Dash's Christmas Program

Earlier this month, the first and second grade students in Dash's school put on a Christmas program.  The high school auditorium was completely packed.  We literally sat on the back row of the balcony.  And we only got those seats because some high school students took pity on us.  Luckily we have a good camera with a big lens.

The first grade class.

Singing and dancing.  I had to pay Dash $3 in bribe money in order to convince him to wear a button up shirt. 

Dash reciting his part.

Waiting patiently while others recite their parts.

During this particular song, the students were suppose to turn and high-five their partner.  Dash's partner was this sweet little girl next to him.  The thought of high-fiving a girl gave him high blood pressure, as can be seen in the following photo sequence.

The high-five.

The touch.

The aftermath.

Family Time

We had a great Thanksgiving with the Madsen family in Idaho this year and then just a couple of weeks later Cam and Ky came to our house for a little visit.  We had a great time and we all agree that we love living closer to more of our family!

Kyle and the boys piled up like a bunch of puppies and while watching a show.

 

1 Going On 15

Ever since our little sister was born people have been warning me about her teenage years.  I used to be so intimidated by the thought of raising a teenage daughter, but those days are gone.  I feel her toddler years are good preparation for anything to come.

Why raising my one year old is just like raising a teenager:

Breeze has an obsession with driving.  She loves trucks, Hotwheels, Barbie cars...if it has wheels she wants to drive.  She particularly loves driving the van while sitting in her Daddy's lap, but if we pass by her friends she ducks out of sight.

She is always on the phone, sometimes literally standing on the phone.  Often she is calling the first person in my contacts list (sorry Aaron) or texting nonsense to members of the ward.

It takes me forever to get her hair done and then she decides she doesn't like it and pulls it all out.  I think she prefers the punk rock look.

Like any teenage girl, Breeze can drive the boys crazy and still get away with murder.  In this case the "boys" are her brothers, but still.  If anyone else ripped up their books the way our Sissy does the boys would lay into them for sure, but Breeze just gets a mild reprimand and then a snuggle.  And that is nothing to the power she has over her Daddy.  I mean, really.

Getting her to properly clean is a nightmare.  Breeze is much more comfortable with throwing dishes on the floor than stacking them in the dishwasher.

Sissy changes outfits several times a day and particularly loves to borrow clothes out of her brothers drawers.  Often she can be found with one of Dash's t-shirts thrown over her head.

Breeze can eat like a horse and hardly gain an ounce.  At her one year old doctor's appointment, Sis weighed in at 18 lbs 11 oz (10th percentile) and was 28 inches long (12th percentile).  However, just like a teenager she has a big head, only hers is literal (65th percentile).

If ever there was a dramatic little fit thrower, it's Sis.  When things don't go her way, she throws herself on the ground, sprawls out on her tummy and cries.  If this doesn't get a good reaction, she'll stand up and move closer to her audience and start the performance again.  

Typical teenager-Breeze is up till all hours of the night and then loves to lounge around on the furniture during the day.

No one in our house spends more time in the bathroom than our little Sis.  Usually she is shredding toilet paper, stirring the water in the toilet bowl, or throwing library books into a full bathtub, but overall I think she is just staking claim to this area of the house.  Poor Daddy.  That used to be his favorite room.  

Breeze's 1st Birthday!

I'm sure it is cliche to say it, but I absolutely cannot believe my baby is a year old.  Maybe it's because she is my first girl, or maybe it's because I've finally learned to pay attention (doesn't seem likely), but it seems like I have literally watched Breeze grow.  A year ago she had a bony little newborn bum and then I changed her diaper and she had rolls.  One minute I could lay her on the floor and come back to her later in the same spot and the next minute I would think she was sleeping and I would find her playing in the toilet.  Where has the time gone?  Seriously, where?  

Looking so stinking adorable in an outfit I've been waiting for her to grow into for 11 months now.

I wanted to make a rosette cake for Breeze's birthday, but I didn't have the right decorator's tip so I had to improvise and the result ended up looking like a creepy brain cake.  "Happy Birthday, Sis! Get use to Mama's mess-ups."  

Breeze was a little creeped out by the candle (oh, alright, it was probably the cake).

But it tasted good!

Breeze got three board books for her birthday.  The cake might not of been all it could be, but she loved her presents.

