my brother.  We have Utah basketballs coming out of our ears now.

Posing for a couple pictures on the big U...

The aforementioned crazy Utah fans...

And my brother Dave with Cam...

It was really a fun night- I'm glad we had the chance to hang out with the Utes!

Wheeler Farm

While farm life is nothing super new to my kids (thanks to the Kidds), it is always fun to go and see the animals up close and personal- at least I think so.  My sister in law, Natalie and my mom and I took our kids to Wheeler Farm on Tuesday morning- and it was a gorgeous day!  The sun peeked out for the morning and we didn't even need our jackets- I love those kind of fall mornings!  

Kate was fearless this morning- she was petting goats and pigs and clucking at the chickens.  She was having a ball!  Until she ate it in the dirt by the turkeys.  She ended up scraping her nose up and cutting her lip.  After that- she stayed pretty close.

Kate and Ry checkin' out the baby cow...

Ryan also took a spill in the dirt (can you see all the dust on the front of him in this picture?).  I couldn't get him to cheer up until I took him into the barn that was filled with all this antique farm equipment.  They had an old Ford tractor that he fell in love with and insisted that he have his picture taken with it.  It's so funny and I love it!

Visitors

This last weekend, we had a couple of visitors come and stay with us for a few days... Grandma Jacki and Papa Orllo!  My kids were sooo excited that they were coming- that they kept asking every three minutes when EXACTLY they would be at our front door.  Every time they heard a car door shut- they raced to the front window to see if it was them.  It was really funny.  

My boys were even more excited when we told them that they could go and spend the night with grandma and grandpa in their hotel room.  They "helped" me pack their overnight bag- though they kept trying to put everything in it that they could ever possibly need.  They originally started with bedtime stories and toys and games... finally I sent them outside to play so that I could empty the bag and pack the essentials- they had forgotten they needed room for PJ's and toothpaste.  

We had a lot of fun while grandma and papa were here- we got to go to the zoo Saturday morning...  You can see all of them hanging out in front of the monkey enclosure- though I'm pretty sure the monkeys were on the OUTSIDE of the fence that day if you know what I mean!  

Thanks for making time to come and see us Grandma and Papa!  We miss you!

Mr. October

I kind of forgot to put an "after" picture on the previous post.  I made this big deal about how much better Ty is doing and how crappy he looked and acted before... HELLO!!!  How about some awesome "afters" since that's where we are now and where we are planning to stay?!?  Silly mom.  Well... as a compromise to all of you (yes I know- there's about three of you)- I will post these super-awesome pictures I snagged of Ty playing baseball the last couple weeks.  I LOVE fall ball- I remember watching my brother's games when I was growing up and I always loved fall ball.  So do my boys- Ty got drafted to the Angels team this year.  He has an amazing coach who has been such a blessing to Ty- and has really, really worked with these boys trying to help them better understand the game and the mechanics as well.  Thanks to Coach Carter- it's been an awesome season so far!

Eyes on the ball Ty...  :)

Ty has since received a "new" bat from Grandpa JB and Uncle Dave.  They refashioned an old bat that used to be Dave's.  They sanded it down, put a new grip on it and painted "Kidd" along the top.  It's very cool and Ty thinks it's lucky.  (I'm so happy that grandpa and uncle Dave got him to buy into the baseball superstitions so early.  I tell you now though- if he starts trying to wear the same socks for each game... I'm putting my foot down.)  Ty got a two big hits off of it the first game he used it- so he's convinced.  

6 Months Out

Remember this little guy?  This picture was taken 6 months ago- back in March, right before Ty's Endoscopy...  

As I look at the picture... I can see how sick he is...  It makes me sad.  And a little mad.  But we'll stick with sad because anger just stresses me out.  His little face is so pale- I know it's spring time and he has some winter pasties- but it goes beyond that!  Look at the dark purple around his eyes.  Good grief he must have been so tired.  And he's so skinny.

My avid blog followers (all three of you) know that three months after this picture was taken, Ty had gained 6 pounds and grown 2 1/2 inches.

Now at six months post endo...  Are you ready?  Ty gained another 4 pounds and grew another inch.  His anti-body numbers are WAY down from where they were.  Remember they were at 100?  They are now at 24- which is so much closer to the mark he's supposed to be at!  We're not quite there yet- but I have no doubt we'll get there!

