Kid Makeovers & More

BEFORE

AFTER
BEFORE

AFTER


BEFORE

AFTER

Well, the boys FINALLY got haircuts. I still haven't gotten Kira's hair officially cut. Douglas trimmed her bangs a little last month. That was pretty fixable, though. The Kira pictures demonstrate her two-part personality of grouchy gal and silly sis.

I knew I shouldn't have declared war against appliances. My toilet froze up the next day. I guess the pipes weren't insulated enough to handle the temperatures meant for Subartic zones that we experienced last week. It finally heated up to a cozy 30 degrees, and the pipes started working again. I'm glad we didn't have any busted pipes... just a useless toilet for awhile.

Even though it's a busy time of year, I'm trying to soak up some enjoyment. I found a book I made about 12 years ago that has a scripture, Christmas song, and story for each day in December. We've enjoyed reading and singing a little each night. My favorite moment was when Douglas sang Silent Night: "All is CLAM, all is bright". I said "All is clam? Check that word again." He tried pronouncing it a few different ways. I just thought it was funny that Douglas didn't know the word "CALM". Interesting.

Love the snow. Love that my tree is decorated. Loved the ward pajama breakfast Christmas party (even though Kiki busted an ornament on the gym floor). Love the giddiness in the air. Love that the Kindergarten kiddos anticipate the daily countdown to Christmas. Love how my kids are excited about gift-giving this year. Love that Kira says "ho, ho, ho:. Only 8 more days!

Appliance Mayhem

So you're supposed to learn a little something about home repairs and stuff, but I didn't think I'd be initiated so quickly. A few weeks after moving in, our disposal stopped working. I took it apart, cleaned it, did internet research, and realized it could not be resurrected. We've lived without it for awhile, much to my discomfort. When my parents were in town for Thanksgiving, my dad bought us a new disposal (YEAH!). A very welcomed, practical Christmas gift. Then my dishwasher started having issues. It flooded my kitchen. We were lucky to be in the kitchen when it started, but it was still quite the mess. I took apart the dishwasher, turned some knobs and ran it again. Wow- I fixed it! Well, not really. It still wasn't draining water. All I had done is turned off the water and washed the dishes with the old water still sitting in it from the flood before.

After a simple internet search, I discovered that there is a little "knock-out" plug on the disposal that needed to be knocked out in order for the dishwasher to drain. I took off the disposal, removed the quarter-sized-flood-causing plug, and put it all back together again. Note to self: Don't stop after step 7, when there are 9 actual steps.
On a separate note, the vaccuum died. We had to buy a new cheapy one today, but it works. Kind of. I accidentally vacuumed up part of a sheet in my excitement with having a new appliance, and busted the belt 3 minutes after assembly, but now things are good.

Me and my trusty screwdriver can handle it all. Bring it on, appliances. This is war.

Turkeys & Turtles

Happy Thanksgiving! I was thrilled to host Thanksgiving this year in our new home. We had quite the house full, but enjoyed every minute. In attendance was Troy's Mom & Sister, my parents, Kim (my baby sister), and Amber (my preggie sister), and Nick (Amber's hubby), and my kids and hubby (of course). The food was great! The menu:





Turkey (oven bag baked to keep it moist)


Stuffing (MIL special)


Potatoes & Gravy


Cranberry Relish (Fresh cranberries/Orange/sugar)


Sweet potatoes (crock-pot style with brown sugar & butter)


Cream Corn (made w/ cream cheese & butter)


Rolls (mom's special)


Jello Salad (had to have something green)


Dutch Apple Pie (my new specialty- not too shabby)


Pumpkin Dessert (a new favorite my parents introduced)





I'm suddenly craving left-overs. Speaking of which... I was wondering if there was something special y'all did with your leftover turkey. Please share your favorite turkey left-over recipe with me! I tried one last night that turned out okay:





Turkey Salad Sandwiches:


Chopped up apple


Chopped up Stalk of celery


Chopped up turkey


Leftover veggie dip or ranch


Heaping scoop of mayo


Shredded cheese





I don't usually dedicate a whole blog about food. I really was so busy in the kitchen, that I forgot to take photos! The boys had a great thanksgiving. They were happy for all the company- mostly for the fact that we could actually run a decent football game or two. We also had a great time playing cards.





