Junior Jazz

Ty worked hard this fall in order to save up enough money so he could play Junior Jazz again this winter.  Shaun and I made a deal with him- he can play anything he wants, but he has to earn half of the money.  For a 7 year old that does not have steady job or an allowance- this can be a tall order.  But he is so good about it.  He vacuumed lots of stairs (50 cents per flight of stairs), washed down plenty of baseboards (75 cents) and helped me shovel snow more times than we could count ($1).  I don't believe in paying kids to do things that they should be doing anyway (ie:  making their beds, putting their clothes away, taking the garbage out, etc), but I don't mind paying a little extra when they put forth a little extra effort.  Anyway- he had to earn about $20... which was a lot of work for the little guy.  But in the end- his little piggy bank was chuck full and he had enough to pay for basketball and get a Slurpee on the ride home too.  We're talking about a happy little boy.  

Basketball started about three weeks ago- but since I'm a terrible mother- I kept forgetting my camera.  I finally remembered on Saturday and got to snap a few "action" pics.  

Check out that form...  His dad and grandpa have been working pretty hard with him these days.  I think it may be time to invest in a hoop for the front yard...  Maybe this summer...

I wish Ty's head hadn't been ducked here (he's wearing the red sweat band and has the ball)- he TOWERS over the other kids on the court...

Cousin Cam came to watch with Grandma and Grandpa...

Check out those mad dribbling skills...

Ryan loves to come to the games because he gets to play around with the basketballs that have been left unattended during the game.  And he loves running out on the court during timeouts and halftime to shoot at the big basket.

All three boys goofing off after the game...

What the #$(^&!

I hate snow.  I am the kind of person that was MADE for the beach.  Soft, white sand...  Blue water... Waves crashing on the beach... Ahhh....

But... Beaches I have not.  What I do have... is a lot of snow.  A lot.  We had a massive snowstorm on Thursday/Friday/Saturday that I am still trying to dig out from.  My neighbor took a measurement from the middle of his front yard... Are you ready?  From one snowstorm... we have 24" of new snow in our front yard.  That's two freakin' feet!!  Are you kidding me!?  Guh.  I know it's January and it's that time of year and we live in Utah... it just makes me wish we didn't!!

The kids like it though... They spent as much time as they could outside.  I gave Ryan a snow day on Friday because I wasn't sure I'd be able to get back to his preschool in time to pick him back up- so he spent the morning tromping around in the backyard making a trail for Kate.  Kate couldn't handle the snow on her own and was very grateful for the help from her big brother.  

This picture is one of Ryan- he sat down in the snow to take a bite... and it covered his body!!

Sledding

I looked up the definition of sledding.  It said the following about a sled: 

1 : a vehicle usually on runners for transportation especially on snow or ice; especially : a small steerable one used especially by children for coasting down snow-covered hills

Now... think of that definition.  Coasting down snow-covered hills.  This is the sledding that I remember doing growing up.  Trudging up HUGE icy hills (I also remember falling down a lot on those hills) for a two second ride.  And while the ride was always fun...  The bottom of the hill always symbolized the fact that I had to climb the stupid hill again.  

Declo-ites sled differently.  

We went up to visit Grandma and Grandpa for New Years and our cousins wanted to go sledding.  'Woop-dee-freakin'-do' I thought to myself.  Until we went out side.  Papa had hooked up two big sleds to the back of his 4-wheelers!  This is the life- let me tell you that!  The kids were soo excited!  And I'll tell you now- I took a ton of pictures- so bear with me!

Ty and Deja...

Papa...

Grandma Jacki...

Ty liked to pretend he was some kind of daredevil.  Needless to say- he fell off a lot.

Dani and Krew...

Krew...  

Dani...

Shaun...

Uncle Chase...

This was my favorite... We piled ALL the little ones onto one sled (except for Krew) and sent them off!!

Blurry, but still cute!

Dani did make Krew get on a sled though.  He was freezing when we pulled him off!

