I think I just might be a Fortune Teller.
Or perhaps a Mis-Fortune Teller?
Either way--I feel some stitches and broken bones in our future.
Climbing...always climbing!!!! See that nice, fancy toilet paper and trash can? Haha. I thought they were safe. Maybe I'm not much of a fortune teller after all. I didn't see that one coming.
For Carson's and Caleb's birthdays, we did a couple of fun things.
Last weekend we had a joint birthday party at our house. Unfortunately, I guess we were so busy having fun that we forgot to take any pictures. At all. Lame-(with a big fat) O!
But we did have a good time. We got out the arcade basketball and set it up in the garage. Caleb is actually pretty good at it--which amazes us that he can actually throw the ball that far!! We had karaoke in our living room. The Dial Speedway Concessions in the kitchen. In another room we had a projector going showing Cars (the movie), Thomas the Ride on Train and track set up in another room, and another room with video games.
We also turned the backyard into the road Lightning McQueen fixed. We took a black roll of table covering and rolled it out covering the yard. Then we used crepe paper to make a double yellow stripe down the middle. It looked cool to start out. But by the end of the party, the wind and little feet kind of got the best of it. Anyway--we had 7 or 8 carnival games set up out there with prizes and fun and made the kids stuff their own goody bags this year. :) We made all the carnival games Cars themed. So there was an inflatable Mater tool toss where you toss tools in his mouth, the ring toss was to throw rings onto orange cones, throw bean bags into tires...you get the idea.
So I've heard a lot of comments the last four years about why all the effort for such young kids. But you know what? We just like to celebrate. And really, I think we should plan a party as a family every month. Our family worked on everything together and it was so fun! For example, Chris and Caleb and I worked on the yard, while Carson closely supervised:
Every game, food item, the decorations, cleaning etc. Caleb helped us with. It was so fun to have a project that we could all work towards and work together on! Caleb even helped with the cupcakes and cake:
Not the fanciest cake ever, but hey, Caleb could recognize it :) and was excited about it...so that's what matters, right? :)
So the bottom line... Caleb was straight up giddy to help with all the preparations and about having his friends over. And that my friends, makes it worth it right there!
Anyway, we had a great time and the boys were spoiled rotten, just as kids should be on their birthdays, I believe. :)
This weekend we also did our annual birthday trip to Chuck E Cheese. A good time had by all.
Carson loves doing the slides (here and at the park) by himself:
I wish this kid's parents would teach him not to put his foot on the table. How rude.
Actually...I'm pretty sure this is hereditary. Chris always likes to tease me because I like to put my foot up on everything...like in the car...or wherever. But so do the boys. We have a lot of pictures of them with one foot up, just chillin' like their mom. So proud.
We had a great time celebrating the birthdays of these two sweet and fun boys! Can't wait for next year's festivities! :)
The day after Carson turned one, Caleb turned four.
We CANNOT believe our little man is four!! Seriously?!? Where does the time go?!? It's so exciting and yet so so sad at the same time.
We celebrated a lot on Saturday (still going to post on this soon), but on Caleb's actual birthday we did a lot of fun things too. We made him a little thing to go around his neck that said, "It's My Birthday Today!" to wear to church. It was great because everywhere he went at church people were stopping him right and left and telling him, "Happy Birthday!" We had told Caleb we would open presents after church, but we had to wait for Chris to get home from his meetings at church too!! Caleb was sooo anxious! But Chris finally made it and then we had some fun. The night before I had set up a scavenger hunt with all of his presents. Only this time, I had made it so he got gifts along the way. So he would find a few clues and then find a gift with the next clue attached. Giddy does not even begin to describe this boy's excitement. I love how excited he gets over such things! We played the afternoon away all together with the new toys and games. That night we had some of Caleb's favorite friends over and made homemade pizzas and had more cake and ice cream. I think Caleb had a great day and we enjoyed celebrating with him.
One of his favorite presents was this little table top stage and some dinosaur hand puppets. He has had a lot of fun making up and putting on shows for us. He also enjoys dad's shows...just a little bit.
He literally had tears running down his cheeks from laughing so hard.
