Another Christmas Gone By...

Christmas this year held a little more magic for us. Knowing that the economy is headed in a downward spiral, we decided to prepare the kids by telling them that they would be receiving 6 gifts on Christmas morning; one from each family member and one from Santa. At first, (clear back in September when we started putting this idea in the kids' heads) Tarryn and Makade were very unhappy with the idea. They had been used to Christmases in abundance, the ones that put Mom, Dad, and Santa in the red. But Brandon and I were determined to start bringing their Christmas list down to realistic sizes so that if the time comes that we can only afford home made gifts, they wont be in shock or worse, feel ungrateful.

The kids woke up to see a Christmas wonderland filled with bikes from Santa, presents, and an abundance of snow outside.

Brandon's and my morning unofficially started at 2:50am when we were wakened by Corban who was having a mighty difficult time sleeping due to his persistent croup cough. I took the first shift and stayed up with him nearly an hour (which is difficult when you went to bed at 2am). Then, after Corban's cough medicine started kicking in, Brandon decided to sleep with him which benefited us all. (Okay, that may be a stretch for Brandon, but he got to rest his eyes.)

Smart Santa left Kellan a wagon instead of a bike

Our official morning started somewhere around 6:30am when Tarryn and Makade came in to wake me up. They went back into Tarryn's room to play while we waited for the Corban and Kellan (who both had croup) to stir. It didn't take long for Kellan, but because of Corban's rough night, he had to have a little nudging. We went down to find what joys Christmas had brought around 7:20am and found so much snow (and snow drifts) that you couldn't tell where the sidewalk met the road. Oh....and presents filled the room by a lit Christmas tree.

Makade showing us the new 'ride'

As we have done the last 2 years, we invited the kids' aunt Brittany and uncle Zane over to watch the kids open gifts in the early morning (and to take pictures since both Brandon and I are needed for other things). This always adds to the excitement and 'show' of the morning.

Tarryn patiently waiting her turn of opening her next gift (a Leapfrog Didj system). And pleased as punch that Corban liked her Hungry Hippos game that dad had already been asked to put together.

Corban would head back to Kellan's wagon filled with balls after opening each one of his own gifts.

Even though we had a 6 gift limit, I don't think the kids felt deprived in any way come Christmas morning. In fact, Corban got tired of opening presents, so he saved one until the next day to open. The hands-down winning gift of the morning in Corban and Kellan's eyes was Kellan's Ball Pit. *We've been cleaning up balls multiple times of the day since.* Tarryn, Makade, and Brandon are thrilled with the family gift we broke down and purchased; a Wii.

Corban, the wonderful doctor he is, was listening to dad's ear with his new stethoscope.

As for me? I'm very pleased with the gifts I received, but I truly had no want for gifts this year. It surprised me when I realised this early December, and surprised me even more when I found the reason why is because I'm perfectly content with where I am in life. What could be a better gift than that? What more magic could Christmas bring than a house filled with lasting happiness...with or without gifts?

Tarryn 'snows' how to have fun!

If you know Tarryn well, you know that she is mighty creative. She can take an old trick and put a new twist on it. For her, there is no limit on what her mind can see. Her's her new take on playing in the snow....I was upstairs working on the mundane (folding laundry), when I thought I saw someone in our backyard. When I walked over to the window, there was my *angel* wrapped in a heart made with footprints for heaven to see and be reminded that she's down here.

Who needs mud?! I'd rather eat 'snow cakes' over 'mud pies' anyday! Tarryn and her friend were hard to miss with their giggles and fun as I passed the window seeing them starting their own bakery. *Honestly, when I heard the banging and laughing, I thought they were trying to build a snow-man on my front porch. (My lips are zipped as I don't want to place THAT idea in their head.)

M.I.A.