Dash gave this card to Sis along with a dollar.  Colt was pretty upset he hadn't gotten her anything so he asked if he could claim one of the books was from him.  Sport, on the other hand, just asked if he could claim one of her books.

At Home

While Brandan and Dash are at school, the kids and I stay busy at home.

Colt and his pet worm.  He spent most of the morning cheering on Slimey while he watched him dig into the ground.

 On Wednesdays, Colt and Sport go to a Mom's Preschool.  I taught Colt's class for a few weeks and now I'm taking my turn teaching Sport's class.  Interestingly, the both Colt and Sport are the only boys in their classes.

Colt's class mashing bananas for the banana bread.  B is for banana!

Sport's class during the Halloween party.

 We keep busy, but we like it when Dash gets home too.  A couple of days before Halloween, we got a couple of inches of snow and the boys spent the entire afternoon playing outside.  Sissy was desperate to get out there with them, but I had lots of pre-holiday stuff to do, so I had to innovate.  I moved Sissy's crib over to the window and she spent quite some time enjoying the view.

The boys building a snow fort and Breeze yelling at them through the window.

Halloween 2013

Halloween this year was really fun and really busy.  Brandan and I were in charge of our ward's Soup and Salad dinner and Trunk-or-Treat.  The expectations were high because last year's ward event was decorated by a couple who runs a local spook alley.  I was also asked to help with Dash's class party and the younger boys were very aware of a party at the library that morning that they did not want to miss.

Carving the pumpkins  The boys are super grossed out by the guts.

Sis, on the other hand, loved cleaning out the pumpkins.

The day started with a costume parade at Dash's school.

The younger kids at the library Halloween activity.

Getting ready for the ward party.  All the boys changed their costumes within 24 hours of Halloween night.  Dash decided to be a football player.  He wore Sport's pj pants stuffed with soccer shin guards.  I used tape to put his name and number on the back of his "jersey" and we used knee guards as shoulder pads.  Colt decided he really, really wanted to be Batman even though the costume is a size 10 and Sport decided he hated his Superman costume and wore Colt's soccer uniform instead.  Sissy was the only child I could convince to stick to the original plan.
Oh, and notice the two pumpkins on the right?  Those were literally defaced by the local deer.  A very brass buck to be exact.  He came into the porch alcove and helped himself to the free buffet...while we were home! At 5 pm!

The ward party and trunk-or-treat were a raving successes and the kids came home loaded with enough candy to give them a major sugar high and horribly hard sugar crash.

Breeze found a stray peanut butter cup and ate her way through the wrapper.  Nothing, but smiles.

Sport is 3!!

The countdown to Sport's birthday really begins after Colt's birthday, but we built up a lot of anticipation in those five days.  

The morning of his birthday, I heard Sport calling to me from his bed so I went in and reminded him that it was his birthday.  He shot out of bed, pushed me out of the way, kicked the balloons we had placed outside his door, and raced into the living room where he screeched to a halt and asked, "Where's me burfday present?"

We planned to attend a Halloween party in the evening of Sport's birthday, so instead of choosing a birthday dinner, I let him pick out breakfast and lunch instead.  

And that's how I ended up making Mac & Cheese at 8 am.

Because we had a birthday cake to finish and party treats to make, we had lots of sweets kicking around the house.  Sport made a point of enjoying them all and reminding us that he could because it was his "happy burfday day".

Sport sampled the black frosting we used for Dora's hair.

He also got to lick the brownie batter off all the cooking utensils.

Birthday bliss.

After a lunch of apples, broccoli, and cheese and crackers (all Sport's request), we brought out the Dora birthday brownies.  Sport was completely adamant that he have a "Dora burthday".  You gotta give the people what they want...a Dora cake and a Diego toy.
He was thrilled.  He even made up a little song that went something like this..."Me gotta Dora cake, and its awesome, and I'm three and me gotta Dora cake. Yah! Yah! Yah!"

Sport's Dora cake.

 After treats, we finished off the afternoon jumping on the trampoline and throwing balls around.  Then we all dressed up and headed to our Halloween party where Sport enjoyed more treats and a horrifying spook alley.
It was a great day!

Colt is 5!

Colt has been super excited to turn five.  He had a great birthday.  The only downfall...he knows he starts school when he is five, so he really thought he would be able to go to Kindergarten the day after his birthday.  It's going to be a long 10 months.