We haven't been without our bumps in the road... Remember I told you about Ty's insistence at having hot lunch at school?  We gave it a go for about four weeks.  And then the school called and told me that Ty threw up at recess.  I raced over and picked him up- immediately asking the secretary what he'd had for lunch.  It was just a hot dog- but I question the bun.  And apparently so did Ty.  He's pretty sure that's what made him sick (and so am I).

This was an interesting trial period- but I think we are done with hot lunch.  Bless the school and the secretary for trying- but I think there was some cross contamination going on somewhere due to some behavior issues we saw re-surface in Ty.  He'll kill me for putting this on the blog one day- but that's so far away from now- I'll worry about it later.  But we saw bed-wetting again.  Ty had issues with it for a long time, and when we took him off gluten- it all but disappeared.  With the entrance of hot lunch- we had more and more instances of it.  Ty was also a little more short tempered- which could have been attributed to being tired- 1st grade is hard and it is a long day for a little guy... but Ty had a pretty short fuse the last couple weeks.

He's been back on home lunches this week and it's been a world of a difference.  He's happier.  He's more helpful.  He doesn't seem as stressed out.  And he's been dry all week when he gets up out of bed in the morning.  What's more- Ty admitted to my mom yesterday that he "just didn't feel as angry anymore."  How huge is that for a 7 year old to be able to recognize?

That said... I need lunch helps!!!!  What do you guys send with your little ones??  I've been experimenting with different breads in order to have a sandwich... But what else is there besides a lot of prepackaged stuff?  Do you make the extras you send with your kids?

Gluten-ed

Heaven save our family from all the gluten in the world!

Ty and I got "gluten-ed" this last weekend and I guarantee you- it has been the pits getting it out of our system.  I read on Google that it can take up to 14 days to get it completely out of your system.  TWO WEEKS!!!  Now- whether that is complete hogwash or not- I don't know... you'll have to do your own research.

And here's the rub- I have actually had a ton of conversations with a lot of different people in the last couple of weeks about gluten and behavior... I am NOW a COMPLETE believer in the connection between my kid and what he eats.  I'm the first to admit that Ty can be difficult- but since his diet change- he has been a more mellow, easy going kind of guy.

Enter gluten.

It's like something from an alien predator movie.  Monday morning (two days after his unfortunate meeting with wheat) I asked him to change his shorts into something more appropriate for school (he was wearing gym shorts with cowboy boots and a too small Star Wars t-shirt... I'm all for personal expression- but I figure we keep these kind of "expressions" for Saturdays), and you would have thought I had asked him to chew his own arm off.  He FLIPPED out!

And really- our day spiraled down from there.  And it's been this way since Friday.  Today is Wednesday and I finally feel like we're getting back on track.  Is that crazy??

What have we been feeding our kids?!  The interesting thing to me is how much worse the reaction is NOW verses when he was ingesting it all the time.  Is it because his body is trying to heal?  Or it's on it's way toward healing?

It's times like these that I wish I was a dr and had all the answers.  Sigh.  Back to Google I guess...

Pictures from the First Day of Preschool

Ryan was so excited for his first day of school to finally get here.  He hated watching Ty go off for a new day at school and he was "just stuck at home AAWWWLLLL day".  I took this with a grain of salt, remember all to well what happened last year on the first day of preschool.  Ryan cried and cried and all but refused to let go of my hand.  This continued for about three months before he was finally content to be left at school.  I figured he was all talk and that his bravado would end up being just a little on the weak side.

But the first day of school dawned bright and warm.  And Ryan was ready!  We shined his glasses and spiffed up his hair!  He put on his new socks and tennis shoes and grabbed his school bag!

And he waited for me, Kate and Ty to get out to the car.  He kept yelling at us to hurry up!  

I know he's kind of blurry here- but he's trying to show off his new school bag.

And I still think he looks so cute in his new glasses!  In fact- he looked odd without them last night when he took them off to go to bed.  Funny how glasses just become a part of you isn't it?

And you know what?  All my worry was for naught (it usually is these days- I should just stop worrying).  He bounced out of the car and waved good-bye to me.  And he ran inside.  With no help from me.  Or his teacher.  He just... ran inside.  Like all was right with the world.  Or his world anyway.

I talked to his teacher when I picked him up and she said he was just fine inside too.  That he hung up his bag without a hitch and got right down to the business of playing while the other kids made their way inside.  She said he was attentive and helped the kids that were sad.

Huh.   I guess I underestimate him sometimes.  Here's to you Ryan.  And to another year of preschool!