We're Still Here & Crazy Hair Day

Wow! It's been a while. We really are still around. I think I need to make a new goal to post once a week because at this moment I'm looking at all the pictures we've taken since Tayson's birthday and feeling a little overwhelmed. So, I'm going to just start off from the most recent.

Yesterday, Tayson' school had Crazy Hair Day to celebrate Red Ribbon Week. Tayson's hair turned out awesome and as you can tell he thinks he's pretty awesome too.

I love this kid and his poses!

Just a side note: yes, Tayson is wearing a jacket, but the weather is still around the eighties. For some reason we have such a hard time getting him to wear weather appropriate clothing.

Tayson's 7th Birthday

Can our little Tayson really be 7? I can't believe it. On May 19th, Tayson turned 7.

Tayson said he wanted a Lego party, so we tried to play some games that included legos.

We were pretty sure it would be raining considering it had rained for the last 2 weeks, but miraculously it was a beautiful day. Too bad we hadn't planned anything for outside. The sticker weeds outside were a little too rough for a balloon game The kids still had a great time though.

The following pictures are not in order because it's just too much of a pain to try and arrange but you'll get the idea.

This is my attempt at a lego cake. I'm obviously not a professional but I had fun doing it anyway.

Tayson loves Legos (I think everyone already knows). He wanted the Lego Atlantis set this year.

In our family, we play "Heavy, heavy hang over thy poor head. What do you wish this person with a bump on the head". Basically the person giving the gift recites the statement above and then bumps the birthday kid on the head with the gift. Then the birthday kid wishes the giver something like, "I wish you a cruise" or "I wish you could be a professional baseball player". The point is for the birthday person to really think about the giver for a moment and wish them something they would want. In this moment, Tayson wished Jay (and me) and new baby. How sweet. Don't worry, Jay really didn't hit him that hard but I got him pretty good earlier.

While we were waiting for kids to arrive the ones already here created their own balloon game. They had a blast being crazy.

Here's a "little" about Tayson.

Tayson has a Jekyl 'n Hyde type personality. We never know who we're going to get. Either the sweetest, caring, responsible, thoughtful, son and big brother or "something else entirely". He definitely keeps us on our toes.

Tayson is very smart and does well in school. Tayson loves Legos. I know I've said this a lot but it's true. He researches about them online, he gets books on the history of them from the library, he keeps up-to-date with the latest releases and they are pretty much the only toy Tayson ever asks for at least in the last 3 years.

Tayson recently has changed his future job to a marine biologist from the former rare archeologist (although he says he can do that on the side). Tayson's new change has come because he is really excited about sharks and a lot of other sea creatures. He reads many books about sharks and loves to share what he has learned.

Tayson enjoys playing basketball. I didn't realize he could even play until we were at the park and he made 4 or 5 baskets.

Tayson enjoys reading and recently he and I have been reading the Fabelhaven books together. It's so exciting to see him enjoy reading and using his imagination.

Tayson is a very inquisitive child and so I am amazed by his questions about the gospel. We have started to talk to him about his baptism. I think it's great that he shares what he knows with his friends and let's them know he loves to go to church and that he's getting baptized when he turns 8.

We love Tayson and are blessed to have him in our lives.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Was your Mom mean?

Was your Mom mean?

I know mine was. We had the meanest mother in the whole world! While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast. When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said, we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labour Laws by making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds and had eyes in the back of her head. Then, life was really tough!

Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them.

Because of our mother, we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's property or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what's wrong with the world today. It just doesn't have enough mean moms!

It was so fun to hear this poem in Relief Society today. Now when my kids tell me I'm mean, I will say, "Thank you! And thanks to all the little people who made it possible."

February 28th Tatum Turned 2

I can't believe our sweet Tatum just turned 2. She is such a blessing in our lives. She is a ham and is full of personality. Here is a "little" about our sweet Tatum:

Tatum can count to 13 all by herself. I don't know why 13, but that is what she is up to.

Tatum can sing the ABC's and has quite the repertoire of songs memorized. We sing 5 songs before nap time and 5 before bedtime pretty much everyday (we would sing more but I had to set a limit) and that doesn't include songs sung throughout the day as well.

Tatum's favorite songs to listen/sing to in the car are: Castle on a Cloud (Les Miserables) and Calling You (by Blue October).

Tatum loves books and she is actually excited for nap time most of the time because she looks forward to reading a book. In her high chair, after lunch, she says, "I need to go nappy, nappy" so she can go pick a book.

She is a girly-girl through and through. Her favorite color is most definitely pink. She loves anything pretty and is very complimentary if she think what I'm wearing is pretty. She loves to play dress-up, barbies, ponies, house. She's a great little mom to her baby dolls as well. She loves makeup and applies her "lipstick"(chapstick) several times a day. When she likes something she states that it is: cute, darling or beautiful. She loves having her picture taken and lets us know after each shot, "That was so cute!" She is such a cuddler and loves kisses.

