Christmas countdown

It's almost here! I'm so excited! But I still have a lot to finish before the big day!

Growing Up

So, we are all growing up around here. First off, I had a birthday last week. The big 27! And what did I get? A minivan. Oh, how sad. The day has finally arrived that I join all the other mom's cruising around in a minivan. (I still have to act tough, and can't admit that I am loving it.) I really felt like part of the club when I took Ethan to preschool this week. For the last 6 months I have been the only mom there that was not in a van or an SUV. I finally caught up, and was one of them. It was big news.

Poor Max (my Maxima) has to be passed on to Zak now, who is still kind of bummed about having to sell his Cavalier that he has had since before we got married. It was his college car, with the sound system and custom wheels and all. He had to grow up too, I guess, and move onto the family sedan.

Ethan has been becoming the best big brother. He and Colby were playing out in the backyard the other day. Ethan made up some game to play that seemed to be something about Colby riding on a bike, and Ethan pushing him into the soccer goal to see if he gets caught in the net. (I know, it sounds like fun, but please finish reading this post before rushing out to play it.) As you might imagine, Colby did get caught in the net, well at least his hand did, and got his finger hurt. I heard him cry out, and started to go help, when I heard Ethan taking care of the situation himself. He helped Colby get untangled and told him sorry a few times. He asked if he was okay, kissed it better. And then told him, "I'm sorry Colbs, I didn't know that could happen to you. This must not be a good game for us. I must think of something else for us. C'mon buddy." And off they ran to find the next adventure. I could not believe how grown up my little boy seemed!

Finally, my baby is getting all grown up. Just over the last few weeks, we have seen Colby change a lot. He is talking a lot more. He is no longer afraid of nursery (that only took 3months) and he is actually excited about it every Sunday. He is also being more social with friends and family that he used to be afraid of. It's so fun. We took one of the sides of his crib off a couple weeks ago, so he is now in a big boy bed.

He is having some trouble adjusting to that, but he is doing pretty well. He has also grown out of his 18 month clothes, and is on to 24 month/2T stuff that just makes him seem so much older. Zak and I both just keep commenting on how different he is from a few weeks ago, and how much he is growing. Although these are all great steps for him, I am a little sad that my baby doesn't seem to be such a baby anymore!

The boys at play...

Just some shots of all three of the boys playing together. Colby's favorite toy? His dad, of course. I'm sure they will all clean up the mess as soon as they're done!

"Santa's List"

Ethan told me last week that he needed to make a "Santa's list". We got a pen and some Christmas paper, and I let him tell me what to write. Here is what he wanted to write to Santa:

Dear Santa,

Could you put some presents in our presents, please?

Could you get me some lunch please?

Could you go to the barn someday?

Could you tell the farmer to get us some sheep sometime? I mean some horses to ride, 'kay?

Could you please get me some candy for next year?

Could you give me some movies? The Ninja Turtle one and Sand Club (or Sand Lot).

Then could you please get us a cornbrella for the rain?

Love,

Ethan

I'm not even sure where Ethan heard about writing letters to Santa, because we haven't started that tradition yet, but he sure was excited about it. I thought his requests were great. That boy sure makes me laugh!

Elf Family

We were just dancing around in the backyard the other day and decided to film it. Enjoy.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1117810505

We are just trying to be as cool as the Mitchells!

It's up

We did not waste any time getting our house decorated for Christmas this year. On Friday, just after doing some shopping, I got the tree up and then yesterday I was able to put out the other decorations throughout the house. I love the tree! We got it from our friends last year after Christmas, so this was the first time we had used it. It is a 10-foot tree, and we are used to just a 6-foot tree, so we had to buy some new ornaments to help fill it up! Zak worked on the outside lights yesterday. I know, it is still November, but we were so excited we couldn't wait. We love the Christmas season so much! I love to decorate and celebrate every holiday, but Zak only seems to get really excited about Christmas. It is fun to do all the festive things together.

We have been listening to Christmas music, watching Christmas movies, and reading Christmas books at bedtime. Poor Ethan is going to have a hard time waiting a whole month for Santa! He keeps asking, "When is the real Christmas going to come?"

