Mendocino

My Mom and Dad gave us a trip to Mendocino at a nice little bed and breakfast while we were visiting for Christmas.  The drive out to Mendocino reminded me so much of northern California where I grew up.  Tanner threw up a couple of times on the windy little mountain road out to Mendocino and Sara barely hung on.  Once we got there it was lovely weather and we had a great time at a little beach.  The next day we took the kids to a local lighthouse.  It was a mile walk down to the lighthouse which seemed like a good idea at the time.  The weather had turned bad and it was Freezing!  Ava kept wanting piggy back rides every 5 feet so I was exhausted by the time we made it back to the car but the scenery was awesome.

Tanner got to open his birthday gift from Auntie Annastacia, Uncle Mike and Audrey and Aurora this morning.  He loves the Husky Webkinz and the Polar Bear Webkinz!  What I love is the fact that as soon as Tanner opened them, Riley said, "Oh good, we can share" to which Tanner replied with a very enthusiastic, "Oh, yeah!"  Then he looked at Ava and said, "Ava, you don't have a Webkinz...well, you can have one of mine" and he gave her the polar bear, which she promptly named Lilly.  What a nice, thoughtful, kind and loving boy you are Tanner!  We love you!!!!  Happy 6th birthday buddy!

Happy Birthday Tanner...The Big 06!

I love to  make treats for my kids to take into their classes.  They are certainly not professional looking, but the kids love them anyway...and they do taste good, if I do say so myself.  So, for Tanner's birthday today, I decided that I would make monkey cupcakes for him to hand out to his class.

I spent a long, long time yesterday making them.  I even made the nila wafers that I used for their noses and ears. Everything was from scratch!  This is what they turned out looking like:

Well, when I went to move them off the counter this morning so I could have more space to make Tanner's birthday breakfast...I dropped them on the floor.  I am happy to say that thought I felt like letting out a few good cuss words, I held them in.  But it was tough!  Needless to say, the cute little monkeys now look like little handicapped monkeys, but I'm sure they'll still taste good...even though they were, technically, on the floor for a few seconds.  I was able to salvage 13 of them for the kids in Tanner's class.  There just weren't any extras for his teacher or the principal.

This is what Tanner took to school this morning:

The very worst part about the whole thing, is that my brand new, darling cupcake holder now looks like the leaning tower of Pisa.  It makes me very, very sad :(

Pinewood Derby

We just experienced our very first Pinewood Derby!  It was so much fun!  My favorite thing about it all, 

was the fact that Todd and Riley were able to spend so much time together building their awesome car.  They went in to Garmin several times to use the awesome tools there.  Riley did the sanding and helped with the painting...Todd kept him away from the bandsaw however!  He loved it! 

The paint job was actually pretty awesome...and in no way, shape, or form was Todd or Riley responsible for it.  Todd and Riley had painted it and left it at Garmin to dry.  When Todd went in to work the next day, it was still tacky.  Well, the painter at Garmin took one look at it and said, "Dude, you gotta let me paint that." Todd declined, but then the guy said, "No seriously dude, I love this kind of thing.  It won't take long at all." Well, how could Todd refuse that!  And that is how Riley's car came to have a professional paint job.  It rocked!

Riley's car ended up with a bent back wheel...and this is the face Riley made when he started losing.  It was actually pretty sad.  Riley doesn't do anything half-way.  It's all or nothing for him.  When he was happy, he was giving everyone high-fives and telling them good luck or good job.  When he started losing, he was so sad.  

It all worked out though.  Not only did he come in 4th place in his very first derby, he also won TWO awards: Best paint job and Best Sportsman.  Only one other boy won 2 awards. 

My favorite moment was when Riley was up getting his awards and Tanner came running up from the other side of the gym and gave Riley a big hug and told him he did a great job.  

What a fun night...and a fun week getting ready for it all.  Riley and Todd did a GREAT job.  And can I just say, I am so happy that Todd is willing and ready to do all this scouting stuff with Riley.  I love it when they work together.  Riley loves his daddy!!!

Halloween?!?!?