Ya know, that darn 52 week project causes me such frustration! When I don't have a new photo to add, then I find that I don't even want to post anything! This is the reason I've been MIA. I'm going to play "catch-up" with the next couple of days and give you all the good stuff. I still have Halloween photos to place on this blog before the year ends. (I will be putting things in chronological order so don't expect to find Halloween pics in the December posts.)Please be patient. Don't expect pictures of me and my Project 52. I'm not ready and I'll explain that in another post. ***Here's hoping my major posting frenzy wont cause another alert for spam.***

The Family Parrot

I am starting to see that as much as children hate to turn into their parents, parents cringe when they start to see some of their behaviors showing up in their offspring. Perhaps it has more to do with realizing you, yourself have behaviors that you wish were a little more friendly. Have you ever noticed your actions change slightly when your stuck in front of a mirror? Not sure what I'm talking about? Let me give you an example...

While I'm in here checking emails and reading friends' blogs, my son Corban just yelled, "Mom! You get back in here and clean this up!" A saying that is surely one of mine. What mess he thinks is mine, I still haven't gone to check.

Or how 'bout the time I had some neighbors visiting and Corban grabs me by the chin to turn my head to look at him and says, "Look at my eye. I'm serious, okay! I. Am. Hungry!" ...So, I guess when I'm serious I must feel like I need their undivided attention. (I have to admit, it was a little hard to not giggle when he told me to look at his eye.)

The worst is when your three year old reveals your ways of discipline. In front of friends. You know; the things you say when you're trying to stop a fight, or trying to make sure they understand that their behavior is out of line? The key phrases that Corban so willingly uses on his own siblings, OR Brandon and me are, "You want me do dat t'you?" "D'you like it?" and to always make sure things are clear, "D'you unnerstand?!?"

Our family parrot is working diligently to keep me in check. Not only for sparing unkind things said to my kids, but also for my own security of less public humiliation.

Mental Mix-ups

My brain hasn't been in full function since early last week. We're not talking simply mixing up one child's name for another. I'm doing outright crazy things lately! I have found Corban's shoes in Kellan's cubby along with other misplaced things like cereal in the fridge. I've made wrong turns to destinations I could normally drive to with my eyes closed (not that I really drive while closing my eyes), I put eyeshadow on as if it were blush, and I say nonsensical things constantly. Here's an example:

Corban: Mom, can I have a drink?

Me: Only if you start eating your noodles.

Makade: Mom, can I have a drink?

Me: Only if you eat your noodles.

Makade: But mom, I don't have noodles.

Me: Makade. If you don't eat your noodles, you can't have a drink. That's only fair to treat you the same as Corban.

Makade: Getting upset... Mom! How can I eat my noodles if I don't have any?

Me: Coming out of Absent Minded Land... Oh. Well, I guess you can have a drink.


See! I'm loosing it! If you have some suggestions for help, I'd appreciate it!

A thought...

If you only travel on sunny days,

you will never reach your destination.

*Buddhist quote

What a great reminder that life goes on and we should too.

Aunt Gayla, you and your wonderful outlook on life will be missed.

12/52

Really, I've got 2 weeks of catching up to do, but this is MY project, so instead of getting 2 pitiful photos that mean nothing to me, I'd rather accept my behindedness (nice word!) and start movin' on from here. Here is my official picture of week 12/52 with the newest member of our family, Canon.

Happy Sixth Months Day!

Today, as mentioned before, we had reason to celebrate! Corban has made it SIX months without a seizure! We are so happy that we've found a medication that can keep the seizures at bay and yet allow us to still keep Corban's sweet personality. This within itself is a true blessing. I know of too many stories where parents are forced to accept the medication with major side-effects and also still continue to have sporadic relapses. We are truly blessed beyond measure.

With Brandon being sick, we simply celebrated with a cake. A big, red, hairy lookin' Elmo cake! Why Elmo looks scared, you say? I'd have to say I'd be scared to have candles in the top of my head and knowing I was going to be eaten would damper the moment as well. (At least that's what I told the kids.) The baker was surprised when I didn't give orders for a "Happy Birthday" on such a cake, but accepted our strange request for a "Yay Corban!" to be added. We purchased crayon replica candles instead of traditional ones, and were ready for a celebration.
The tricky part was coming up with a song to sing before Corban blew out his 6 candles. I thought of "For he's a jolly good fellow," but then realized the kids didn't know that oldy. We thought of various others, some that didn't have anything to do with why we were having cake. None of them would do. So we changed the "Happy birthday" song into, "Happy six months to you!" and Corban was thrilled. Afterward, because ALL of us have endured through this trial, each of the kids got to take a turn blowing out the candles. What a fun evening, although the only one who was daring enough to try all that frosting was Tarryn. Here's to another six months!