Some things (besides dad's shows!) that Caleb is into:
Caleb loves to write words and draw pictures
Loves to figure out what different signs say
Still loves to help and be involved in anything anyone is doing
Loves going to Joy School and is getting used to being a Sunbeam at church :)
Loves to have his room in order before he goes to bed
Loves to ride bikes, play ball, and just be outside
Loves to cook with mom
Loves to make his brother laugh
Anything trains, Buzz Lightyear, trucks, or Lightning McQueen! :)
And finally, here are some of Caleb's 4 year pictures:
(had to get those shoes and hat in a picture--he doesn't leave home without them!!)
Oh how we love our Caleb!! He is such a good helper and just so much fun. He makes us so proud and brings so much joy into our lives. Love you, Caleb!
One. Can you believe Carson is one today?!? I certainly cannot.
We had such a fun and action packed day today. More on that later though.
Here are a few things Carson is into lately:
This week the boys have been investigating the career of private investigator. Gotta keep all your options open. It's never too early to start researching careers, right? That's what I thought. We felt the boys really needed to take a thorough look at it, so we made them do some surveillance and tailing. Even in disguise.
This photo titled: Surveillance Done Right
Love the disguise (complete with totally inconspicuous Lightning Mcqueen hat and girly cell phone, donut in hand with a full box nearby.)
This photo titled: Tailing the Subject
Sporting that same inconspicuous Lightning McQueen hat with an equally inconspicuous turquoise convertible.
Actually, a friend of ours and his awesome company, Fullmer Investigations, is sponsoring a photo contest for the best picture of someone dressed up as a p.i. I didn't see in the rules where it said groveling was unacceptable. And since I'm not above groveling, well...you should go check out the entries and vote! Just click here! You have until January 20th and I think it said you can vote once a day! So let's get to those phone lines and start voting! Or wait...maybe I've watched too much American Idol this week.
And should you or your company find yourselves in need of a good private investigator, I hear he is the best at what he does and is an all around good guy. There is your tip for the day. You're welcome. As my dad always said, "Don't say I never gave you anything." haha! :)
We had some Saturday Night Fever going on at our house tonight.
Oh yeah! Those boys got moves!!! You know where to go to have fun on Saturday nights. Lots of fun.
p.s. Not sure why the video makes them look like midgets...but it kind of adds to the fun, don't you think?!?
Ah yes... Krista standard blog time. Several weeks late.
Christmas. Where do I begin? What an action-packed fun time of year! We were so so so busy (planning neighborhood parties, planning several church service projects, joy school, Christmas parties galore, etc etc etc). But we tried so hard to have no stress and involve the boys in everything we were doing. I think it worked out great and we created many new and fun memories and traditions together as a family!!
For Joy School, we took the kids to a nursing home and had them perform a Christmas program which included acting out a nativity scene and then singing 5 Christmas songs. I was worried that they wouldn't do it, but they did! And it was awesome!! The best part was when each of the kids gave the residents a card they had made, a treat, and a hug and kiss!! So cute!!
They also performed the same "show" for their family and friends at the Joy School Christmas party. Except it was a much more "lively" performance. :) We should have video taped the show at the nursing home instead. Oh well. Here is a funny video of them singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" that really shows each of their personalities well:
Lively, huh? :) And yes, we are currently accepting bookings for Caleb to choreograph your dances. But act fast--slots are filling up fast!!
We kept up the fun tradition of giving the boys a few fun little things at the beginning of the holiday season--including the matching pjs.
One morning the boys woke up to a clue outside their bedrooms. It sent them on a fun scavenger hunt to find their surprises. Caleb is now hooked on scavenger hunts!!!!
Christmas morning, Carson was hooked on the train table that Santa brought. Once he saw that, he wanted nothing more to do with all those presents. He eventually thought it was fun to rip the paper off the presents, but it took some convincing at first!
Meanwhile, Caleb loved to pull out the presents, read the name, and get it to the correct person.
Caleb loved the train table, but also loved his new pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa and matching stuffed Buzz Lightyear!
It now takes some convincing to get him dressed every day. He would prefer to just be Buzz or Woody both day and night.
