Christmas Afternoon 2010

Here is an under-60-second review of Christmas afternoon.......

The Maxfield cousins and Uncle Brendan.

Ryan got Kyson his first Giants hat. This is the first and last time he's worn it. He much preferred the pink BYU hat with bumblebees on it that Kendri got. He wore that all afternoon. (Personally, I think we may have better luck with the purple Colorado Rockies hat ;)

Here's Lexi and Rachel and.......Pillow-Pets. Need I say more? I didn't think so.

Christmas Morning 2010

Here's the Christmas run-down for 2010.......Kyson happened to be the first up on Christmas morning. He wandered into our bedroom at 6:15. He climbed into bed and said "Santa" in his deep dramatic voice. Apparently he understood it when everyone was telling him Santa was coming to his house! So we did what any sane parent would do......we told him to go wake up his sisters! After that we ran downstairs to see what Santa had brought!










This is Kyson's new way of saying "cheese!" I don't know if you can call it "camera-ready" but it is a far cry better than the back of his head. Which is what he used to do any time he saw the camera pointed at him.





Hooray for Christmas!

When we were done opening presents, we tried out our new clothes and headed up to Angel's Camp for our annual Christmas breakfast of crepes. Yummy! And when the cousins made it we had round 2 of presents. We had a great Christmas and the kids loved every minute of it. Kyson had enough sugar to last him for year. We've been on a major detox since then! And let me tell you, it's really improved his attitude! Merry Christmas!

Here Comes Santa Claus......

We went up to Angel's Camp for Christmas Eve (as usual). The kids kept busy by making sugar cookies and talking about how they couldn't believe it was the day before Christmas! We had our annual clam chowder and made sure everything was in order for Christmas.

We have been very fortunate to be on such good terms with Santa Claus.......he made another visit to Gammi's house this year for Christmas Eve. The girls love it and think he is the real Santa. And who wouldn't? He brings gifts and shouts "ho! ho! ho!". Kyson has not been afraid of Santa at all. He just pulled him right on in showed him where to sit. And when Santa pulled a bat and ball out of his big red bag Kyson just about fell over with delight! Thank goodness he made the "nice" list.....

(The pictures are a little grainy. We must not have had enough light.)

After Santa left it was time to head home and go straight to bed. Lexi and Kendri are really good about going to bed on Christmas Eve. I told them if they weren't asleep when Santa flies over our house he won't stop because he'll think they're trying to catch him in the chimney! He, he! And so they sleep.....

Pizza Tour

One of the perks of running your own preschool is that you get to decide what field trips you do. We decided it would be fun to see how pizza is made. Round Table was kind enough to let us in before they opened so we could get a peek behind the scenes! The first order of business was the dough machine.





Then we got to see how it rolls out in this long sheet. The kids also got their own piece of dough to squeeze while we were on tour.

Moving on to the finishing touches. We ended up with half cheese - half pepperoni.

Can you say, "We Love Pizza!" Overall, a very successful field trip!

Christmas Festivities

Hello. I am still here. Just not as often as I should be. Anyhoo, I thought I should talk about some of our Christmas activities. We've only done one so far but we have a full schedule comin' up!

Last Monday for Family Home Evening, we decided to take the family up to Jackson. There was free hay ride going on. We got to see Santa for the first time this year and everyone willingly sat on his lap! (This was the first year Kyson sat on his lap. I think he was asleep last year when we saw Santa.....I'm not sure since my Christmas's have started to blend together. Hmmmm. Anyway, Santa had candy canes so Kyson was on board! Ho! Ho! Ho!)

This is what Kyson looked like the whole night......he didn't see any need to use his hands. And who can blame him, really?

After visiting with Santa we made our way over to the free hot chocolate and Christmas cookies. And let me tell you, there was no skimping on the marshmallows! My hot chocolate was drowned in them. It is the only way to drink it. Yummy! Then it was in line to await our turn for the hay ride. They took us over to the Indian Reservation that is normally not accessible to the general public. Apparently, the people who live there love Christmas. As you will see in the pictures, the lights weren't in short supply either! It was a fun way to kick off December!

I Have a Confession.

I feel terrible about it. It happened at the mall on Saturday and it just spun out of control.

We (meaning Ryan and me) were at Macy's boot shopping for my big day.
When we got there I was little surprised by what I saw. Boots toppled over on every display. Shoes strewn across the floor. Impatient customers hemming and hawing. Hmmmmm.......Yard sale at Macy's????? Interesting. I looked over at a sales rep. Harried and fatigued. Yes, it would appear that Macy's had had a long and busy day. I'd look around anyway.