We start anew

I wont make this post about MY opinion on who I wanted for president. I'm not here to cast views on arguments that have already been decided. No matter who won, there were fears and trepidations toward each candidate for me. I'll quote myself saying, "I can't believe that, of all the good Americans, these are the best two our country can come up with."

Mr President Obama, I address this to you. You are one man with many behind you. America chose you because of many promises you have made. America made a decision late this evening to share their ideal dreams of this beautiful country with YOU. There is 'change' that our Country needs, but a country also needs stability. When making decisions regarding our Homeland, please, search your heart before taking action. Please, for my family and my loved ones, remember that as President of the United States, YOU ARE SERVING US. We, as a nation, are who you answer to. You have the potential to either do a great many things, or great terrible things in your position. I want it clear, if you choose the latter, we will not take it sitting down.

Fellow Americans, we as a nation, when standing as one, are strong. Through casting votes, majority rules. No matter your race, your religion, your status in life, there were things that the bulk of the United States saw within this man that caught our attention. The charisma and the promises have sounded great to most. Please, let us remember that we, as a nation, voted this man to be in OUR service. Even though elections are over, WE STILL HAVE A VOICE. Let us make certain we let our President hear what we have to say. Let us re-unite these states. Become one. We are stronger and can share the load better. ...And if Mr. Obama tries anything out of line, we are there, together, to stand our ground.

Congratulations, Mr President. America is waiting and watching.

A week to celebrate...

Today is a day of remembrance for me. I'm not going to make it a day of sadness, I plan on using this day as a cause to celebrate all of my sweet children and enjoy each one of them and reflect how much they mean to me.



This very day last year was, hands down, the most frightening day of my life. November 3rd, 2007, Corban had his first seizure. I could go on about the events of the day, because, just as the events of 9/11 seems to be embedded into everyone's mind, this day is just as tragic in my heart. In fact, for every seizure that would happen after this point, inwardly I would feel upset that life was continuing on. Because our inner world was coming to a halt, I felt all other's should do the same. I'm glad the world didn't listen to my heart or my feelings; for stopping the world wouldn't have helped the situation and it taught me lessons that I needed.



So instead of relaying the events of this day 1 year ago, I'm going to reflect on the joys these sweet children bring me. I will forget the small nuisances of picking up after them or the frustrations of them not obeying, and replace it with making them smile and watching them laugh. I will focus on indulging myself in the fun and interesting personalities that each one of my angels have. For a year ago today, I was in fear of losing one of them; and if I re-live and center my feelings regarding, I'll be missing the message of enjoying all the good that I am surrounded by.



Thank you Corban, for willingly going through this so that your Mother and Father could learn lessons in this life that we would never have been able to comprehend without you.


Ironically, two accolades regarding Corban's seizures happen within the same week. On Thursday it will be 6 months (26 weeks to be exact) since Corban's last seizure. This is thrilling news to us since it means that he will most likely outgrow them. We are truly blessed beyond measure. If you need a reason to make a cake, eat it, and not count calories; Thursday is your day. Calories don't count when it comes to great celebrations!

A thing of beauty...

Isn't it beautiful? Fantastic? Awe inspiring? This stunning black gadget is my wildest dreams coming true. Have I been kissed by an angel? Have the stars aligned? No; I simply have the sweetest in-laws any girl could wish for.

This little device will be used as an outlet, a story-telling apparatus, a memory catcher, and a window to the way I see the world. Thank you Gil and Lynda, for handing over the old while replacing with the new. Thank you for thinking of me. Thank you for always opening your hearts and making me feel so accepted. I truly love you both.