The Thursday before his birthday, Colt got to invite some friends over for a "party", aka a play date with cupcake snacks.  He invited over all 3 Linford girls and played house.  He really is a good sport.

Batman cupcakes.  Also, Colt did his hair completely by himself.  He used two brushes and squished his hair into a Mohawk.

His actual birthday.

A Batman cake.  See his shirt?  A new Batman button-up from Grandma C.  Notice a pattern here?  

We opted out of an official pinata and filled balloons with candy instead.  Then we let the boys throw push pins and sharp pencils at the them.  Yep, we did that.

Late...Sissy's Nine Months Stats

Breeze at 9 months
Weight - 18 lbs 12 oz (10th percentile)
Height - 28 inches (25th percentile)
Head - 50th percentile

Breeze started taking steps on her own at 10 months!!
(Disclaimer-she can take 10+ steps at one time, but she prefers to crawl) 

Silly Stories

Dash's 1st grade teacher gives paper money as part of a reward system.  The kids earn money throughout the week and then on Friday they get to "buy" things from her class store.  Within the first couple days of school, Dash had collected quite a little pile of money so he made himself a wallet out of construction paper and tape.  He was so proud of his creation that he decided to offer his services to his classmates...at a price.  He began telling his friends in class that he would make them a paper wallet for one Caught Being Good buck.  After the first day of business, he announced on our walk home that he had already made a sell!  He was elated with his success.  "First day and I already got a customer!"  As often happens, business slowed a bit after his Grand Opening, but he soon found a way to take advantage of some free advertising.  One day during Show-and-Tell he displayed his wallets to his classmates and detailed his prices.  Bingo! Two more orders!

A couple of weeks ago the boys were playing with their train set in their bedroom.  When it was time to pick up I was helping them box the pieces into the three separate containers.  Dash preferred to stack certain items together, but they just weren't fitting and so I repeatedly suggested we try it a different way.  Finally, Dash tossed the pieces into the other box and sarcastically said, "There. Are ya happy?"  A couple of raised eyebrows and a stern "Excuse me?!" from me immediately shamed him and he was all regret and apology.  Colt, on the other hand, completely missed my signals.  Instead, Colt repeated, rather loudly and slowly, "Dash said, 'There. Are.You. Happy?'"

Last month Sport came down with a mystery illness that had him feverish and miserable for several days in a row.  I could never pin down what was making him sick, so one night while he was soaking in a bath I tried again to diagnosis him by asking him about his symptoms.
"Does your throat hurt?"
"No."
Does your belly hurt?"
"No."
"Honey, what's wrong?"
(In tears and wailing.) "I think my hearts missing and I really neeeed it!"

There is no way around it, Sissy is a trouble maker.  She is always throwing dirt out of the potted plants, shredding tissues, or climbing into the dishwasher.  But don't worry, she knows right from wrong.  Whenever we catch her in the act, she frantically shakes her head No...and continues on with her business.  In addition to this, she is learning about sharing.  She knows perfectly well that she hates it.  If Sport is on my lap she will shove at him and scream and if I am reading her a story, she doesn't want anyone else around.  And she defends her territory by whacking intruders on the head with her sweet little fists.

Soccer!!

September = Soccer!  Dash and Colt both played soccer this fall and so most weeks we spent at least four days on the soccer sidelines.  In fact, I even coached Colt's team of five 4 year old boys.  Both boys did so well and even ended up some of the best players on their teams.  And I drastically increased my vocal endurance (1 full hour of "Turn around, our goal is this way!"  "Oops, don't pick up the ball."  "Snacks are for after the game!"  "No pushing!"  "Lets play Ninja Turtles later, okay?"  "Goal!")

Colt making his move.  Colt was a key player on my team.  I dreaded the periods he had to take his turn sitting out because when he was playing I knew we stood a chance.  He probably scored 85% of our teams' goals!

My pep talks.

Dash making his move.  Dash was for sure a key player on his team as well.  He learned scored and passed and was a great defender.  His coach repeatedly told us he was named well.

Dash throwing in the ball.

During one of Dash's games, Brandan and I noticed a group of boys gathered around Sis.  She had them wrapped around her finger and then we noticed her main form of entertainment was pulling her shirt over her head.  Brandan nearly passed out.