Christmas and A Project!!

Christmas came and went and now it's New Year's (well, it was....I'm behind again, of course).  Although, I take comfort in knowing that most of  my blogger friends gave up on me a long time ago, and no one probably reads this anymore, so it's really just for my own records!!  My brother and Rich's brother were all out of town this holiday, so Rich and I thought we should all just get together!  So, Christmas Eve we went to Rich's parents house.  My parents came too and we all had fondue.  We went home, got the kids in bed and got everything ready for Santa to arrive!!  We woke up bright and early (8:30ish...that's early for our kids!!)  My parents came over, and we headed downstairs to see what Santa brought us!!  We went to church, over to my parents to open their gifts, and then back to our house.  My parents and Rich's parents came over to our house and we ate lots of yummy food and watched football (men's choice, obviously)!!  Such an awesome holiday!!



 The vacation started with Jordan's Christmas program at preschool...he met Santa, and he sang some songs with his class!! He did such an awesome job!!  He got right up there and just sang his little heart out!!

 He even did the actions!!

Just woke up....waiting to go downstairs to see what Santa left!!

THis year, Taylor totally got into it!!

 Jordan didn't need any help either!!

A few days later, we celebrated Rich's 27th birthday!!! All of our parents came over and we topped it off with his new favorite Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cake!!

Taylor- blowing out candles!

So, I promised some friends that I would post this....for Christmas this year, we made a little project for my Mom's playroom.  She is currently remodeling her kitchen, and thought her playroom needed a new one too!!

Before- on the side walk at the Resuce Mission Store!

After-  Rich helped me do this....we felt so pinteresty!!



Hope you all had a great holiday!!!  Now, I'm caught up on my blog...I should be good to about March , right??

November in a Nutshell!

By the time we are recovered from our Halloween sugar high, before we know it, it's Jordan's 4th Birthday!!! As Jordan put it, "it's the best day EVER!" It's the day he waits for ALL YEAR LONG! He has already started planning his next birthday and thinking up what he wants for presents and what his next cake should be!!

He got lots of birthday wishes from aunts/uncles, he got a call from his primary teacher, and his favorite lady at chuch (Sister Walker) came by brought him and Taylor each a new sled!! He was so excited and had to try it out before the party that night!!

This year, he got what he wanted....a green cake with purple writing with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head on top!! Easy enough for me!

We had lots of family over and lots of fun watching him open his presents!! We took him to see the movie Cars 2 back in June and he has been dying to get it ever since. It came out on DVD at the very beginning of November so we decided to wait until his birthday to give it to him. So, he opened the movie and screams, "Cars 2!!! I have been wanting this for years!!"

He LOVES play-doh!

Buzz wings!!

He really isn't wearing makeup...he just came in from sledding!

Happy Birthday Buddy!!! We Love You!!

You've Got A Friend In Me....

Halloween 2011!! I"m actually really glad that it's over! Between the ward Trunk-or- Treat, school party, and then the real Halloween...I as already over it before it even came!! The boys, however, couldn't get enough candy, dress up, and fun!! Jordan, of course, choose Buzz Lightyear, and Taylor was Woody. Even though he kept calling himself Jessie!

Woody was not so cooperative for pictures!!

Happy Halloween!!

Kids Say The Darndest Things!!

Growing up with a teacher for a mother, I knew this day would come. The stories that my mom came home with were hysterical and completely unbelievable. If parents only knew what their children say at schoo. Most often the story is completly untrue, turned around, or the wrong words are inserted in strategic spots, totally changing the story!!

With that being said....here's the story Jordan told me in the car the other day.

J: "Mom, at preschool the other day, I told my teacher that sometimes Daddy borrows Grandpa Clarke's HOOKER!"

A: "What! What did you say?"

J: "I said, sometimes Daddy borrows Grandpa Clarke's HOOKER (very loudly)

A: "You told that to your preschool teacher?"

J: "Yeah! You know, we take the hooker off Grandpa's old suburban and put it on Daddy's truck so we can pull the boat!"

Yeah, so he meant HITCH!!

Heads -They Win, Tails- I Lose!

Two posts in one day! I am on a roll! (Don't get used to it, it probably won't happen again for a while!).

I am writing this story down, because it is one that needs to be captured. I am told that SOMEDAY this will be funny! As of right now, I am not quite to that point. Also, we have not received he HUGE bills we are expecting from this, so it will be a while before I can totally find the humor in all of this. It has been a pretty stressful week or two!

The day started out as any other day. The kids had been up for a while, they were content and playing (amazing, I know). I had just finished the dishes and I came out to the living room to be with the kids. I walked in and saw Taylor in the toy drawer. He pulled something shiny out of the drawer and looked at it for a minute. I started walking to him, knowing that it was the pressed penny that Jordan must have thrown in the drawer. Just then, I saw Taylor stick it in his mouth! I ran over to him and right before I got there, he gagged, coughed, and SWALLOWED!

I stuck my finger in to see if I could grab it, but it was long gone!!

AWESOME!! This penny, because it was smashed, is now wider than a quarter, very flat, and has very sharp edges. So I called his doctor, and the Ask-A-Nurse Hotline at our Hospital. They both told me that because of the size, shape, and sharp edges, I had to take him to the ER. Rich came home, we dropped Jordan at Grandma Pam's, and we were off.

Taylor waiting in the ER. All the nurses loved him. Everytime one of them walked by, they had to come and play with him. Then, he got brave (and bored) and would walk out to the nurses station to say hi, peek around the desk and make them all laugh. That kept them all entertained for a while.

