A few weeks before...

Every year a few weeks before Christmas, the Jensen's hold the annual family Christmas party. And every year, Santa comes and brings all the great-grand kids a little pre-Christmas present. This year was no exception, and I was curious to see how Nash would react to this "Santa Claus" who is such an enigma to all the youngins.

I was impressed to find that despite his cousin Cher's wailing and gnashing of teeth, he remained quite composed upon Santa's arrival. In fact, Nash was not afraid of Santa at all and even stood in close proximity to him when it wasn't his turn.






When Santa finally called Nash's name (he was the very last one) he literally galloped/hopped/skipped over to Santa and jumped right onto his lap.

Like he'd been doin' it for years.

He sat angelically on Santa's lap, posed for pictures, graciously accepted his gift, and was on his way.

One happy little boy.




Upon Sydney's turn with Santa, we were privileged to find out that she wanted a "Ballerina" for Christmas. "Ballerina" was not on Sydney's original letter to Santa and therefore did not make it to our home Christmas morning. Sheesh. Santa's elves can only produce so many gifts.



Trace's turn with Santa did not reveal anything new. He was desperate for the movie, Ice Age 3. He wanted that as badly as Ralphie wanted a Red Rider BB gun.
Well, since there was no chance of him shooting his eye out with this flick, Santa delivered Ice Age 3 along with many other superb gifts. And, if you ask Trace what his favorite thing he got for Christmas was, he'll immediately tell you... Ice Age 3. It's all about keeping the expectations low my friends.

***More Christmas stories to come. ***

*For all of you who are still wondering about the angel, I hate to disappoint, but I did not purchase her. On Dec. 26th, I had one goal in mind: The tree. I got the tree on clearance--50% off. I'm so glad I waited! Next Christmas will be GlORiOus for the upstairs tree. The ghetto tree downstairs, however, will have to endure one more year, sans the angel.

Update!

I found her...

She's Fiber Optic, she's Gold, she has plastic flowing hair, and she's B-E-A-utiful!

The only problem is that price...$16.50? Who are you kidding Wal-Mart?

I'll see you after Christmas you golden princess...

Research Opportunity

Today, I decided to take a small sample of how many times one child can actually say "Mommy" during a 30-minute time period.

After the data collection was complete, the final "Mommy" tally gathered from Nash* during a 30-minute sample was 42.

The question is, how many times does a child have to say "Mommy" during the day before the mommy actually begins to lose sanity?

I believe the answer is somewhere around 30.

This means I only had full sanity today from about 7:30 am until 7:50 am.

Tyler, please pick me up at the mental hospital when you get home on Monday.

That is all.


* It should be noted for validity purposes of the study that this was a sample of ONE child, the other two were not accounted for, however, they were contributing on a smaller scale.

Sydney

It's been awhile since I had a good Sydney post. She's had a couple of good stories lately, so I'm writing them down, you know, for journaling purposes.

Episode #1

Last night she was brushing her teeth when she suddenly looked up at me and said,

"Mom, do I have walrus teeth?"

Of course, seeing the opportunity to help her kick the thumb sucking habit, I nonchalantly replied,

"Yes. Yes, you do. And they'll get even worse if you don't stop sucking your thumb."

As Sydney's facial expression turned from puzzled to frightened, she proclaimed,

"But Mom, I don't want my teeth to stick outside of my mouth!!!"

After an intense discussion of thumb sucking and the "walrus teeth" consequences, she went to bed trying her very hardest not to suck her thumb. I think she even succeeded.

I'm planning on using this picture as a wallpaper border to redecorate her bedroom:

Who knew this could be so motivating!

Episode B

I was busily working in the kitchen whipping up a gourmet meal, when I couldn't take it no mo'.

"STOP!!!" I reverently hollered to all three midgets.

"STOP SAYING, Mommy! Mommy? Mommy. Mommy?! Mommy? Mommy!! Mommy! Mommy. Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!!!"

And without even taking a breath, Sydney continues,

"Paige. Paige? Paige! Paige!? Paige! Paige."



::I can't wait for Tyler to get home. 9 days down, 6 days to go! Miss you!::

Anyone want to put up my tree?

My house is still quite barren of Christmas decorations. I can't muster up the strength or desire to put up our tree. (I think I lost the will after I put up Tyler's "sports" tree, aka TWTT, "The White Trash Tree." It's strategically placed in the basement where most guests don't have to see it).

Here's my dilemma...I want a new Christmas tree. Our home has high ceilings now, which makes our old tree look like a short, stubby, round, leaning mess of pine needles.

I have my heart set on a tall, (9') elegant, classy, much leaner tree to adorn the eastern wall of our family room. It would be lovely, but I can't talk myself into buying a $200 tree now that I KNOW will be half price come December 26th.

Looks like Stubby's going to see one more Christmas.

I'm so inherently frugal it's annoying.












If you made it this far into the post, then here is your early Christmas present from me. Clark Griswald made me do it:

PS-the picture doesn't fairly represent how many branches are actually missing/rigged together, or how nicely it leans to the right. And, I am still looking for the finishing touch: a classy, blinking angel for the top. Oooo, I'd also like to find some retro icicles--you know the ones.

Thank You Lifetouch...

Trace is in kindergarten...