Santa is kind of tricky. He knows how much Caleb loves treasure hunts now, so he wrapped two clues and set them to the side. When we thought all the presents had been opened, we discovered another gift. It was to Caleb and inside was clue #1. It sent him all over the house to find clues and eventually led him to a room upstairs where he found...
...his and his violins!!! Caleb and Chris have started taking violin lessons together once a week. It is a great time for them to just be together and learn something new.
But wait! Santa made reference to one more gift somewhere. We went on a hunt for one more gift and finally found it. And what do you know?!? Santa left another clue! That Santa is so awesome. :) So after another treasure hunt that led all over the house again, Caleb finally found a wrapped gift in the garage...a bike helmet! But why would Santa bring a bike helmet, but no bike?!? Caleb then discovered his prized possession nearby...
Caleb saw that Lightning McQueen bike last Christmas in the stores and has been begging for it since then! Since he has received it, he has been in h.e.a.v.e.n. It's a little big for him, but he does great with it! He can now be seen zooming around the neighborhood going "lightning mcqueen fast!"
And Carson joins in riding around town driving like a crazy man in his sweet car:
And since Caleb got a new bike, Carson has taken over the older smaller one:
Crazy little stunt man. But I'm off subject. The bike and the little car do not have anything to do with Christmas, do they?!?
Let's see...other than that, we enjoyed lots of Seaworld!
Oh! And our Christmas cards this year were awesome!!! Here is a sample of my amazing work:
What?!? You don't see that picture? Yup. No Christmas cards. They were on my to do list since early November. At some point (after Christmas!) I had to just come to terms with the fact that it just wasn't going to happen this year. Sigh. Maybe next year.
And that's about it for now! We once again missed being with our families, but we really did have a good time just being together and starting traditions in our little family. What a wonderful time of year! We hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas!
I find that we are starting some interesting and unintended (and in some cases unwanted) holiday traditions. Here is the 2009 version of three of these traditions:
1st tradition: 182 Reasons Not to Run a Red Light
Last holiday version was 185 Reasons To Slow Down. At least this time it was $3 cheaper. That's progress. And at least we are shaking things up a bit for fun. Last time speeding...this time running a red light. Gotta keep things interesting. And hey, I want my bumper sticker that says "We Back the Blue." We make a donation every dang year during the holidays and have no bumper stickers to show for it. Next time they call for donations, I'm telling them we've donated every year for the last several years and that I want my bumper stickers.
2nd tradition: Holiday Visitor
Not sure why every year this time of year this guy finds his way back to his home under our deck. Have I ever mentioned that I do not appreciate wildlife. At. All? Please, little buddy, go find someone who can appreciate you. I hear my neighbors love your kind...or something.... (By the way, some time I really need to combine all my Wanna Be National Geographic Photographer husband's pictures together in one post. We have a surprisingly large number of them from our Texas Wildlife Kingdom also known as our backyard. My favorite being those of the skunks. Who chases down and takes pictures of skunks? Hey, what was this post about anyway? Oh yeah...traditions. Next!)
3rd tradition: Caleb's I Spy
Caleb has kept the tradition of hanging random stuff on our Christmas tree.
Past versions here and here
And now we are unveiling the 2009 Edition of I Spy:
Find:
1 random red stocking
1 random set of antlers
1 random bell on a red string
1 random burgundy bow
1 random wreath hanger
1 random small lit tree
2 random small wooden trees
And yes, Caleb still has a couple spots available for interior decorating consultations. But spaces are going fast.
Here's to fun family holiday traditions! :) And to discontinuing a couple of them starting 2o1o. :) But then maybe it just won't feel like the holidays without them, huh?
As we celebrate the birth of the Savior today we also celebrate His sacrifice for us. I used this quote in a talk at church a year or two ago and it has had a profound influence on me. My awesome sister-in-law recently sent it as well and it was a great reminder and with great timing.