Reminds me of the Dixie Chicks (remember them?) song "Wide Open Spaces).  So pretty with the snow!

Papa again...

I think they were starting to get tired... what do you think?

Dani... trying to get dumped...

Chase and Dani...

Then we put the girls on one... Apparently Kate couldn't see a thing though since her  hat was down so low!

And my boys...

They got dumped... Ryan was less than impressed.

Krew didn't last the whole afternoon...

We had so much fun and I will never again think of sledding in such a boring way!  

And lastly... a couple pictures of my babies...  I am finding more and more that I am loving the "big kid" stage!!  

Pinecones and Holly Berries

I kind of put my cart before my horse.  I posted about resolutions BEFORE I got my Christmas pictures up. I hate that.  Disorder and chaos are not my friends... though I have to admit they are a bigger part of my life than I would like.

That said... how about some Christmas?!  Now... to preface the pictures in this post... I am a terrible mother.  I totally forgot to take pictures of my kids on Christmas morning- so most of these are from my mom's house later in the day.  Oops.  Better luck next year.

We started Christmas morning at about 7:30- I don't know what it is about Christmas but it is the ONE day out of the entire year that my kids sleep in.  It's super annoying.  The boys crept up the stairs and stopped for a peek in the living room before they tore up the stairs into our bedroom crying "SANTA CAME!!!"  My sister and her husband (who live next door) came over early to watch the kids and ring in the holiday.  It was so fun!  Then I started on breakfast and invited my brother, his wife and little boy and my parents down for breakfast.  We had sausage casserole, German pancakes and a grain free Monkey Bread.  It was all very tasty.  It's quite honestly one of my favorite parts about Christmas morning.

We spent the day playing with new toys before we headed over to Grandma Janet's house for an early dinner and another go-round with presents.  The kids were in heaven.

This year Kate was ALL girl and her presents reflected that.  Santa brought her a new kitchen and she was so excited to open the new dolls her brothers gave her.  She calls every doll that isn't a baby doll a Barbie- so if you pass her on the street and she goes on and on about her Barbies- you'll be in the know.  My mom gave her the Little People Princess Castle and we set it up in her bedroom.  For about a week after Christmas, Shaun and I would wake up in the middle of the night to hear her in there playing with it.  It was cute.  Until we got tired.  And then the Princess Castle had to go out into the hall for bedtime.  (We're so mean!!)

And I'll preface this picture of Ryan by saying "WHAT THE HECK?!"  Why is it that almost all of the pictures I take of this kid- he is covered in food??  Someone pass the kid a wet-wipe.  On a jollier note- he also had a wonderful Christmas this year.  He spent soo much time picking out the exact right Barbie doll for his sister and the exact right Star Wars books to give Ty- that he didn't spend a lot of time thinking about what he wanted for Christmas this year.  He told the Santa that came to his preschool that he wanted a remote control helicopter this year- but I think it was because all his friends asked for the same thing.  Santa ended up bringing him a couple new spaceships to add to his collection and he loved them!  Woohoo!

And then I have to giggle when I see this picture of Ty... Apparently I just shouldn't have been taking pictures on Christmas anyway- because all of my kids were having issues.  Kate looked dopey, Ryan was wearing his food and Ty had the remains of a crazy black eye.  Black eye you ask?  Yes.  Ty wouldn't leave Kate alone and she head-butted (is that a word) him and he ended up with a black eye.  He promises from now on to pick on kids his own size.

Ty had a good Christmas too... but not in the sense that they have been in the past.  Ryan and Kate got new toys that they dug into immediately.  Ty got new books and some new Legos.  He was another tough one for Santa to figure out this year...  Ty didn't even write a letter to the big guy because he just didn't know what to ask for.  So Santa brought him some Star Wars Legos.  And let me tell you- they have been worth their weight in GOLD!!  He spends hours putting them together and building new spaceships.  I love them.  And so does he.

This happens to be the only halfway normal picture taken of me on Christmas... And I'm not even looking at the camera.  To be fair- Shaun had his eyes closed for every picture taken of him... so apparently Christmas pictures aren't our thing.