Okay, I know it's December, but we got a new computer that I didn't know how to use very well and haven't blogged in a while.  So, it's catch up time, and today, it's all about Halloween!

I am not a crafty person.  Big shocker, I know.  However, this year, I decided that I was going to make Riley and Tanner's Halloween costumes.  This was my year!  So, I went to Goodwill to find some blazers, shirts and ties. I cut those babies up and smeared them with mud (which was actually brown paint) and voila! The boys were zombies!  The bucket head zombie and the cone head zombie to be exact.  (If your kids don't play Plants vs. Zombies then you may not know what the heck I am talking about.)

After a lot of hard work getting their costumes to look just right, Riley decided that he was just going to be a super hero on Halloween night...but his super hero was going to wear jeans and a t-shirt...and a cape.  If this is how all my hard work is going to pay off, then maybe it's a good thing I'm not crafty.

The best thing about trick-or-treating for every generation is getting home and counting, sorting, stacking, and trading your candy.  It was for me.  It is for my boys.

Sweet Moments

I walked past Ava's room the other night to find this:

Really folks, is there anything better than seeing your 5-year old reading a bedtime story to your 3-year old? I'm pretty sure there isn't.

Riley turns 8!

I cannot believe my Riley-Boy is EIGHT!  He is such a great, fantastic, smart, sweet, loving, fun and creative boy.  We are lucky to have him in our family!  Todd took Riley out to a church near our home to take some 8-year old photos.  They turned out pretty fantastic!

The BIG day!  It was a bit stressful...we got to church and the font was locked, so we weren't

sure if it was filled or not.  No Bishopbric member was there to unlock it for us, and when 

we called 2 of the counselors, they were very confused and didn't know they were supposed to be there!

Finally, they showed up and good news was to be had...the font was filled!

However, the water was FREEZING! Everyone chuckled when Riley stepped into the font and shivered out loud because of the cold.  Then when he was lifted out of the water, he was shaking so badly that everyone laughed out loud.  Poor kid.  

Nana and Lauren came for the baptism.  It was so much fun to have them here.  Lauren sang the most beautiful song, "He Came For Us" from the April 2011 Friend.  She did such a fantastic job!  

Nana gave a very sweet talk on baptism.  She, of course, cried...and so did I!  Nana also accompanied all the songs for Riley's baptism. Riley wanted to sing "When I Hear The Prophet's Voice" and "I Know That My Savior Loves Me."  (Two of my favorite children's hymns!)

Lauren is ADORABLE!  Holy Moly...she grew up fast!  The kids ALL loved playing with their cousin, and she was nice enough to play right back with them.  Lauren dutifully followed Ava wherever Ava told her to go, and she dutifully did whatever Ava told her to do.  Lauren is a 3-year olds dream come true!

Ava and her bestie, Ruthie. 

Riley's baptism wouldn't be complete without Anneka!  We were so glad that she was able to make it.

Riley and Bishop Challis.

After Riley's baptism, we went out to eat at Red Robin where Riley got TWO rootbeer floats...it was his birthday after all.  Then we hopped on over to Toys R Us where Riley was able to pick out his birthday gift. He spoke with Aunt Jenny later in the evening.  She asked him how he felt now that he was baptised.  He replied, "I just feel really happy."

Quote of the Day

Tanner had a friend over yesterday for a play date after school.  They were playing so well together...and then I heard Tanner's friend ask Tanner what they should do.  This is how Tanner responded:

Tanner: "Oh!  I know!  I have a fun game.  It's called, A Beanbag, A Couch...and A Wall!"

Needless to say, it turned out to be a REALLY fun game!