Colby learned the word "Halloween" when we were always walking around our neighborhood looking at Halloween decorations in October. Now anytime he sees any Christmas decorations, he still gets excited and says, "Halloween!!"

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

We had such a fun Thanksgiving! We spent it with my sister Kerri, and all her inlaws out at their family ranch. Zak got to spend the day shooting guns and riding quads, while the kids ran around the backyard chasing the sheep and Anthony the goat. I spent a lot of the time looking through all the newspaper ads to find the best deals for Black Friday. We ate some great food, and then played some more. A little frisbee golf and a game of softball. We had a lot of fun. Maybe we'll have to invite ourselves to more of their family get-togethers!
The shopping on Friday was not as good as I had hoped. I am not one of the real crazy ones that wakes up before daybreak, so I didn't get to the mall until about 8:00. By then, the crowds were still pretty bad, the lines were still really long, and most of the good stuff was sold out! I guess I should wake up earlier! I did get some good stuff, and it was fun to get started with the Christmas shopping. I have been feeling really behind because usually I am almost done with my shopping by now!
On Saturday, we went up to my Mom's for another Turkey dinner. We had lots more good food. I think I am done with turkey for awhile! It was fun to get together with the fam again. We always have a good time, even if it is a little crazy with so many energetic kids running around.
While we were up in Gilbert, I met up with Emily and Scott, who were in town for Thanksgiving too. It was so good to see them and catch up a little and meet little Logan! Em, we forgot to take any pictures! And we had such big plans!
Hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving!

Count your many blessings...

So this week I'm sure we are all thinking about the things we have to be thankful for. I was really inspired by the talk President Eyring gave in this last conference called "O Remember, Remember". He talked about how we need to find ways to recognize and remember God's kindness. He gave a great idea for all of us to better recognize and remember ways we have been blessed. He says we should write down--daily if possible--ways that the Lord has blessed us. This will not only help us to remember, but will help our children or others later as they see the ways God cares for each of His children. I thought it was a great talk, and thought it was worth reading again, especially this week. To read the talk, click here.
I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Running like the wind, or a slight breeze maybe

Zak and I ran the Gilbert Days 5K last Friday. It was the first race either of us had ever run, and it was fun to do together. We were not so fast, but we didn't embarrass ourselves too bad. I came in at about 30 minutes, and I beat Zak by about 10 seconds (I like to rub that in!). I had decided prior to the race that I am done with running, because I don't enjoy as much as I try to convince myself to. Anyway, right after the race, I decided that I still don't really like running, but I like racing a lot (even if I am still not very good), so it has motivated me to keep running and training for the next race.

My latest project

Here is my latest project. I just finished this pillow last night. Good thing, since Thanksgiving is now only two weeks away! It feels so good to actually finish something every once in awhile! I have some cute patterns and ideas for Christmas projects that I need to get started on too.
Zak and I also have been working on getting our garage more organized lately. Yesterday we hung up some pegboard. It was also a project, but not as exciting to look at, so no pictures of that. Sorry.

Patients and Patience

This week we have been dealing with two sick kids. Colby just got over some sort of stomach flu, and Ethan is still dealing with croup. Since they have both been feeling sick, and have been contagious, we have spent the last 4 days couped up in our house. No church, no preschool, no playdates. You find out really quickly how much patience you have when you have two kids that are sick, bored, and wanting attention at all times, especially when one of those kids has not yet learned how to tell you what he wants. Colby is at the tough stage of toddlerhood when he knows what he wants, but he does not yet know how to tell me. Needless to say, it is not so fun for him, or for me. Anyway, I found that I do not have enough of this much needed patience! Hopefully they will be feeling better soon, and we can all get back to the normal routine.

Trick-or-Treat!