Now can you guess what grade I'm in?

Try not to be envious, but...

I get a free set of these amazing pictures every year. They're really starting to pile up because I'm not quite sure what to do with one 8x10, two 5x7s, four 2x3s, and multiple wallets. I think it's collage time. And, Tyler will inevitably be the lucky recipient. Yes that will be nice.



Anyhow, here's what Mr. Mom has been up to on Thursdays....


Tyler is a great Mr. Mom, but not a great hairstylist. Sorry Syd.

Superhero Trio

Here are the obligatory pictures of the kids' Halloween costumes...

They're pretty cute if I do say so myself.
Happy Halloween!

Corn officially ended on Labor Day, and we've been making the most of Tyler's freedom.

Therefore, I'd like to entitle this post, FALL FUN. Very creative, yes?

To begin the Fall Fun, we went to Lake Powell. Tyler's cousin Rachelle & Brandon invited us to go. We had a great time! It was my first time ever. The weather was perfect, the houseboat was amazing, and we had the best tour guide around (thanks Brandon). There was never a dull moment. Thanks for the invite!



The cliff jumping was really fun...we even forced Tyler to participate!



How can I call this post "Fall Fun" if and not include football? Tyler and I got BYU football season tickets this year, and thanks to some magical strings Celeste pulled, we got phenomenal seats. We are literally on the first row. Not only do we have a great view of the defensive line (is that the correct football lingo?)

but we also get to watch the band walk by for their solid half time performances,


AND we get to make fun of the seriously lame security guards.


Trace got to come to one of the games too.


Now onto St. George...
No pictures to prove anything amazing happened, but trust me, we had an eventful Rhino trip to Sand Hollow State Park. Let's just say that at the end of the day, Tyler was keeping the kids entertained by playing a lively version of Duck, Duck Goose, properly renamed, "Rhino, Rhino, IMPOUND!"

Anywho...
Before our St. George trip, we took a leisurely trip up Hobble Creek Canyon with Chris and Erin...it ended a little prematurely when the Rhino's battery died. We just weren't meant to Rhino.



And, finally, Tyler and I just got back from a great trip to Virginia Beach for my brother Jon's wedding. We had a great time, and THOROUGHLY enjoyed the "no kids" part.

We had one full free day there and made the most of it. After some encouragement from Ben, we decided to rent bikes on the boardwalk.

We had no idea Neptune was going to be
there. I felt so inferior, and so overdressed.

Next, Jon invited us for an intense game of frisbee golf. Check out my form. It's all in the flick of the wrist. Nice.
(I'm pretty sure I won...the high score)

And, finally we went to see "A Law Abiding Citizen." Great movie, BTW.


Then, it was onto wedding fun...I wish my pictures were a little smaller, but this is the best I can do for now. I had to steal them from the Sam's Club website and apparently they only sell them to midgets.

Hopefully, I can get normal size ones when the lovely couple gets back from the honeymoon...YAY for Puerto Vallarta...

"Just promise me you won't go bungee jumping in Mexico, they just don't have the regulations" (that quote is for you, Jon! Please use your best lisp).


A HUGE THANK YOU to Chris, Erin, and Megan for keeping the kids for us!

And, Stefano, you're welcome for the free birth control.

Someone's Six!

Happy Birthday Trace!

For Trace's birthday, we took him to the best people watching event of the year:
The Utah State Fair.
He loved every minute of it! He rode lots of rides and saw lots of stinky animals.

Here are 6 things that describe Trace at age 6:

1. Trace is simply a happy kid. He is rarely in a bad mood (if ever) and seems to just enjoy life! He's also loving kindergarten and learning how to read.
   
2. Trace is a good worker/helper. He likes to go do corn with Tyler in the summer and usually has jobs he can do. He's also a good helper around the house.
   
3. Trace generally wants to please others and wants to do what is right.
   
4. Trace is a good singer and likes to sing along to showtunes in the car.
5. Trace is a healthy eater. I finally starting getting him the alternative to french fries at the fast food joints because he prefers fruit to fries. What?!
   
6. Trace is adventurous...he likes roller coasters, water slides, carnie rides, and playing in the ocean. He's also a great swimmer.
   

The Blanket Diet

I decided a few days ago after coming across this book at work that it was time to face my fears, practice what I preach, and tackle Sydney's thumb sucking habit.

Ugh.

The only time Sydney sucks her thumb is when she has her blanket.

That means, she sucks her thumb ALL THE TIME.

Well, being the genius that I am, I immediately realize this: Less blanket time=less thumb sucking.

And thus the blanket diet was born.

Like everything I do around here, I began the diet because we were forced into it. While taking my parents to the airport yesterday, I realized I forgot Syd's blanket (Gasp!). Usually, she would notice the blanket's absence IMMEDIATELY, but on this particular day, she didn't say anything until about an hour into our journey.

This is when I decided the moment was right to lay it on her.

"Sydney", I said calmly, "I've decided that you do not need your blanket during the day anymore. You can have it at night, and that's it."

As I looked in my rear-view mirror all I could see was the look on Sydney's face. This look might be comparable to the look you'd see on a portly person's face if he were just told, "Today is the last day you will ever eat a piece of cake my friend."

Utter disgust.