"Well, my dear sisters, the gospel is the good news that can free us from guilt. We know that Jesus experienced the totality of mortal existence in Gethsemane. It's our faith that he experienced everything--absolutely everything. Sometimes we don't think through the implications of that belief. We talk in great generalities about the sins of all humankind, about the suffering of the entire human family. But we don't experience pain in generalities. We experience it individually. That means he knows what it felt like when your mother died of cancer--how it was for your mother, how it still is for you. He knows what it felt like to lose the student body election. He knows that moment when the brakes locked and the car started to skid. He experienced the slave ship sailing from Ghana toward Virginia. He experienced the gas chambers at Dachau. He experienced napalm in Vietnam. He knows about drug addiction and alcoholism. Let me go further: There is nothing you have experienced as a woman that he does not also know and recognize. On a profound level, he understands about the hunger to hold your baby that sustains you through pregnancy. He understands both the physical pain of giving birth and the immense joy. He knows about PMS and cramps and menopause. He understands about rape and infertility and abortion. His last recorded words to his disciples were, "And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (Matthew 28:20) He understands your mother-pain when your five-year-old leaves for kindergarten, when a bully picks on your fifth-grader, when your daughter calls to say that the new baby has Down syndrome. He knows your mother-rage when a trusted babysitter sexually abuses your two-year-old, when someone gives your thirteen-year-old drugs, when someone seduces your seventeen-year-old. He knows the pain you live with when you come home to a quiet apartment where the only children are visitors, when you hear that your former husband and his new wife were sealed in the temple last week, when your fiftieth wedding anniversary rolls around and your husband has been dead for two years. He knows all that. He's been there. He's been lower than all that. He's not waiting for us to be perfect. Perfect people don't need a Savior. He came to save his people in their imperfections. He is the Lord of the living, and the living make mistakes. He's not embarrassed by us, angry at us, or shocked. He wants us in our brokenness, in our unhappiness, in our guilt and our grief. You know that people who live above a certain latitude and experience very long winter nights can become depressed and even suicidal, because something in our bodies requires whole spectrum light for a certain number of hours a day. Our spiritual requirement for light is just as desperate and as deep as our physical need for light. Jesus is the light of the world. We know that this world is a dark place sometimes, but we need not walk in darkness. The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, and the people who walk in darkness can have a bright companion. We need him, and He is ready to come to us, if we'll open the door and let him. "
-Chieko N. Okazaki, Lighten Up, Preface; p. 174
We hope you had a very Merry Christmas!
Just in case you were wondering...Carson will grab food from anyone anywhere. He is no respecter of persons or flavors.
Just in case you were wondering...it does get cold in San Antonio every once in awhile. We were putting fliers up on all the doors for our neighborhood party and my little Texas boys were freeeeeeezing. 
Good thing we had some old gear from our trips to Utah to keep us warm for the one cold day.
Just in case you were wondering...Carson is ready to play some serious ball.
Just in case you were wondering...we are a bit behind on our holiday shopping this year. But at least we're having fun, right?!? 
Just in case you were wondering...Caleb is quite good at maneuvering the cart through the stores. People look at us funny because I am letting my three year old push the cart. But it keeps him busy and he is very careful.
Just in case you were wondering...because stores are so busy at the holidays, I haven't been letting Caleb push the cart by himself as much lately. Hence why I love stores that have such things as this:
Ingenious. I go out of my way to shop at these stores.
Just in case you were wondering...I also love stores with those rides out front for 50 cents. Such a great place to spend my spare change.
And a great bribe to behave in the store.
Just in case you were wondering...Caleb is outgrowing everything he owns. I just bought these socks:
Doesn't seem to bother Caleb in the least.
Just in case you were wondering...I love when my boys laugh and play together.
Just in case you were wondering...if needed, this double stroller can be made into a triple stroller.
Just in case you were wondering...do not ever shop for presents for your three year old while they are with you. Oh, you already knew that? I have to learn the hard way sometimes. See that movie in his hand?
I was so proud of myself for getting it slyly buried in the cart. We made it all through the store without it being discovered. It made it up to the check stand where I quietly told the cashier that the item under the bag of cheese needed to remain under the cheese. The cashier started to tell the bagger boy. But the bagger boy couldn't hear him because he was too busy not bagging it, but handing it to Caleb to hold instead. Sigh.
Just in case you were wondering...Lulu's in San Antonio has the biggest cinnamon rolls I've ever seen in my life. And they're delicious too.
And just in case you are wondering...all these pictures were taken on my iphone. Love that thing.
I know you were wondering. Now you can sleep better at night without all that wondering. Merry Christmas from me. :)