A side note: I am so excited for my sisters! Amber and April are both expecting babies! Amber is due the first week of January, and April is due in July. We threw Amber a baby shower a few weeks ago (since my mom was in town). I was in charge of the invitations. Here is my creation:

She is expecting a girl, and wanted a turtle theme. It was tricky, but turned out cute. She had quite the showing. About 65 people came to the baby shower. We played the candybar melted in diapers game, and a favorite features game (Amber picked which features the baby should have from Nick or her and people guessed her preferences). So fun! I wish April would be around for a shower. She up and moved to Georgia last week. Any ideas for a long distance baby shower?

I'm off to enjoy what little bit is left of my long weekend. Nice to have a bit of a break for sure. Having company inspired me to actually finish unpacking the last few boxes laying around in the kitchen, and hang up some pictures. My home feels a little more homey now.

Halloween 2009

TJ had a 5th grade project to complete this week. Didn't really work on it too much until Thursday night (due Friday of course). After a trip to WalMart to pick up a few more things, the Haunted House was wired and ready to go (around 10:30 pm or so). His class has been studying electricity. The kids had to wire the haunted house and decorate it for a project. Crazy, but fun. I even learned a little bit about electricity myself.

Kira Monkey, TJ football player and Douglas Vampire. Ready for some serious Trick-0r-treating. No trunks this year. We hit the pavement.

Kira getting ready to get some candy. She learned how to say the word "candy" just in time for the holiday. Her costume was adapted from the chewbacca one from last year. I just glued on a belly, a tail, a bow and some monkey ears. She wanted to bring monkey along, too.

Douglas was the scariest this year. What do you think of the professional make-up job? I wouldn't recommend the black eyes when you have church the next day. It looked like he was wearing eyeliner to church. He actually reminded me of Depeche Mode all day today (Sunday). He had a really hard time staying with us and kept wanting to run ahead. We could not keep up with this candy monster.

My cute Kiki monkey pointing to the neighbor's house and saying, "baby". She always tries to run over there to see the baby.


Douglas attacking the stash. The kids got quite a load. Their stash is now hidden so the constant candy devouring can be limited. The best thing about a sugar rush...

the SUGAR CRASH! I felt bad waking him up to make him wash his face and brush his teeth after I took this picture. He was pretty out of it. What a fun Halloween!

It was also a great day because we got our laptop back. A week ago, we ran some kind of microsoft security update, and our computer crashed during the update. It was a major issue. I can usually figure out how to fix computer problems, but couldn't get this one. I mentioned my dilemna at work, and the school secretary (also a parent of one of my students) piped up and told me to talk to her husband. He owns "Posh Electronics" and helped me get my baby back up and running (and save my data). Some things I learned from this experience:

1: Only install critical updates. Never install microsoft driver updates, and wait a few weeks to install new updates until the bugs are worked out.

2: Ask around for help before taking it in anywhere. Also, check forums online to see what other people have tried who have similar issues. I learned WAY too much information about computer problems people have, but some of it was valuable.

3: Avoid Staples support (they didn't know half of what I was talking about), Best Buy Geek Squad (EXPENSIVE). Take it to Posh Electronics (http://poshelectronics.com/). My second choice would be Superior computer.

4: We use our computer more than we thought. We're delighted to have it back.

Helmets for Hooligans

We had Safety Week in September and the boys got to snazz up their helmets and wear them to school. They had an assembly with a "helmet parade". They chose what they wanted to make, and we pulled out my scrapbook materials and went to work. Troy pointed out that they were the characters from "The Tortoise and the Hare" fable. I didn't even think of that.

We watched the Back to the Future movies with the boys during the past few weeks. TJ asked me when #3 was released. I told him it was around 1990, and I remembered watching it when I was a kid. T.J. was surprised, "I didn't know they had TV this good when you were a kid." He thought it was like black and white or something. I pulled a defensive, "1990 wasn't that long ago!". But it probably has been a while. I felt oldish.

Douglas was procrastinating his chores on Saturday. Troy went in his room and said, "Douglas, stop playing and get your chores done." Although it may have looked like he was playing with Legos, Douglas had to clarify the situation. "I'm not playing, Dad. I'm building!".

Busy Bodies & Tired Brains

Recent picture of Kira. She didn't want to sit still for a picture, and was starting to pitch a little mini-fit. Even the tantrums are a little cute, but we are doing our best to ignore them.

A late summer Sunday picture of the kidlins.

We drove through Sardine Canyon this past weekend and I snapped this out my car window. It's just starting to turn colors, and it is so beautiful! My dad in Texas wants me to send him some fall pictures so he can put them on his computer and imagine that he is looking out a window. He misses the change of seasons. I'll have to get you some more Fall pics, Dad.