I found some grey boots to try on and sent my helper back into the great abyss of "Shoe Land" , knowing very well it could take up to 15 minutes before she re-emerged. As I was waiting, an unknown woman approached me wearing two different boots. She asked me my opinion and I said I liked the brown boots. In fact, I really liked the brown boots. I continued to eye them as she paraded back and forth in front of me. Where were those boots? I had combed the area looking at all of them and I had not seen those anywhere. Just then my sales lady brought me my grey boots to try on. I saw the afore-mentioned woman eyeing them. Then I heard her ask my sales rep if she could get a pair of "those grey boots." No. Unfortunately, I had the last pair unless you have elfin feet and can sport a size 6. Disappointed, the woman turned back to her chair about 15 feet from where Ryan and I were sitting. I watched her eye my boots as I tried them on. She watched me from the corner of her eye and wouldn't stop. Like my boots, indeed. Then I watched her put on her shoes, grab her purse and leave.

Well. At least I can wear my boots without vulture eyes, I thought. Yes, I liked the grey. But the brown ones the other lady had tried on were cute too. I couldn't seem to find them anywhere in Yard Sale Villa. She had roughly the same size as me because I heard her request it. And I knew she was waiting around for the last pair of grey boots that I possessed. On impulse I turned to Ryan and said, "Go grab those brown boots and I'll try them on really quickly." After all, where was my sales lady?

Ryan went over and grabbed them just as another woman grabbed a pair of shoes from the same stock pile. He brought them back. Ten seconds later Grey-Boots-Lover came back. Oops. Without thinking I hissed to Ryan, "Put them under your chair." He obliged. I couldn't bear to look over, guilty as I was, so I asked Ryan (who apparently does not suffer from any sort of conscience) for a play by play. She was definitely looking for her brown boots. Shoot. I risked a glance. Now she was asking the other woman (remember the one who also stole a pair of shoes from the pile???) if she knew what happened to the boots. I couldn't hear what was being said but I could see two accusing looks being thrown my way and a dark finger pointing in my direction. I looked over innocently wide-eyed and saw a frowny face looking right back at me.

I won't lie. I felt as though I'd just committed a crime. If not a felony, then at least a misdemeanor. Then I left to "peruse" more boots. Actually I was just trying to avoid a confrontation. I watched Grey-Boots-Lover try another pair of shoes on and walk away from the chair. I booked it over to Ryan and gave him the Put-The-Boots-Back-NOW look. He paused a half a second.

That half-second got him caught. And I never even tried them on.

Pumpkin Patch

We took Kendri's preschool to the pumpkin patch last month. Kyson got to go along by default. Poor Lexi was bummed because her class didn't go this year. We had planned on going as a family but it was raining the day we could go. Oh well. But we did bring her home one of these cute little fudge ice cream cones. That seemed to keep her happy! Yummy!

So here we are at the mini petting zoo.

Want to know what Kyson is doing? He is trying to "giddy-up" the little billy goat. I was slightly shocked we made it through without Kyson getting butted by a pair of little horns. Some of the goats were not so patient! But then can you really blame them? I mean, what would you do if a pair of grimy hands had a death grip on your horn and was shaking it?

Kendri had a good time climbing on the tree. It was pretty cool with the huge limb so low to the ground.

They both made it up the haystack castle. Luckily no one fell off. (I did go up and supervise.)

Kendri likes to pose for the camera. Kyson on the other hand does not. See how Kendri's hand is positioned? She was trying to force him to look at the camera. You can see how well that method worked. I have a million pictures of the back of Kyson's head. Such a little stinker. Must take after his father ;)

Does this remind anyone else of "Lord of the Flies?" I think he totally looks like a little warrior. This was actually the very first thing we did. Kyson immediately found the mud hole. And stayed there.

There were a quite a few classes at Fog Willow the same day as us. Kyson was the only one jumping in the mud. Granted, I'm sure every other mother probably threatened their children with death if they got near the puddles. Not me. I went prepared for mud. I knew it would just turn into a miserable day if I was fighting him the whole time. So I just accepted the fact that I would be toting around a muddy child and we all had a great time! And I must say, he was the life of the party. Everyone loved watching him. (Most likely because they knew they wouldn't have to clean him up.) He'd run through the puddle. And then he'd run back. Then he'd jump the whole way across (splashing anyone within 10 feet, mind you) and then he'd splash back. So in the end, Kyson wore mud all day.

And I rocked my paint clothes. Problem solved.

Happy Halloween!

We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz..........