I hope I get over the fear of using such a remarkable contraption soon.

Yoda never grows old!

We usually make sure that even the littlest of our family gets to experience trick-or-treating for about a block's worth of houses. Kellan was definitely up for the task. He thoroughly enjoyed getting candy in a bucket and having people ooh and ah over his cuteness dressed as Yoda.

Before Kellan's and my evening was through, Aunt Brittany brought some glo-sticks for the kids to put in their candy bucket and to wear as bracelets. She handed me some extra and told me to give them to kids we passed. So Kellan and I went our separate way from the rest of the family and started passing out left-over glo-sticks.

While walking home, Kellan desperately wanted to hold a glo-stick. As soon as I gave him a blue one, he started wielding it around and making light-saber noises. (Boys and their noises. It's embedded in their genetics.) Two 12 year old boys dressed as a pop-tart and a fat farmer yelled, "Hey look it's Yoda!" "Awesome! He has a light saber! ...Only it should be green."

The rest of the night on, anyone who made a stop at our house commented on Yoda, his light saber, or both. I guess Yoda is an icon that will never grow old, and in this case, he's only 14 mos!

Yoda (Kellan) crying because he wants to hold the camera.

Halloween is another word for Chaos

It all started on a gloomy Hallows morn. Their mother had no idea what was to hit her as she woke and got out of bed. While getting the 2 toddlers ready for their pre-school Halloween party, they found her biggest fear and attacked. After putting Hayden's dragon outfit on, he immediately took off the top half and stated that he didn't want to wear it. Corban then stated the same regarding his storm-trooper costume. What would Cambrey (Hayden's mom) think? They'll feel left out if they get to school and aren't wearing a costume.

"Hayden, do you want to be a storm trooper instead?" The frightened mother asks.

"I want to be a dragon!" Corban shouts while jumping up and down.

"Yeah! I be torm-troopa!" shouts Hayden matching Corban's enthusiasm.

Problem *sort-of* solved, the weary mother thinks to herself, although what will the rest of this day dish out to me?



Answer: Enough to drive her within close quarters to turning herself into the insane asylum for protection.

Corban in the Dragon costume. Hayden as the storm trooper. Bailey as a fairy.

Corban's first part of the day spent being a dragon.

Our Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns.

The Star Wars Family

(Makade aka Commander Cody (storm trooper), Tarryn aka Ashoka (Jedi padawan), Corban aka Commander Rex (storm trooper), Kellan aka Yoda (Jedi Master).

I will never forget what Kim (our neighbor) said. "You have to expect Halloween to be a crazy day." She's right. I'll never be side-swiped again.

Picture Day

Me: So Corban, did you get your picture taken today at school?

Corban: Uh-huh. Dey said, "Smile like pumpkin."

Me: Really? Did you smile like a pumpkin?

Corban: Yup.

Me: What does smiling like a pumpkin look like?

Corban: Like dis. As he opens his mouth like a wide mouthed frog.

Me: Wow! I can't wait to see these pictures!

11/52

Ummm....A week late.....again. I'm not kidding when I tell you this isn't as easy as you'd think!

We went to the pumpkin patch last Monday and had a lot of fun with the kids', Aunt Brittany and Uncle Zane. Corban was a hoot to watch (once you got past being annoyed that he was so moody) as he thought the idea was to FILL the wheelbarrow with pumpkins, not just pick a favorite one. Corban was funny when we made our way to the tractors. There were about 8 different ones and Corban HAD to try each one! We had an enjoyable evening finding our favorite pumpkins, riding tractors, taking pictures (Brittany), riding in the wheelbarrow, and running through a small corn-maze. I hope the kids remember these times when their my age.