This is TJ after the Preston Rodeo parade in August. He is carrying a bag of candy and prizes thrown from the random tractors, trucks, horses, and floats in the parade. Douglas got about the same amount. We are still widdling down the stash.

Kira had a little too much fun with the papertowels one summer day.

School was about to start, so we took off to enjoy Bear Lake for a few hours. It signified the end of the summer for us. We had a good time playing in the mud and water. We had to top off the event with fresh raspberry shakes at LaBeau's Drive-in.

Kira loved the water at Bear Lake (okay, maybe not that much). She preferred splashing on the shore and tasting mysterious items (rocks, seaweed, sand, etc.). Yuck.

I knew I missed posting about a few things, so I thought I'd share a few pictures from the late summer and early fall. We enjoyed UEA break this past week, and took the boys to see the 3-D Toy Story double feature. Toy Story 3 promises to be just as great. I got a little more settled in at home, and I survived parent-teacher conferences (all 39). We also enjoyed watching General Conference, and the Broncos beat the Cowboys.

I'd like to close this random blog with a little Douglas story. Last night Douglas wanted to draw some Halloween decorations to decorate his bedroom door. I was busy with dishes and bottling Dilly Beans, and he kept interrupting with, "Mom, please get me some markers. Mom, please hand me the tape. I need some scissors, etc. etc." So I told him if he was too tired to get the items himself that he could just go to bed and work on the pictures later. He explained to me, "Mom, my legs are tired, but my brain is wide-awake." Okay.... now I understand. Here are the markers sweetheart. Show me what is ticking in that little brain.

Moved OUT but Not Moved-IN

So it felt like a train wreck for awhile.

School started and I moved into a new house during the same week.

The house I moved into had been vacant awhile. It needed to be painted and cleaned. I also had to clean the place I moved out of.

Thank goodness school started off without a hitch.

I am also greatful for the help from my sister, Kimberly. She came and helped for four days. She is a great painter and babysitter. My mom came a few days after the move. It was good to see her and utilize her for a few days. I love my family!

I really like having my own home. I know it still has some boxes and stuff. It was a pain to paint, but it felt good to be able to paint it how I wanted. It also felt good to work on a project I've never done before.

Kira's room was painter's tape blue. The whole room. The carpet is maroon. It was hideous. I painted it white with a lilac trim. Not too fancy, but cute. I still have to do the crown molding, but that will be later.

The boys' room was hot pink. The whole room (even the window sill). The carpet is maroon. It was hideous. They wanted a "Bronco's" room, but I wasn't putting orange in there. I did a navy/white thing and still need to put up the wood border between the white and blue, but it looks SOOOO much better.

Boxes are still everywhere, but slowly getting unpacked and organized. I hope I'm really moved in by Christmas.

I love our new neighborhood. The streets aren't busy, and there are lots of kids. My boys love it. I also love being close to the school.

I didn't stay home last weekend to work on the house. I ran to Provo to hang out with my sisters. April was in town from California and Kim has just started at BYU, so we had to take advantage of the fact we could get together. We had fun staying up late and making a scrapbook for my dad's 60th birthday. We also ate at a little Taiwan place in Provo called "CTR" which stands for "Cooking Taste Right". The title makes me giggle, but it was yummy food. We especially loved the mango shaved ice dessert.

L to R: Amber (finally looking pregnant- having a girl in January), Kimberly (the fab freshman) April (the tan California babe), and Me (just me).

The boys are enjoying their new teachers and classrooms. We had their dresser in the garage for the first week we were here (while I was transforming the pink room). Once, I caught Douglas actually getting dressed in there and the garage was open. He was trying to hide, but was hiding from whoever came in from the house. I wonder if any neighbors saw his Transformer undies.

TJ is a 5th grader with Mrs. Merritt.


Douglas is a 2nd grader with Mrs. Bilodeau.

Kira loves all the running space, and I love that we don't have any stairs inside. She is saying all kinds of new words. My favorite new word of hers is "please". Which sounds more like "peas", but is adorable anyway. She can also say diaper and cracker. Such is the world of a toddler. I don't love that she can scream so loud. Is there a good use for this talent? Thank goodness she doesn't use it too often.

Whenever one of her grandmas is around, Kira signs for food. They love to endulge her.Here is a picture of all 11 of the grandkids on the Olson side. We got together for 1/2 day at Snowbird resort. The cousins had a blast together. This also took up another "unpacking" weekend, but ya know...