Can you guess what we are???? My kids hadn't actually seen the Wizard of Oz until the week before Halloween. I sort of planned it for them thinking it would be fun and fairly easy to pull together. ButI had shown them pictures of the main characters on the internet. After they actually saw the movie, they were hooked!

Here we are carving pumpkins. We didn't actually carve our big pumpkin (big pumpkin #2 that is.....it didn't grow nearly as big as our first one :( We sort of just ran out of time. And it's not really ripe yet. Because it was a late bloomer. So now it's just still growing without a cause.....

Spooky!

Most of our celebrating took place on Saturday where we managed to make it to two Halloween parties. The first was at Gammie's ward where she masterminded the show! What a hit! It was set up like a carnival. And we won 10 goldfish. Hooray! Only 6 of them currently swim. The girls L-O-V-E-D it. Their cousins were there and I must say they were so busy winning fish that they hardly ate any candy. When we got home I told them we had to brush their teeth extra good because of all the sugar they had eaten and Kendri said, "Mommy, I only ate one sucker." Oh. I made her brush extra good anyway!

Then we made it to our own ward activity just in time for Trunk-or-Treating and dancing. My kids sure like to shake it! We were there for another hour. We partied hard and now I'm glad it's over! Happy Halloween!

Boys Will Be Boys

Kyson's had a rough day. He kissed the concrete with his face. Okay, so I don't really know what happened because I was not an actual witness to the accident. I had a few varied versions. What I do know is this......there was a curb, a basketball, a dog, and Kyson involved. Now after that, the facts get a little muddled. But here is the end result.

Sampler Platter

Here's a healthy dose of little Reese's for you.....

1. I gave all the kid's haircuts. I'm too cheap to pay for it. And I must say I think I do a fairly good job of it. At least as well as the last one I paid for. I offer to cut Ryan's hair and he acts as if he'd rather eat raw chicken. All I can say to that is, "Puh-lease!"

2. Kendri's new favorite game is "Go Fish". We play almost every day. I'm getting a little sick of it. But she has hard time when Lexi is at school all day and I suppose I make a decent replacement ;)

3. I worked in Lexi's classroom today. We had a "Lock-down Drill". We had to huddle in a corner with the lights off and make not a sound.

4. It was after our lock-down drill that I realized I never signed in at the office as a volunteer. Thus resulting in the missing "Volunteer" badge I should've been wearing. I spent recess turning my back everytime Mrs. Connor came near. Mrs. Connor who undoubtedly would've chewed me up and spit me out. And then happily stomped on me. Perhaps I am the reason lock-down drills are necessary........

5. My kids have been taking turns waking up before 6:00 am. By the time I fall back to sleep my alarm is going off. Someone needs to tell them to sleep while they can!

6. I'm wearing a hologram bracelet. Which means I can do 50 push-ups, run a 4 minute mile and am "balanced."

7. Actually, it was just my alternative to buying a new mattress. I have not yet committed my loyalty to the "positive energies" it gives me. But the infomercial said it works, so it must. ;)

(Just so you know, I am not an infomercial freak. Ryan bought them from someone at work who was selling them for cheap.)

8. The Halloween costumes are ready and waiting.......I'll give you a hint. "Follow the yellow brick road!"

9. Amber is coming out to celebrate my (or should I say "our") 31st birthday. Ahem - Amber, have you got your tickets yet???

10. Kyson likes to "Meep-meep" everyone's noses. The girls are very obliging. What good little sisters!

And that's all for now.......Adios!

Projects

I haven't had any projects for awhile. Not that I'm big into projects, but I do enjoy one every now and then. We decided to do a mini face-lift for the girls' room. And I must say, I love the way it turned out! I don't have a "before" picture, but just imagine a blank wall. We took everything down when we thought we were moving last year. And then I was sick of it and refused to put it back up :)

Ryan painted the tree trunk for me and the flowers are vinyl cut-outs. It was good creative outlet. And now I think Kyson's room needs a little somethin'-somethin'. Just don't know what. I'll have to keep pondering......

1920's

Who are these people, you ask? My Great-great grandma.......oh fine, it's me and Ryan. Ryan and I were invited to 1920's Murder Mystery Dinner. And I must say, we had a blast! I was Glenna Glib, a talk-a-lotta head waitress at a newly opening restaurant. Ryan, on the other hand, was the head of the maffia. Let's just say he off-ed a couple of guys. I have to admit I was a nobody in the whole scheme of things, but I tricked everyone into thinking I was a main player! Hee, hee. It could be because my husband was the head maffia guy and everyone was watching us interact.