We had so much fun trick-or-treating last night! We had two of my sisters and their kids, my mom, and our friends Mike and Carrie and their kids all join us. We got the whole crew dressed and ready and set out like a mob looking for our candy. Colby did not like being in his elephant costume or in his stroller, and he was screaming and crying because I would not let him play with all the neighbors Halloween decorations. He only lasted for a few houses, and then I had to take him home, but the rest of the kids did great and had a lot of fun. A lot of our neighbors go all out with the decorations and the music and all. There was even one house that turned the whole garage into a haunted maze for the kids to walk through. I missed that one, but I hear it was pretty scary. Ethan just keeps talking about it! I love celebrating holidays with kids! It is so fun!
Here is Ethan in his Ninja Turtle costume. The plan was to go homemade, but he was too picky, and the Walmart version was cheaper, so that's what he got! He looked awesome.
Here's my neice Madison, and nephew Wyatt as scary skeletons. My sister does homemade costumes every year and they always turn out so cute!!
Here is my nephew Jackson as such a cute monster.
Here is my niece Olivia as a unicorn. She couldn't wait for me to take the picture before putting the next piece of candy in her mouth!

Like I said, Colby did not like being in a costume, so I did not get any pictures of him, but he was so cute as an elephant.

Happy Halloween everyone. Hope you all had a fun night too!

Jack-o-lanterns

Here are the jack-o-lanterns we carved at the last minute so we could have them done before halloween. The kids were no help at all. They did not even seem interested until it was time to light them! Ethan did have some say in what his face looked like, but he would not stick around long enough to watch me carve it. Anyway, Zak did the cool spider one, which took him a long time to get just right. While he worked on his, I cleaned out and carved the other three! Mine was the polka-dotted one (or the swiss cheese one as my brother-in-law called it). I used Zak's drill with a big bit to make the holes. He was thrilled, especially when he saw the pumpkin guts all over the drill! Ethan's is the green one (of course) and Colby's is the happy little one. I think they turned out pretty good. Here they are all lit up.

Road Trip!

We drove up to Pleasant Grove, Utah for Grandma Ruby's funeral last weekend. It was a long drive, and Colby did not have so much fun being strapped in a car seat for that long. Ethan did pretty well as long as he could watch movies the whole time! It was good to get up there and visit with so much family and some friends, but we are hoping to not have to do that drive any time again too soon!
Along the drive, we went through Flagstaff and drove by our old duplex, and our old apartments, and through campus. It was fun to see everything and to remember some of the fun times back in our college days (doesn't that make us sound old!). We could not believe how much NAU has changed over the last few years!

Grandma Ruby

Last week my Grandma Ruby passed away. Her 98th birthday would have been this week, so she lived a long, happy, healthy, and productive life. She had 6 children, 31 grandchildren, 63 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild, so a total of 101 descendants, and she was sharp enough to be able to name everyone of them. She has always been a good example to me and everyone else and she will be greatly missed. We love you Grandma!

My Superheros

The boys were playing around in their superhero pajamas last night, and they looked so cute I had to snap some pictures.

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday the boys and I went with Ethan's preschool class to the pumpkin patch. It was really fun, and we got some great pumpkins. Here are some of the pictures from the patch.

Fun times

This weekend we went up to the Phoenix area (again!!). I went to a baby shower for my friend Heidi from high school. It was fun to see her. It's been so long since I saw any of my friends from my GHS days! After the shower, I met back up with Zak and the boys. We went with Zak's brother Christian and his wife to the Maricopa Founders Day celebration. It was a pretty fun little party. Ethan loved the giant blow up obstacle course that we had to wait in line for about 30 min to get to. (I was about to fight some little kids that kept cutting in line--but that's a whole other story). There were different bands playing throughout the day. We went over and sat down in the grass by the stage to watch Anarbor. The boys loved it. They were both rocking! They were dancing like crazy. It was fun to watch.
It was especially fun to get out and do something different! It's been nice that we have been able to do more exciting things lately than sit around the house because it is too hot to do anything else. It seems like when we are out doing things, the boys actually behave better and get along better. It's kind of weird. Maybe they just get so bored at home that they pick fights with each other! I don't know what it is, but they do seem much easier to handle when we are out doing something that is different than our everyday routine. Does anyone else ever notice that? Is it just my kids?

