I Finally Did It.

I severed the ties of Kyson and his best friend. It was an unhealthy relationship. One that had gone on far too long. I showed no remorse. Snip, snip. I cut the tip off his binky.



I regretted it 3 hours later as I was trying to soothe a broken heart. Heartbroken is a mild term for what we endured over the next 24 hours. Without his "bink" he had nothing to lull him into the blissful state of sleep. By 1:00 in the morning, I was desperately shoving the mangled binky into his mouth with no result. Instead, he screamed and mourned the fate of his beloved friend. I did feel rather guilty. But I knew I wasn't strong enough to just hide it from him. It had to be permanantly damaged or the ties would never be severed.....from Kyson or me. I loved the "bink" almost as much as he did. It had an instantaneous effect on him. From screeching to small whimpers. From wide awake to heavy-lidded drowsiness. Yes, I loved it too.



Well. At any rate, it's done for. And since we've made it through 2 days of a mangled binky, I will venture to say that progress has been made. The crying is not as long nor as dramatic. The sleeping is still not great but it is being achieved. But I have to be honest. He is still sleeping with his friend. Although he can't suck on it any more he still uses it. So my question is this, does it count as breaking him of the binky if he still puts it in his mouth but doesn't suck on it? I can't really be sure how long it's even in his mouth. When I check on him before I go to bed it's usually laying beside him. I thought the hole would cause him to lose interest in it and he would give it up on his own. Instead I think he's developing a new addiction.

For now, I'll say I'm breaking him of it.

Happy New Years 2011!

We brought the New Year in with a bang! Okay, I'm lying. I was in bed by 10:30. Which is really only 9:30 California time. What can I say? That's my kind of par-tay! The girls told me they were going to stay up all night because THIS was the night they got to stay up as late as they want. I don't recall saying exactly that, but I did let them stay up past 8:00. As it turned out, I didn't really have to worry about the late night. Our biggest celebration was the milkshake shop that opened up......it is one of Pa's specialities and he has quite a following!

And this is what I meant about not having to worry about the "late" night. This is what I found about 20 minutes after Kendri assured me (with wide eyes) that she was not even tired. It was 9:30. Lexi gave no protest when I told her it was time for bed. Only 2 1/2 hours short of their goal. Maybe next year!

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!