Why Do I Have A Blog?!

So I am obviously not the best blogger in the world. I haven't even had a pang of regret for not blogging for quite some time now (apparently if you ignore something long enough, it really does go away). There are lots of things I could post about, and maybe some day I will. But for now it is hopefully enough that the last post isn't from Christmas and that the background is no longer Easter.

And hey, here's a picture from Spring Break back in April that I luckily uploaded online. Luckily, because my laptop with all my pictures just died and is being sent off to be fixed. Hopefully my pictures survive, because I hadn't backed them all up!


Little Wildhorse Canyon is an awesome slot canyon, and great for kids.

While I'm at it, here's a picture of our first day in Hawaii back in February, stranded at the hotel due to a TSUNAMI!!


And just for good measure, here's one example of the destruction our dog has wreaked in the year we've had him. No, the tent is not supposed to be that well-ventilated (doesn't he look like he has demon eyes?!).



So yes, there have been things to post about. Maybe some day I'll get around to it?!

Post-edit: My pictures are being cut off. I tried to resize them, but they're still funky. I'm guessing this has something to do with trying to import them from Picasa, which I've never done before. Any ideas?!

Music Marathon Month

December brings many Christmas celebrations, which for me also equal lots of musical performances. Today was my last madcap day of music this month, and while everything turned out wonderfully, it also resulted in these two having to take their second bath in less than 12 hours:


More on that later. First a little re-cap of today.

9:00 Brandon goes to his first meeting.
9:15 I have a rehearsal at home with 6 lovely ladies who are singing "O Holy Night" during sacrament meeting.
10:27 Brandon arrives back home just in time for us to leave for choir practice (I'm the choir director).
11:45 We arrive back home, and I get a call to see if I can fill in for a musical number during Relief Society. I find some music while Brandon quickly bathes Colin (who was supposed to shower while we were gone but didn't, the little toad), Aidan and Logan. We get everyone ready for church.
12:30 While making PB&J sandwiches, I lose it with one child when he asks if we can have something hot for lunch next Sunday. The word "ungrateful" was mentioned a few times.
1:00 We arrive to church just barely on time.
1:30 The sacrament meeting program was lovely. The choir and other musical numbers did a fantastic job--I truly felt like we had angels singing with us.
3:30 I play a simple but nice arrangement of "I Know That my Redeemer Lives" during Relief Society. Another very lovely meeting.
4:10 On the walk home from church, Logan is being a bit of a pill (he hasn't had a nap yet, of course). Brandon and I swing him between us to cheer him up, during the course of which his arm pops out of socket.
4:15 I am supposed to be at the stake center to rehearse a duet for this evening, but am instead on the phone with our pediatrician's answering service.
4:30 I have left Brandon to deal with things, and arrive at the Stake Center for the main choir practice. I tell my duet partner what happened, and she tells me how to fix it if it's his elbow. I call Brandon to explain over the phone, and he says the doctor told him to go to the ER. We decide he'll try the elbow method first.
5:00 Brandon arrives at stake choir practice! He was able to pop Logan's elbow back in, and all is well. I love that he agreed to sing in the stake choir this year.
6:00 I arrive back home. Brandon is making waffles, and I have to quickly find some music to play as background during the live Nativity scene that will take place during the stake program (oops--hadn't done that yet).
6:15 Liam practices the stake choir pieces with me. He is going to be my page turner.
6:30 Everyone snarfs down "Daddy's Special Waffles" as they are called at our house.
6:40 Brandon leaves to drop the youngest 4 off at a friend's home. Liam and I head to the stake center.
7:00 The stake music concert goes beautifully. Again, the choirs of heaven were with us. Liam does a great job turning pages, and Brandon is a great tenor.
8:20 I am home ready for a relaxing night.
8:30 Brandon arrives home with the kids. Andrew announces that the friends' oldest boy threw up on Aidan and Logan 5 minutes before Brandon got there. Aidan said some of it even got in his mouth. Good bye relaxation.
8:31 Boys are back in the tub. Which leads me back to the picture--second bath in a day. We hope that our kids don't get sick for Christmas. Both Logan and Liam had a little 24-hr stomach virus a few weeks ago, so maybe we've got immunity.

It was a crazy day, to say the least. But very fulfilling, also. It is always a tremendous thing to see months of hard work come to fruition. I would do it again in a heartbeat, but preferably without medical emergencies or throw-up involved.