The Zoo

Last Friday we went to the Tucson zoo. I love our zoo because it is fairly small (you can see the whole thing in about an hour), but there are still lots of cool animals to see. We get a membership every year so that we can just head down there whenever we want, and now that the weather is getting so nice, we will spend a lot more time there!

Here's Colby. He loved the zoo. This was the first time we have gone since last winter, so it was the first time he was really able to enjoy it. He was so entertained by all the animals and the people (and of course a couple handfuls of goldfish crackers) that he never even complained about being in the stroller. It was great.

Here's Ethan and his friends watching the zebras. We have been doing more playdates with some of our friends in the ward and Ethan is loving it because he has so many boys to hang out with. It seems like he has always just had girlfriends to play with, so it is fun for him to find some new friends that he can be wild and crazy with!

I just had to put the picture of the tiger in. I love tigers. She was just pacing back and forth right at the front of the cage. It was pretty cool.

Splash Park

I know some of you have already had some snow at your houses, but we are still having very warm days here. We spent the other day with some of our friends from our ward at a Splash Park. The boys had a lot of fun. Ethan was worried about getting wet at first, but once he got in there, he loved it. Colby kept running into the water, getting soaked, and then running back to me and giving me huge bear hugs, so I ended up pretty soaked too. This was the first time we had tried this park, but I'm sure we will be back there. It was great, and free! It doesn't get much better than that!

Disco Fever

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!We liked the Square Dance so much, we decided to do a Disco too.

Celebrating Fall

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!We got together with some of the cousins for our annual square dance. The kids are getting pretty good. And Wyatt doesn't look too bad in a dress!

Keeping up with the Crizers...

I finally got around to doing some scrapbooking for the first time in over a year. It started with me just trying to organize some pictures into albums while I was listening to Conference yesterday. I should have been better and just focused on listening, but I always feel like I have to multitask....Anyway, I actually made some progress on Colby's baby book, and pages for our family book. It felt good to actually use some of my stash of scrapbooking supplies that has been hibernating in my closet for way to long. Maybe I'll try to scan and share some of the pages soon.
BTW-The Crizer family is our "adopted family" up in Utah. They are the ultimate scrapbookers and they try to teach and inspire me to keep up, even if it means dragging me to the warehouse sales and buying me trunkloads of supplies! Love you guys! Thanks for helping me step up my game!

Grandma Jeanne

Zak's Grandma Jeanne passed away last week. She has been sick for quite awhile, and we just found out a couple weeks ago that on top of everything else, she had a large mass of cancer in her stomach. She was moved to hospice and Zak was actually able to drive over there for a weekend to visit with her one more time. She will be missed. We went to El Paso for the funeral. As always, it is not fun to get together for that type of occasion, but it is still good to be able to visit with family we don't get to see very often.

Late night party!

Last night, the boys were so crazy! They were running around the house full-speed trying to see who could yell the loudest. Then they started the nightly wrestling match. Then they splashed pretty much all of the water out of the bathtub. After all that, what better way to end the night than a dance party? Ethan knows how to turn on Zak's alarm clock radio, and then turn the volume up really loud (which always seems to surprise Zak the next morning when it is blaring at 5 am). So Ethan and Colby found some good tunes, and Colby found some nice sunglasses, and they danced and jumped on our bed. They got lots of energy out though so it was really easy to get them to sleep after their little party!

Sugar and spice and everything nice...

My neice Madison had a dance recital this last weekend. She was so cute. It was fun to see all the little girls in their little costumes. My favorite part about it, and this picture captures it pretty well, is that most of them are just up there doing their own thing during the whole dance. It is so fun to watch. All the girls are in little dresses and bows, and looking so perfect up there on stage, and where are my kids?? Ethan had already given up on the recital and was playing at the playground, and Colby found the dirt to play in. Such boys!