Tatum is such a little talker and has quite the vocabulary. Her new favorite topic to share with everyone is about our new pet tortoise, Nemo. She loves to tell people how funny Nemo is and how she likes to read books to her and that Nemo is funny when she eats and you can see her cute little tongue. People get confused because she never tells them it's her pet, so they think she is talking about the movie.

Tatum's favorite movie is Spongebob and she likes to tell us she's a goofy goober. If you have ever seen Spongebob the Movie you will understand when she occasionally asks if she can brush her eyes with her toothbrush. This used to be a serious question several months ago because she really wanted to brush her eyes; it has now turned into a funny joke.

Tatum loves puzzles and is getting good at them.

Tatum loves her best friend, Kathryn, and talks about her all the time. When family is talking on the phone with her, she usually mentions Kathryn's house at some point in the conversation.

Tatum is such a wonderful girl and brightens up everyone's day!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

This is pin the crown on the princess

On February 28th our sweet, angel Tatum turned 2. We had a party for her on Friday evening because Jay was going to be leaving for a while. She asked for a "princess party".

Blessed

This weekend has been kind of crazy. Saturday at 5:30, an earthquake woke me up. My bed was shaking intensely and it took a second to register what was even going on. I then stood up trying to figure out what to do next and the house was swaying back and forth. By the time I was headed to the kid's rooms it was over. So many things went through my mind afterward. I was thinking that I don't have enough water in our storage. I was thinking I really need to be faster at getting my kids to safety and maybe having a family home evening on what to do during an earthquake. I was also thinking how thankful I was that we were all safe and life could go on as usual. I couldn't believe that it was a 7.0 earthquake about 30-40 miles from here. We've also had a couple of tsunami warning because of the earthquake here and the one in Chile. I had called Jay at work to see how he was doing and we were both amazed that, that had just happened. It was disconcerting to feel so out of control. I don't think I need to go through one of those again but if I have to I'll be better prepared. Tayson said it was fun and went right back to sleep. I heard Tatum rustling around in the other room and she also went right back to sleep. I keep thinking about the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile and how blessed we have been to be safe. It definitely gave me a drive to get better prepared. Not only physically but spiritually as well. The people in these other countries lost almost everything. On Saturday morning I went to a Relief Society training and they showed a video of the Latter Day Saints in Haiti and how their testimonies and faith have given them strength to move forward. They were in church on Sunday with clean clothes and smiles on their faces and most of them live on the streets but they knew where they needed to be and they had faith that the Lord was going to help them through. Would I have the same countenance of faith and hope if our outcomes had been similar? I know I will have a different attitude when it comes to being prepared and realizing that I've been given a chance to be better and do more of what the Lord has asked of me and my family with a brightness of hope and faith that he knows what is best for us.

Kara's 29th Birthday

I had a great birthday and Valentines. Friday (my birthday) we went to Cocoks with Bill and Lisa Cox (are wonderful friends). Cocoks is a nail salon. The boys joined Lisa and me. For great laughs the boys got their toes done as well. We had a really fun time and enjoyed our excellent pedicures. We went to dinner at CocoIchibanya afterward (because the Cox's hadn't been there before). It was delicious as always. We all ordered pretty much the same thing. Chicken cutlet curry. Jay level 4 spicy, Bill level 2 and Lisa and I got level 1 (we like to be able to have taste buds after we eat. We got the all-famous naan bread and mango lassi (mango milk). We then headed back to the house to open presents and have cake and ice cream. I got to open one present right before we went to Cocoks, my new camera. It's a really nice Nikon D5000 camera and opening it was bittersweet. It was like, "Whoa! This is way too expensive" and "Wow! What a sweet camera." I definitely need to study the manual that came with it to figure out how to take great pictures. The next gift was a really cute birthday kokeshi doll. It is so beautiful and fits in perfectly with my Japanese/Okinawan souvenir collection. Then I opened my Cricut Expressions. I'm excited to use it. It is a cutting machine that does pictures and letters. I'm especially excited to cutout vinyl lettering. I forgot to mention that Jay gave me a gorgeous orchid plant earlier in the day. It is so beautiful. I don't have much of a green thumb and I know that they are sensitive so I'm hoping I can keep it alive. Hopefully my online research helps. This birthday I was way too spoiled. We may need to make next year's a little less extravagant or the next many years to come. Next everyone sang to me and my cake looked like it was on fire. Lisa made a delicious red velvet cake. You can tell Tatum enjoyed it. We then played Settlers of Catan. We love games and this is probably our favorite. We love playing it with Bill and Lisa. It's a great time. Thanks to my sweet honey for the fun birthday and my kiddos for celebrating with me. Thanks to the Cox family for sharing this special day. (The Cox's have 4 kids. Their 2 boys somehow eluded any pictures that were taken.)