The ER just confirmed what I already knew...YEP, there's a penny in there! So they sent us home to dig through diapers in the hope that it would come out (which I never really thought it would...that penny is huge for such a little guy!). If it didn't come out in a few more days, go see my doctor. So, obviously it didn't come out. We went to the doctor, she sent us to a specialist, who looked at the xray and immediately said, "nope, there's no way that's coming out by itself!"

Smashed penny in his stomach!

Bright and early we were in the surgery center to retrieve the penny!! Taylor is watching Bob the Builder, waiting to go back to surgery!!

Still waiting! Until that point, we didn't know where the penny was because it had been a few days since the last xrays. Fortunately, it was still in his stomach so they could retrieve it going down his throat with a scope that had a basket on the end, and not have to cut him open!! Thank Goodness!

The end result, we now have the penny back, for evidence and a momento to put in the baby book!!

Taylor is feeling pretty good. It was rough coming out of the anesthesia, but other than he's just had a pretty bad sore throat...but nothing a few popsicles can't cure!!

My Little Scholar!!

Last week, my little boy turned into a BIG Boy-overnight. I swear when I got him ready that day, he was my same ol' Jordan. But when we took him to school, he seemed to big and grown up! It's like seeing him for the first time after I had Taylor. When he walked into my hospital room, he seemed so much bigger and older than he had the day before. Funny how that works! Rich and I took him to preschool, he was so excited he could hardly stand it! We walked in, found the cubby with his name tag, and hung up his backpack. He found his own name tag on table, and just as I closed the safety pin, he looks at me and says "Bye Mom!" I got a high five, and he was off! He never even looked back. He walked over to his teacher and said, "Hi, my name is Jordan" she acknowledge him and walked off to play.

The really fun thing is that they have one-way mirrors, so we can watch him with out anyone seeing us. We watched for a few minutes and then we left. He only goes three day a week, so the last few days have been rough. He has been begging me to go back to preschool!! I love that he loves it, and I love that it lands during naptime, so I actually have 2 and half hours to get stuff done, clean, grocery shop, etc., and maybe, just maybe it might get done!

The last little while and a NEW ADDITION!!

So much has happened this summer! I can't believe that summer is already over. I did a terrible job of blogging, so here is a catch up of all the things that happened the last couple months.

We had lots of family come visit! My brother JC and his family came, all of Rich's sisters came, and we got a lot of good boating trips!

Taylor (17 months) started on the ski trainer behind the boat!! I have a picture on my phone...trying to upload it (we'll see). Jordan is a pro tuber and waterskier by now! ;)

One of the most exciting things for me is that we traded in our Avalon for a shiny new (to us) Jeep Commander! Not what I thought I would come home with, or what I was even looking a when we went to the lot, but I really liked it, test drove it, and fell in LOVE!! I have never picked out my own car, so it was extra exciting! It has tons of room with the third row, so we can even take extra people with us!! Best of all, I am not completely dreading winter now...4 wheel drive!!!

More posts coming soon since Jordan starts preschool next week!! Crazy!!

Utah Adventures!!!

A few weeks ago, Rich, my mom, and I took the kiddos down to Utah for a little getaway! I was nice to get out of town and the everyday schedule we're in. No paticular reason except Rich has lots of Vacations days and it sounded like fun. We have been wanting to take Jordan to the Hogle Zoo for a while now, so we finally did it!!

First stop- Rexburg to eat and meet up with some long lost cousins!!! Jordan was so excited to see Logan and the girls. We hadn't even made it out of town before he started asking, "Are we there yet?"

P.S- Rexburg seemed a LOT farther away than it used to!! :)

Carousel Ride at the park in Rexburg!




That night, we finally made it to Great Grandma Cutler's house by Ogden. To start the vacation off right, we took Jordan to "the greatest movie ever..." (his words, not mine!)

CARS 2!!!

He's got his ticket and he was ready!






Nothin' better than a GIANT tub of popcorn and a Dr. Pepper!!

In the end, he gave it "TWO THUMB UP!!"

Taylor did not get to go to the movie. He stayed with my mom at my grandma's house. He wasn't too upset about it because he got to play on the air mattress. He thought that was the greatest ever!!

My aunt gave them some punch balls.......they popped! Imagine that!

The next day, we went to the Hill Airforce Base! Planes and helicopters EVERYWHERE you look!! Jordan just ran from one to the next!!

He was explaining something about that plane....not sure what though

The captain and his co-pilot....READY FOR TAKE OFF!!

Just call him "Maverick"

After the Air Force Base, we went to the Tree House Museum in Ogden....it was AWESOME!! Everything in there was just for kids. They could touch, play, ride on everything!!

This is funny because for some reason, the last few weeks Jordan has been talking about wanting to milk a cow. THIS is my kind of milking!!

My little fireman!

Rich would like to announce his candidacy for President..

He's so cute!!

We could hardly get him off that horse!!

Jordan saw the Trolley drive by and thought it looked soooo fun! What the heck, it was free so we took a ride as it looped around downtown Ogden.

We visited Temple Square on Sunday!

Took some cute pictures on Temple Square!

Hogle Zoo- Train Ride!!

Carousel at Hogle!

We also went to the Union Pacific Train Museum and the Eccles Dinosaur Park (Awesome!!). Those pics are on my phone, so when I get them uploaded, I'll finish this trip up!!

Can't wait until we get to go do this fun stuff again!!!