Quiet Time

Last Sunday in Sacrament meeting, we were having a really hard time keeping the kids quiet. We were doing the whole stand up, sit down, fight, fight, fight thing the whole time. First Zak took Colby out. Then he took Ethan out. Then he took them both out. We were sitting in front of the whole row of elderly people (you know what I am talking about--every ward has this row), and I felt terrible that we were being so distracting. It was not just us, the Bishop even stood up and addressed all the primary children and told them to remember where they were and that they needed to be reverent. Anyway, by the end of the meeting, I was feeling embarrassed that my kids were acting out so much, and I was frustrated, and I was dreading the nursery drop off...I was doing anything but looking at the positive here, when one of the ladies behind me leaned forward and said, "How nice to have a husband who will take the children out!" That was not the type of comment I was expecting. It made me stop and realize how much I take that, and other things for granted. I have been thinking about it all week. My kids are energetic, which can be frustrating at church or the grocery store or anywhere else that I am trying to keep them somewhat quiet, but with that energy comes so much fun and personality! I would not change it for the world. Also, although parenting can be a lot of work, I have such a good partner to help me out. He is not one of those dads that sits back and watches as the mom takes care of everything. Zak is always right there helping with whatever needs to be done. So even when things get crazy at church, I guess I need to realize that I am blessed to have such fun boys (even with the rowdiness) and such a great husband. I love all of my boys!

Colby's Favorites

Sorry, we still have an old-school camera so there is no sound to this video. But it is still cute, right?
Colby absolutely loves his doggy and his blanky. We always laugh at how he tickles his dog's nose and then snuggles up with it. He is also showing off his new favorite trick--blowing kisses.

Still summer...

Ethan and Colby are always wanting to play outside, but it is still just so darn hot! Today, we stripped off their shirts, put them in the shade, and gave them some Otter Pops. They were two happy kids! We are ready for summer to be over so we can actually enjoy our backyard again!

Why I love preschool

Where else would Ethan be able to make a Cat Clock? Yikes!!

Despite the sometimes scary artwork, I am loving him being in preschool. He loves all the games and songs and everything that he gets to do there. And it is nice to be able to spend some one-on-one time with Colby while Ethan is gone. I still just can't believe how old my boys are getting!

Labor Day

We had a fun Labor Day weekend. Our friends, the Maddox's, came down for a few days, and it was so good to catch up with them. Of course, anytime one of Zak's high school friends comes to visit, we seem to always get a whole crowd together. We didn't really plan anything too exciting, but we had fun just hanging out.

On Monday morning, while Zak was in the shower and I was talking on the phone (with Kerri--so I guess I can blame this on her!) Colby decided to help us get the floor clean. He found the dish soap under the sink, opened the lid, and held it upside down as he walked around the kitchen...through the dining room...down the hall...back to the kitchen...into the dining room again.... It was such a mess! Soap everywhere! I thought, okay, we'll just wipe up most of it with paper towels and then mop the floor to get whatever is left. That did not work! As soon as I started mopping, the mop and the bucket both got full of soap suds, and I was just spreading the mess around. You've got to love concentrated dish soap!

Finally we decided the only option was to pull in Zak's tile cleaning equipment so we could rinse and vacuum up the soapy mess. I was so glad he was able to do that! I could have been mopping for hours! Anyway, thanks to Colby, I got my tile "professionally" cleaned, for the third time in a month!

Tagged!

I've been tagged! Thanks Heather! Here it is:


4 jobs I’ve had:
Shivers and Twists (An ice cream shop that had maybe 5 customers in the 2 months I worked there)
Einsteins’ Bagels
Receptionist at NAU Provost’s Office
Co-Owner of Sunbright Chem-Dry

4 Movies I could watch over and over:
Top Gun (I’ve had it memorized since I was 7)
Pride and Prejudice
Sweet Home Alabama
Hitch

4 Places I’ve lived:
Ogden, UT
Gilbert, AZ
Flagstaff, AZ
Tucson, AZ

4 Favorite TV shows:
Clean Sweep
Lost
The Office
Gilmore Girls (yes, Heather, it is sad)

4 Favorite Places I’ve been:
San Diego, CA
Camping in Rocky Point, Mexico
Provo Canyon in the Fall
My bed

4 favorite foods:
Pretty much any kind of ice cream
Pretty much any kind of Mexican food
Oregano’s Pablo Picasso salad
French toast with strawberries and whipped cream