Recipe of Andrew

• 6 pints my dog (Sy)
• 18 pounds family
• 2 cups oragami skills
• 15 teaspoons video games
• 2 cups of school
• 3 pintes friends
• 7 pounds sence of humer

Directions:
First, mix family with sence of humor. Use the "crush" button on the blender. Then, pour the mixtur into a bowl. Then, turn the oven on "heat" to get it heated. Put the mixture in the oven.

To make the frosting, put in two cups school. Then, add two cups oragami skilles. Put in 15 teaspoons video games. Mix. Add 3 pints friends. Put in my dog. Mix well. Last, enjoy this cake!

This was an assignment Andrew did at school. Please note that all spelling is his. :) His teacher awarded him top marks, and I would have to agree. I was happy to see that family was the main ingredient!

Letter to Mom

Brandon and I found the following letter waiting for us when we returned from stake choir practice last night:

12/13/09

Mom,

Colin took a piece of gum from the packet by your computer without asking. I talked to him but he tried to wigle his way out of trouble. And right after he spit his gum out and got a cookie. Well, that's all I have to say now.

Sincerely, Andrew

p.s. Colin was getting a bat (like the ones they use in baseball, of course) to hit a ball around.

Year of the Pocketknife

Andrew turned 9 this past week! He is such a character. See if you can guess what his favorite present was this year:

Kind of scary, I know. Liam also got a pocketknife when he turned 9, so I guess that is now the traditional age in our family to receive one. It has been funny to see how differently they use them. Liam was always very careful and has almost always kept his in its case in his sock drawer (a place we suggested to keep it out of the hands of wee brothers). Andrew, on the other hand, carries his with him whenever he can, and uses it whenever he can! He has found several good whittling sticks in the yard already, and likes to speculate as to what types of different tasks he can now accomplish with this great multi-tool.

Per Andrew's request, we had dinner at IHOP. He wasn't afraid to tell the waiter, "It's my birthday, and I know what happens on your birthday at IHOP." So he had this dessert after dinner:


Then it was home for birthday cake to share with everyone. We actually almost forgot about it, and everyone was being crazy (yes, that sometimes happens at our house--whose idea was it anyway, to give the 3 oldest boys swords for birthdays and Halloween?!) so I was tempted to send everyone to bed without cake. I decided that probably wouldn't earn me any Mom of the Year awards, so I grumpily herded everyone together. Andrew had received the last two books in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and you can see that he could hardly tear himself away, even to blow out the candles:

Eating cake made everyone happier, and I sent them to bed with a guilt-free conscience knowing we had a picture of him with his 9th birthday cake.

Halloween

Halloween pictures up less than a week after the fact! Hurray!

The oldest three were ninjas, and Brandon put their costumes together. Hurray for a creative dad. I sure don't enjoy doing stuff like this, so I'm glad he does. I love their intense poses.

Liam


Andrew


Colin
(So maybe his pose is more cool then intense?)


Aidan got it into his head somehow that he wanted to be a bird. Never mind the fact that we had a cool dinosaur, skeleton, Power Rangers, or multiple other costumes to choose from. Luckily our next door neighbors saved the day with this get-up. He insisted on carrying a sword while trick-or-treating, so we called him a Bird of Prey.

Logan was the usual blue dinosaur. He loved finding Nerds boxes. He didn't want to eat them, just carry them around and shake them.

We had a fun day, with dinner and trunk-or-treating at our church, then dinner and trick-or-treating with cousins (notice TWO dinners there? Put with all the candy, I'm off to a bad start for holiday weight gain!!).

The Big Toe Year

Liam had a birthday, and can no longer show his age using just fingers. He got creative to add that extra digit.

Festivities were dampened a little by the fact that three of his brothers (Aidan, Andrew, and as of today, Colin) have what is most likely swine flu. But I allowed him to play the Wii this afternoon, usually a no-no on a school night, and he beat a game he's been at for months. So there were some perks.

He chose artichokes for dinner, a family favorite. Our second course was fondue-style hot dogs, which was a big hit. Both were traditions in Brandon's family while growing up.

Presents and cake rounded it all off (in that order--it drives me crazy! I grew up with cake then presents). He is such a great kid, and we love having him in our family. Hopefully his brothers haven't given him a present that oinks and lasts about a week!


UPDATE: Liam did come down with the flu the day after his birthday. How kind of it to wait!