***Thanks again to the lovely Brittany for photographing this memory!

...pants on fire & week 10/52

So...I lied. I broke one of the things I don't tolerate well in others. I said I'd have a pic of me THAT DAY and still hadn't done it. Shame. Well, here it is....notice it's on the day I'm supposed to post THIS weeks project? Ugh. This is harder than you think! Inspiration: What I wrote on the previous post, "Even if it's with a shadow of me in it." I pulled out Makade's wonderfully made paper witch hat and went to town on my back patio. I swear I wasn't out long using the sun's effects for my personal use (we're talking a total of 15 minutes tops), yet why in one picture am I short and chubby and the other I'm tall and thin? Who knows; I wish I were always tall and thin.... but wishing gets us nothing but a well full of pennies.

Still catching up

It's now quarter to 1. That's a.m., and I still haven't posted a picture of my 52 weeks project. Okay, I'll be honest here....I haven't even taken a picture for my project. Once again, no excuses...although being thought of as SPAM doesn't help one's esteem much. BUT.....even if it's a shadow of a picture with me in it, I will post it later this day. For now; I'm off to bed!

S-No!!!!!!!!!!!!!W

I tolerate a lot of things. Things most mothers don't. I allow my children to string yarn all over the stair-case balusters to make spider-webs and leave them up for a day forcing me to duck and climb each time I need to make my way up or down. I don't freak out when an entire bowl of popcorn is spilled all over the carpet. I let my children pick if they want to wear shorts in 40 degree weather.

There are few things that I don't tolerate. Rude manners from children or adults. Disrespect toward any human, animal, or living thing.-this goes along with the first. People who aren't honest with themselves and others. And....weather that doesn't know it's place in the seasons.

My children, however, were thrilled to see the snow this early AUTUMN morning and had to get a taste for what's coming. Thank goodness the snow didn't stay. I'm not ready for the cold....I have to warm up to such things. :0)

Notice the Halloween decorations in the neighbor's windows! THIS IS WRONG!!!

Yakety yak...

Nope. Not a single yak at the petting zoo, but the boys were thrilled to see donkeys, goats of all shapes and sizes, ducks, pigs, bunnies, geese, llamas, and even a sheep who Corban frightened enough to make the lazy thing stand which in turn scared Corban into silence. I think their favorite part about the adventure was sharing time with Grandma Fuller and riding the ponies named Smitty and George. (Hayden on Smitty, Corban on George.)My least favorite parts were the fact that my camera ran out of juice about 5 minutes into the day and Corban being intrigued with picking up little round "rocks" off the ground. Eeew!

Sunkissed Ballerina

Had to post this pic! Tarryn is simply glowing in it. There are a few of my children who I feel that the sun personally seeks to simply shine upon them. Of course I'm a bit biased.

What's gnu at the zoo?

......Absolutely nothing. But we love the place still. In fact, we plan on going back on Friday for Hayden's birthday party!

***Pictures compliments of Brittany Gonder

Catching up

Okay, so I've been on a posting stike. I lost my writing vibe when one of my blogs was flagged as spam. Blogspot denied me access to write on ONE blog (thoughtful-letters.blogspot.com) and I couldn't think straight.

You put things out there. Your feelings, thoughts, advice, personal humor, etc. and it gets regarded as SPAM!!! Things are better now and I'm ready to write again, although if anyone knows of a support group for fellow spam replicas let me know. I could use the therapy. ;0)

Blending

A nap-time tradition in our home is to pick a book for mom to read. Corban did as was customary, while I went to get a drink for the little guy. Corban must have picked quickly, because soon he was on my heels following me down the stairs. We get the drink and after a bit of struggle, we head back upstairs and into Corb's room.

"Did you pick a book?" I ask.

"Uh huh." Corban replies.

"Which book did you pick?" is my next question.

"The az book." Corban answers.

"Well where is it?" My third question.

"Hmmm, I non't know. Do you know where da az book is?" is Corban's response and question.

"What is the az book? Did you leave it down stairs?...." and on it goes until we simply give up and read a different book because both of us are too lazy to trudge back down the stairs to find this book. I'm especially not excited to look for this book, because I have no idea what book he could be talking about. To my knowledge, I've never read a book entitled, Az.

I put both boys down to bed and start down stairs for my own special "me" time. As I'm coming down the stairs I find a book face down. Turning it over, my heart fills with pride as I see my son is learning to blend, for he read the title to Sandra Boynton's book called A to Z with letters placed in such a way that you could mix up the title to read, Az.