4 websites I check often:
Hotmail
Blogs
Craig’s List
Overstock

4 hobbies I enjoy:
Reading
Running
Cooking
Scrapbooking (if I ever get around to it again)

4 people I tag:
Katie
Ashlee
Karlie
Emily

Nursery

Colby will be officially part of nursery next Sunday. (Yea!!) Yesterday, I decided to try to get him used to the idea. I took him in there, and was planning on staying with him since he is not so fond of strangers. But as soon as the leaders saw him, they took him, distracted him, and waved me out of the room. I kept checking on him over the next few minutes through the little peep hole in the door (which is the best idea ever!), and he was just sitting there contently. I thought I was home free, so I went to Sunday School. I was even brave enough to pull out my scriptures and everything since I thought I would be in there for the whole class. Boy, was I wrong. After about 10 minutes I hear some screaming coming from down the hall. I went out there and found one of the nursery leaders holding Colby, who is bright red, and coughing because he has been crying so hard. (Why they didn't come get me I don't know.) Anyway, I had to sit with him for the lesson and coloring time. I didn't get to listen to my Sunday School lesson, but at least I got to learn where some different animals live and why we are thankful for our homes. Once the toys came out, Colby got distracted once again and I was able to sneak out to go to RS. Poor kid! Church is always hard enough for him because it is right during nap time, but now I try to abandon him in nursery! Hopefully he will get more comfortable with it and the transition won't be too hard! I would love to be able to listen to a real lesson for the first time in months!

Where's the glass slipper?

This morning I was clearing off our table from last night's dinner so that we would have room for breakfast. (I should have cleared it last night, but that's not the point.) I was holding Colby with one arm, and trying to gather up four plates, four cups, napkins and silverware with the other. Ethan was just sitting in a chair, waiting not so patiently for his breakfast, and telling me, "get that plate...now that one...get that fork...now that one...now that cup...." I, also not so patiently, told him that I couldn't get it all at once because my hands were full. So he told me, "Cinderella puts one on her head, and one on her arm, and then some in her hands."
Now, I don't know what is more disturbing, the fact that my son has watched Cinderella so many times that he knows this, or the fact that he thinks I should be more like Cinderella!

Favorites Fall Swap

My friend just told me about this swap and it sounds like a lot of fun. Check it out. The deadline is this Friday if you want to join in.

Roughin' It

We had our ward campout this last weekend. We had a lot of fun. It made us realize how much we miss the mountains! Here are some pictures.

Tammy, this one's for you

Okay, so my little sister Tammy once had this boyfriend that was, well, interesting. He did not last long, so we didn't get to know him very well. All I really know is he did not wear socks with his shoes (gross) and he liked to use the expression, "That's off the Chain!"

Now, blame my sheltered life or whatever, but I was never quite sure what he meant by that. (Just to clear up--I have heard the expression used around since then, but this was like 3 years ago, and it was not so common, at least not in my limited social circle). Anyway, I found this shirt on Old Navy clearance a few weeks ago, and thought of "Jim" (which was not really his name, but I could never remember his real name, so that is what he was known as in our family). So Tammy, this is for you...

I think it's a pretty cute shirt, but once again, I'm not sure what it's really supposed to mean. Is it saying he's cool, or he's not in trouble? I may never know....

Jim, are you out there? Can you clear this up?

Preschool

Ethan started preschool today! I know it is not officially school yet, but it still feels like a big step for us! Here are a couple pictures of him and Emeline on the first day.

Click to play Make your own Smilebox

Battling Tops

My Brother-in-law Darin has this game that was originally from the '70s that everyone loves to play. Zak even "borrowed" some gore-tex fibers when he worked at W.L.Gore up in Flagstaff (Haven, don't tell!) to use for the launching strings so the tops can get spinning really fast. Here is a picture of Zak and my cute niece, Madison, playing the other night.