Squeek?

I've been mourning the loss of a little critter of late. I don't know why I am so sad about it. It's just a mouse! I'd probably scream or freak out if I saw it in my kitchen or something. So here's the story:

Troy took Kira out on the porch the other day and saw a little fuzzy mouse rubbing his whiskers and basking in the sunlight. He stepped on it and it crunched under his foot. The story gets worse. Kira only said one word, and I think it was a question, "Puppy?".

Birds, Bees and Scripture Study

We were reading the scriptures last night about Lehi's family going to get Ishmael's daughters. I was trying to explain this to my children and Douglas seemed to get it first as he quoted some Qwest commercial, "They need to get connected". It was hilarious.

T.J. is in a confused state right now about a few things. It's probably time to have "the talk" with him. Douglas and TJ were having a conversation over lunch. It went something like this,

D: Can I have a baby when I grow up?
T: No, Douglas. Only girls can have babies when they grow up.

Good answer, but then he continues...

T: That's why boys go on missions when they are 19. If girls went on missions when they were 19, they could just start having babies on their missions.

A few weeks later, we did a special fast for my neice Holly who is on a mission in Pennsylvania. TJ was confused that girls could go on missions. I told him how they could go if they weren't married. He seemed a little better with that being said, but maybe it's time for a little more education. He's only 10. Is that too young?

Also, an update on the house. Looks like we'll be closing next week instead of this week. I also start school next week. Should be interesting.

Drama with Douglas

I love Douglas. I really do. I just can't seem to figure out how he gets himself into trouble all the time. This summer we've had a few samples of Douglas just making some minor mistakes that turn into disasters.

#1: Doing Dishes

My kids have an assigned dish night where they scrub the dishes and set them on the counter. I usually load them in the dishwasher and start it. Douglas thought he'd help out a little more and put soap in the dishwasher and started it for me. Problem? Well, he used dish soap instead of dishwasher soap. Our kitchen was quickly filling with bubbles all over the floor. I got a few pictures as he was finishing up scooping bubbles and soap out of the dishwasher. His comment, "Well, at least your kitchen floor is clean now, too, Mommy."

#2: Feather Pillow

We were joking around on my bed and I bopped Douglas on the head with my pillow. He grabbed the corner of Troy's pillow to hit me with it. Problem? He grabbed it at the seam and hurled it just right. The seam ripped and the pillow exploded. There were feathers EVERYWHERE! It was one of the biggest messes I have encountered. Douglas helped pick them up, but it took 2 hours to get my bed featherless. I am still finding mysterious feathers every once in awhile lurking around my room.

#3: 911

I discussed this incident on Facebook, but am still feeling bad about it. Douglas wanted to take pictures with my cell phone, but I wouldn't let him. He found my old cell phone and charger. He charged it up and started taking pictures with that. I figured it was pretty harmless. About 20 minutes later, TJ comes bursting in my room yelling, "Douglas called 911!". I ran into the bedroom and Douglas (with big eyes) handed me the phone. I apologized to the operator and she told me to remove the batteries from the old phone. Douglas' response, "Well, I tried to call some of my friends and THAT didn't work...".

So he keeps me on my toes for sure. He's full of entertainment, though. A few days ago, he came into Kira's room while I was reading her stories. Apparently, he had been in the old costume drawer (I can't call it dress-ups because dress-ups are for girls). This costume is a mixture of at least 3 characters. Can you name them?

Willow Flat

My parents came to visit from Texas for a few weeks. We took them up to a little place in Cub River Canyon (in South Idaho) called Willow Flat. We love to cook-out and hike around there. Troy made dutch oven chicken and potatoes (yumalicious) and we took a little hike to Willow Spring. You can actually drink the water right from the spring. Very beautiful and shady hike. Kira likes to climb into the camp chairs and then directly slide back out. She kept us on our toes as she ran all around the campground tasting rocks and things.

TJ and Douglas enjoyed hiking and roasting marshmallows for smores. They also played with a toy bow and arrow that Grandpa got for them. It didn't work until my dad got out the pocket knife and made some adjustments.

My dad taught Kira how to say Grandpa. She liked having Grandma and Grandpa around to play with. She didn't take long to warm up to them.

Here are my feet crossing over Cub River during the hike to the Spring. Doesn't it look treacherous?