Quotes of the Day

Yesterday Riley came home from school with a note in his backpack saying that this Thursday, the kids are supposed to dress up like what they want to be when they grow up.  I asked Riley what he wanted to be, fully expecting him to say a Lego Master Designer...which is what he always says...but no, without even missing a beat, this was his response:

Mom: So Riley, what do you want to dress up as?
Riley: A Hypnotist
Mom:  stunned silence...
Riley: But mom, is it hard to be a Hypnotist?
Mom: I really don't know buddy
Riley: Yeah, I bed it's hard

Yesterday as I was making dinner, Tanner comes in and starts throwing himself on the floor and spinning around.  He thought he was being super awesome and started giggling.  Then he says,

Tanner: Mom!  Look at my  new trick!
Mom: That is awesome Tans
Tanner: Yeah, it's called the Venn Diagram
Mom: What?
Tanner: The Venn Diagram
Mom: Tanner, where did you hear that word?
Tanner: I learned it at school
Mom:  Huh? Do you know what it means?
Tanner: Nope!  But I do know how to say it!
Mom: Tanner, you're awesome!

Ava's Princess Party

Ava had her princess birthday party last night and it was fun!  Everyone came dressed up as their favorite princess.  We had Belle, Aurora and Cindrella.  I'm pretty sure that Ariel made a cameo appearance too before the night was through.

 The girls were all given a princess makeover when they walked through the doors.  We fixed them up with their very own crown, diamond ring, bracelets, and, of course, a magic wand.

Here is Ava and Ruthie.  Due to a broken collar bone...which we are ALL too familiar with around these parts, I had to help Ruthie go to the potty.  When I went to help her sit on her "throne" (ha, ha) she said, "Sara, don't let me fall in...I'm Ava's best friend."

Ava loved opening up all her gifts...and Tanner LOVED helping her! 

Then it was on to Cinderella cupcakes and ice cream.  

And what respectable princess party would be complete without a balloon attack on the big brother?   Riley also played the girls several piano songs so they could show off their mad princess dance moves.  He sure knows how to make a party great.  Thanks buddy for entertaining the girls.

Another Birthday Gift

Grandma Charlene has really out done herself this year!  I don't know how long it took her, but she made these adorable owls for Ava's birthday.  Ava squealed when she saw them...I squealed when I saw them...we were squealing maniacs over here!  :)  They are over-the-top cute!  Thank you Grandma Charlene!!!

Ava's Gift

It's been a rough day...to say the least.  I wasn't going to let Ava open up her birthday gift from Nana until her actual birthday in 10-days, but today, we needed it...badly.  I promised my mom I would video her reaction, so here it is.  Mom, enjoy the 3-installments of Ava opening her gifts.

 All the kids were SUPER excited to open this gift.  They have been eyeing it for the past 2-days.  They couldn't believe their luck when I announced that tonight was THE night to open this thing of wonder.  

Don't you love it when you unwrap a much anticipated gift...only to find that it is a box?

You can always count on my Tanner-Man to come up with something to say.

And finally...the gift!

Ava LOVES Tangled!  I have a feeling that not only will she wear this to bed tonight, but that she will look at me tomorrow when I try to get her dressed and say, "over my dead body will you take this dress off!"  Okay, that might be a bit dramatic, but you get the idea.  

Thank you Nana!  Your gift made this night, and I quote from Tanner, "the best night EVER!"

p.s. sorry for the poor picture quality...I couldn't find the good camera :(

School Photos

Why do we buy into the whole school photo thing?  I ask myself this every fall, and yet, regardless of how I feel about them, I always buy the ridiculously expensive pictures.  I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is just something appealing about these iconic (and usually horrible) photos.

Tanner's Official Kindergarten Photo

Riley's 2nd Grade Photo...he's a pro at this by now!  

Soccer Season

I am officially a soccer mom...and Todd is officially a soccer coach (we are OLD!)

This past Saturday marked Riley and Tanner's very first soccer games.  They both had a lot of fun!

Tanner loves soccer!  He is not afraid at all to get right into the fray to get the ball.  He is pretty dang good at

dribbling the ball too.  I was really proud of my Tanner-Man.

Watching the two kindergarten teams play this game was one of the funniest things I have ever seen!

I laughed myself silly on more than one occasion.  

Riley is quite a bit more timid than Tanner, but he plays a mean defense!  He can really kick that ball

right out of the way of his team's goal.  

Riley is really lucky because his daddy is his coach.  He is still young enough to think having his dad

there is really awesome.

Quite possibly my favorite moment of the day was when Todd gathered his little team around him

during half time and said to them, "Take a knee team".   Loved it.