My 3 year old son is starting to read!

9/52

What could be more fun at the zoo than sticking your head in a lion's mouth to get a drink of water? I'm so happy I finally get to be the one in the picture sharing this first time experience with a child. *No one had better rain on my parade by stating that Kellan probably didn't even know it was a lion. He'll know when he's older and sees the picture right?


~~~Shhhhh...don't tell, but I posted this ON TIME!!!

Little Dipper

We all have those days. You know, the ones where you aren't really feeling down, but you're simply craving some type of comfort food. Today is one of those days for me and a comfort food I chose but normally don't indulge in (due to large amounts of calorie content) is graham crackers and milk.

I sit myself down on the couch (going for comfort here), hand part of a cracker to Kellan (my little shadow while all 3 kids are in school), then I take my cracker and dip it in the milk. This intrigued Kellan to no end, so he followed suit. I was so impressed by my little dipper! He never once lost his cracker in the milk and had his own dipping routine. Dip, look at the cracker, dip again, eat/make sucking sounds, then as if making a commercial would say, "Mmmmmm" with so much feeling, it made each of us want to go for another cracker. I'm not proud, just being honest...we ended up devouring that entire package of crackers!

Once again I am reminded how much our children watch and follow our every move. Good thing I wasn't devouring a pie... Good thing I don't like pie.

Moab

Around these parts you find these bumper stickers plastered to cars, stop signs, and various other surfaces that say, "London, Paris, New York, Moab." You may find it odd to place a small town among such 'greats,' that is until you've actually been to Moab.

The Delicate Arch is absolutely awe inspiring and the hike will leave you breathless.

Balanced Rock in Arches National Park. /Part of the Double Arches (The kids favorite place to climb all over rocks and the hike was only 15 minutes)
It's not even so much the town; as food service is atrocious, the buildings are unkempt and a bit run down, and population is probably somewhere close to 4000 (a guess, not a fact). What is so spectacular about this place is the views. If the color of the red rock doesn't peak your interest, it's the ultimate spot for off-roading and dirt biking, the river rapids are to boot, and Arches National Park is amazing! Needless to say, you could spend weeks here and not run out of things to do. It's too bad we only planned a 2 night stay camping trip with our friends, the Hughes family.

Tarryn trying to keep warm in the cold, early morning. /Brandon trying to keep kids quietly entertained (Corban behind the camera) while our camping neighbors are still sleeping.

Brandon cooking pancakes outside the trailer while I'm inside cooking eggs. /Corban dancing for his breakfast.
As always, camping in tight quarters with a 6 person family is quite an adventure, but every moment was worth all the work to put this trip together. We truly enjoyed every bit of the sun baking us against the hot red rock during our 1 1/2 mile hike up to the Delicate Arch and even the 1 1/2 mile hike back (although Kellan and Corban didn't make it down awake). We enjoyed sand dunes, other arches, camp fires, gazillions of stars, lizards, and after a long day's hike the swimming pool. Most of all, we thoroughly enjoyed the Hughes' company. What a wonderful trip! We plan on going again next year.

Don't let the picture fool you, this hill on the hike to Delicate Arch was long and steep (once you're at the top, your half way to the arch). /Every one passing one of many rock cairns placed by the park rangers so you know where to go.

The Hughes and Fuller kids (minus Kellan who there was NO WAY we were going to place in another child's arms on this cliff) in The Window to Delicate Arch.

Corban hitching a ride as he's getting tired on the way down from Delicate Arch (Kellan kept hitting his bum). /Corban and Kellan exhausted from the sun on the way down from Delicate Arch.

Kellan and Corban asleep and Brandon carrying a total of 55 extra lbs for a good 30 minutes the rest of the way down from Delicate Arch.

A gecko Severyn caught. /Brandon checking for a cell signal while perched up in on of the Double Arches. Go figure.

Makade, Tarryn, and Kellan enjoying rock climbing in Double Arches.