I was "lucky" enough to come across a hidden murder weapon and was busy trying to decide who I was going to get rid of when the game ended. I was so disappointed. Ryan had been trying to sway me over to his side of the game by promising me all the "glamour" that comes with being in the maffia but I hadn't been totally convinced. Glenna Glib still had morals. After the game I was trying to figure out why I didn't just sell my murder weapon to "Toto" (Ryan's character) and live a little wrecklessly. Oh well.

Next time.

My Fairy Tale Life

I have a garden. I usually only plant things in the spring but this year I decided to try my hand at broccoli. Tis a fall vegetable. So I planted my little broccoli sprig in my garden the other day with thoughts of self-sufficiency and "grower of life" entitlements racing through my mind. As I planted, Kyson followed me around, mimicking my movements. My little gardner in the making. He helped prepare the soil. He helped dig the hole. He helped pat the earth. He reached over and gave me a loving pat on the back.........errrrrchhhhh. (That means we've come to a screeching halt:)

I was too busy to notice something important. Kyson and his charming little smile. The charming little smile that turned into a wicked little grin.

Kyson was not patting me "'lovingly". Nor was he patting me "encouragingly." He had reached over, pulled my shirt up and shoved a little grubby hand into the waist band my pants. A grubby little hand with a fist full of dirt to be exact. In my pants. And then he let go of his fist full of dirt.

It took a moment to register. And that's when the fairy tale ended.

A Visit to La-La Land

Kendri likes to ramble on about things. I tend to tune her out once in awhile. (I know. One day I will regret that I didn't give my full attention to her nonsensical quizzes.) Anyway, this particular time I was driving and she was going on, and on........and on. About........something. I vaguely recall the alphabet was involved and I was quizzing her on the sounds they make. Ryan called. I got distracted. I think I put a letter out of alphabetical order. And then I went back to get the "W" I had left behind. Meanwhile, Kendri had finished the last few on her own (not in order) and I was trying to get her back on track.

Me: "Kendri, what sound does the "W" make?"

Kendri: "MOMMY. I already did that one."

Me: "No. You did "V". We got out of order."

This converstation goes back and forth like this for about a minute. With me trying to explain how we got off track and Kendri arguing with me. I try different tactic and attempt to change the conversation completely but Kendri will NOT let it drop. So finally I say,

"Kendri. What do you want me to say?"

She is in the back of the car huffing and puffing like this is the biggest deal of the century. And then she answers,

"Mommy. You are, (insert irritated grunt) like, in.........(here she pauses as she searches for the worst possible thing she can say without getting into trouble. And she finally settles on....)

LA- LA LAND!"

What? Me. In La-la land? Well, if I was there I don't know why I ever came back ;)

Family Week Continues.....

I know I made it sound like I was done with family week in my last post but then I decided I'd just suck it up and post the rest of my pictures. You can't call it family week without a little bit of golf! And so our Family Week pictures continue...... Anna and Kendri playing golf.

Kyson was actually quite dangerous to be around during the golf tournament. As you can probably tell in the picture.

Rachel and Lexi. Our little golfers.

Here is Gammi putting a ribbon in Kendri's hair. All the girls had "teenage ponytails" with ribbon.

See? Teenage ponytails. They are also crafting flip-flops by tying fabric strips all over. They turned out pretty cute. So that about sums up our weekend! Thanks again!

Family Week

Over Labor Day weekend we went to Angel's Camp to celebrate our first annual "Gammi and Pa Family Week"! Usually we participate in a community Family Week that is hosted in Gammi and Pa's neighborhood. But this year nobody could go due to other obligations (weddings, Hawaii.....you know. Important stuff.) So Gammi decided enough was enough. She had her own camp! And we had a good time........here are some pictures of us at Lake Melones. Lexi paddling her little heart out. Well, playing with the paddle anyway ;)

Kendri and Pa getting ready to go for a ride on the '94 SeaDoo's. (I think they are '94's. If not, then they are even more ancient.)

Lexi and Kendri playing on the beach. I use the term "beach" loosely. Mostly rocks.

Kyson loved the water. We're lucky he didn't drown because he sure thought he could swim! I actually kept a life vest on him most of the time just because when he decided to go in the water he didn't wait around for someone to go with him! So this was the first day of camp. We also had arts and crafts, movie night, hot tubbing and scavenger hunts! (I have more pics but I haven't uploaded them yet. And seeing how September is almost over I decided I'd better just get on with it.) We had a ball. Thanks Gammi and Pa for a fun-filled weekend!

What?! No one told me that.

Kyson discovered he had holes in his nose this weekend........