Despite picture fiascos... we had a very Merry Christmas this year.  We spent the majority of the month trying to keep in mind what Christmas is all about and we hope to keep that spirit with us as we go throughout the rest of the year.  I know I always say that- but every year I mean it.  There is something so amazing about the holidays- I hate to see them end.  Nevertheless... bring on January!

Resolution? What Resolution?

I'm not much of a resolution kind of person... I never did understand why a person needs a special date to decide to make something better.  If there is a problem- fix it when you realize you need to, and if that day is in late December why put it off until January 1?  That said- I have been blog surfing this week and I came across one that had a beautiful idea.  Instead of a laundry list of official New Year's Resolutions, she picked one word to describe what it is she hopes to accomplish over the course of the year.

Now this is something I can get on board with.  It doesn't necessarily stay the same throughout the year.  It's more fluid.  An idea rather than a set statement next to a waiting empty box.  The ideas can change as you get closer to your perceived goal.  I'm not only intrigued... I'm hooked.  And even though we are a couple weeks into the new year- I decided that this was worth some thought.

So I thought on it this morning at the drs office.  And I thought some more while I was waiting to pick up Ryan from preschool.  And I thought about it this afternoon as I was making blueberry muffins.  And I think I have to pick two words.  One for me and one for my family.

For my family, the word is HOME.  There is admittedly a lot of crap going on in the world today.  There have been recent shootings and scary things going on in the economy that makes me want to hold my little family a little closer this year.  But they are getting bigger and I can't pack them around in my arms all day- I'm not strong enough and quite frankly- even if I did have the upper body strength to lug three kids and a husband around all day- they wouldn't let me.  My kids are getting a taste of some independence and my husband doesn't think my jokes are that funny (even though I KNOW my jokes are freakin' hilarious).  But what if I made a solid effort to make our house more of a home?  A tiny sanctuary from harsh words and belligerent bosses.  A house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.  It's a tall order... especially the part about a "house of order"... that one makes me cringe a little bit.  But I want a HOME where we can all feel peace and love.

For myself, the word is HEALTH.  This is another big one.  But I want to be clear- I don't care about losing weight or getting washboard abs.  These are resolutions from another time.  I want my body to function the way it was meant to function.  I want to wave an eternal good-bye to migraines and "tummy troubles".  I feel like I have made great strides in figuring out what makes me feel sick and what doesn't.  I am promising myself that I will stick to those foods and try hard to remember that the way I feel when I eat certain things JUST ISN'T WORTH IT anymore.  Sleep is another big one for me.  Better bedtimes for this old lady.  And exercise.  Again- this isn't about being "ripped" or lifting things up just to put them down again.  I want my body to feel good.

Anyway- I know this is probably a lot of rambling, but I don't keep a journal and I had to write this down somewhere.  So here's to 2013... may it bring us all more peace and love and maybe a little more understanding of the world around us.

What Child Is This

Sooo... a question for my talented friends out there... What photo editing software do you use?  I have been using this wonderful free one... and now they have decided to charge for it.  So I thought I would check out other options.  

Onto other things though.  It is the Sunday before Christmas and I have been waiting for some snow to take pictures of my kids in their Christmas clothes.  But the weather man has thwarted me.  And despite a dead looking background- my kids still look pretty cute.  

If you look closely you can see the shiner on Ty's right eye.  He lost a fight to Kate last night.  Hee hee.  I told him that next time he better pick on someone his own size.

Here Kate is trying to show me her "sparkly" shoes...

And blowing me a kiss...  Something tells me we are in seriously TROUBLE with this little one!

Ryan can't see a camera and make a normal face.  I think he gets it from his dad.

And when I do get a good one... I notice (obviously too late) the food he has crusted on his lower lip.  Sigh.

The hair on this kid is unbelievable.  I'm totally jealous.

Again- emphasis on the sparkly shoes... though paired with these socks I'm having images of The Wizard of Oz... Wicked Witch of the East anyone?