My parents with my boys by Cub River. We had a great time at Willow Flat with my parents. It's one of my favorite places to be.

TJ's Big 10th!

I can't believe I'm old enough to have a 10 year old kid. TJ is officially a decade old- wow. I took the tradition from my parents to grant a friend birthday party for even numbered birthdays. TJ wanted to have a Sports Party. We decided to do it out at my school since many of his buddies live out by there, and it has all the needed lawn space and basketball standards. I made each child some scorecards and we played little games/challenges. The kids did stuff like:

Short basketball game

Waterballoon foul shots

Short minute baseball game (with waterbuckets for bases)

Waterballoon bash with a baseball bat

Short football game

Soccer goal penalty shots

Waterballoon toss

The kid with the most points got to choose his prize first. We also had brownies and ice cream. Such a fun party, and really not that expensive. Although it required several hours of prep- time. 200 waterballoons takes forever.

Here is TJ with a few friends from the party. Yes, there was a girl there. She actually is just "one of the guys" and held her own on all the sports activities.

Douglas got to play a little bit. Here he is shooting waterballoon free throws. Everyone else stood underneath to get hit.

TJ definitely deserved a fun party. He is a great helper (especially with Kira), he works hard with school work, he makes good choices and is a wonderful example for his siblings. Happy Birthday, TJ!

On his actual birthday (Sunday the 12th), he requested chicken wings for dinner. Troy makes killer wings. He tried to imitate the recipe that Wingstop uses, and I like his even better. They are really spicy, though. Here is the recipe:

TROY'S WINGS

1 cup Texas Pete's Hot sauce, 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 TBS. lemonjuice

Fry or bake up some chicken wings and put in bowl with sauce mix. The longer they soak, the hotter they get. Serve with Blue Cheese dressing or ranch if desired. You must use Texas Pete's for the best flavor. We've tried others and they just aren't that great. Make sure to have plenty of napkins handy!

Goodbye 1958, Hello 2006

We thought we wanted this home built in 1958:

Then we got an inspection done, and found out how much upkeep/repair an older home needs. We are not handy. We were not excited. We said goodbye to the old place. It's cute, it's roomy, it has charm and a lovely backyard, but it's not for us (and it had a teeny-tiny kitchen). We should have known better than to look at older homes. It was a lesson learned and paid for. I wish that lesson could've been cheaper than $250.

Today we made an offer on a different home. It's smaller. It's a little more money, but it's only 3 years old. Oh, and it has a BEAUTIFUL kitchen. AND it cuts my commute to school by 10 minutes. I hope we get it! We'll find out Wednesday.

No Autopsy Required

So, our beloved infomercial man (Billy Mays) has died. Douglas and I were watching TV, and saw a commercial for a mini-hamburger frying pan starring Billy Mays. I mentioned to Douglas that Billy Mays had died. He said, "From yelling too much?".

Yes, Douglas, he probably just yelled too much.

http://www.asseenontvvideo.com/Billy-Mays.html

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue

My sister Amber with Kira and Douglas while viewing the Freedom Festival Parade in Provo. We haven't ever stayed around Cache Valley for the 4th. We have found it a tradition to hit the parade and fireworks in Provo. Yes, it rained on our parade, BUT only for a few minutes.

Kira at the balloon festival. We arrived in time this year- even earlier than some of the balloonists. Kira was a little sleepy, but seemed amused by the large balloons. I think there were about 20.

TJ enjoyed the balloon festival. Douglas refused to pose in any pictures. I guess he wasn't in the mood for smiling that early.

Kira with Daddy at the Balloon Lauch. She sported a mohawk from the previous day's ponytail.

Here is our early morning crowd waiting for the balloon launch. We parked at McDonalds and so we felt obligated to purchase our breakfast there. I think Kira is signing for more in this photo. She is always up for food- even bright and early in the morning.

The boys finished out a great baseball season last week. I love this shot of Douglas swinging. He always swings as hard as he can. His favorite position to play was catcher. I liked it when he played catcher because it kept him busy. When he played 2nd base, he would just chat with the runners who were on base.

Kira liked going to the boys' baseball games because it was also snack time.

TJ hit a home run in the last game. I've never seen him smile so big. He liked to play shortstop or pitcher (behind the coach). Really, he just went after every ball and would often get the balls that went to left field before the outfielders got to them. It was his last year doing coach pitch. We loved playing baseball. The boys can't wait for next year, and TJ wants a bat for his birthday. We love America's favorite pastime.