Preschool with Kendri

Kendri started preschool.....whooo hoooo! She's been dying to go to school. And when she found out she didn't get to start until a full month after Lexi, she did in fact almost die. But alas, she's been in for 2 weeks now and she loves it so far. I ventured out of my comfort zone and joined a Joy School. It's a home preschool with other mothers. We rotate having school at our homes and being the teacher. I've heard so many good things about the program that I decided I had to try it. It has a similar concept to the co-op Lexi was in. Meaning mothers pretty much run the school. We are really hoping the kids embrace their new school! So far so good.......Here are a few pictures of Kendri's first few days of school.





First day.





Walking to school.

Toe painting.

And waiting for our gingerbread men to bake.

Our first unit is all about the body. So we have fun activities exploring different ideas (like painting with toes) with bodies as the focus. And when we made the gingerbread men we formed the different body parts (sort of like using play-do) instead of just using cookie cutters. The girls loved it. We have no boys in our school yet. Maybe one will join when they see these cute girls ;)

Busy Bees

Want to know what we've up to lately? Here's a list of my top 10 things that have occurred in the last few weeks. Good, bad, and ugly. No holding back people. So here goes, in no apparent order.........



1. I bought some double-stuffed oreos and hid them. Reason #1) If Kyson saw them he'd cry for them non-stop and drive me nuts and #2) If Ryan saw them he'd eat them all and drive me nuts! Therefore imagine my surprise when Lexi came home from school and said "Okay, where are the oreos?" I played dumb. "What oreos?" She came over to me and held up a little crumb - yes, a crumb!- and said, "See? Can I have one?" Nothing gets past that one!



2. Kyson woke up from his nap one afternoon and Kendri and I were giving him hugs and loves when I said, "Kendri, what would we do without our little Kyson?" She didn't even miss beat. She held up one finger like something had just dawned on her and said, "Get a GPS?"



3. Kyson loves it when we water the flowers in the backyard. Mmm hmmm. He likes to slurp up the little puddles on the patio.



4. Ryan was growing his Giant Pumpkin again (Notice the key word "was"). It got stolen last week and was found with the top cut off and lying in a neighbors yard. It was probably close to 70 lbs. I have my sources looking into it for me (meaning my 12 year old neighbor). Some punk kid is going to get it......



5. Lexi and Kendri like to play the "Honey" game. Basically there is a mom and then there is her child or "honey". They like to talk with fake accents and use words like "apparently" and "fantastic". And they only call each other "honey." It can be quite entertaining to hide around the corner and spy on them :)



6. Remember the "Bump-it's" present Lexi got me for my last birthday? Well, she's been begging me to let her wear them to 1st grade. Can you imagine what the teachers would think if I let her go to school with bump-it's??? (I can't risk it. They would want to borrow them........)



7. We checked "Puff the Magic Dragon" out at the library and I read it to Kendri. It made her cry. And then she asked me to read it to her again. She cried again. Three times I read it to her and 3 times she was in tears (nearly sobbing) asking why Jackie Paper had to leave and why he never came back. My explanations didn't help. Poor Kendri.



8. Kyson likes to wear princess crowns and bracelets pushed up to his biceps. Headbands too, if he can wrestle one away from his sisters. So manly. Don't worry he offsets it by waving his nerf gun around menacingly.



9. We were in the car coming home from soccer practice when Kendri announced she knew how to get her shoes clean. And then she proceeded to lick it. Yep. Licked it.



I guess I don't have a #10 so there you go! A little taste of what goes on around here.

Summer Vacation

Here are a few more pictures of our trip. And yes, I'm still talking about my summer vacation. Since school is in full swing that is the only exciting thing I have. Unless you want my minute by minute recap of getting ready for school in the morning. Which could be exciting if you happen to walk by my door while I'm using my "outdoor voice" and hear me say something about making beds...(HURRY)......or eating breakfast....(we're runnning LATE)....,or brushing teeth in the CAR!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, could be exciting.

Anyway back to the topic at hand. We went to the Alpine slide and everyone had a great time. Pa even treated us to ice cream after our ride!

The girls eating ice cream. Mmmmm, mmmm, good!

Ryan and Lexi coming down the ride.

Here's everyone at the Lodge we stayed in. As you can see, some are relaxing and the rest of us in the back are in the middle of a mean game of "Blink"!

Pa brought home a bubble maker for the kids after their night at the Monster Derby. Most of the adults went to watch cars get scrunched except for those of us with kids. We called it an early night and were in bed before anyone even got home!

All the girls making bubbles with Pa. It was a big hit! Can't wait for next summer.....