The Amazing Dancing Scott

I don't know where Scott picked this up, but he is a natural riverdancer. He picked up the robot dance from the movie 'Robots' (appropriate, huh?). You decide which style he should pursue.

Full moon over Mesa

For Marc's birthday I decided to send him to Canada to visit his family. I found a really good deal on airline tickets, and the last couple of years he has said he missed the winter season. So I thought this would be perfect. He flew out of a smaller airport in south mesa on the morning of the 11th. I thought this was kind of a cool airport. It is a lot like airports used to be. You walk out on the tarmac to get on the plane and you can stand next to the runway and watch the plane take off. They even have a little grassy area with a BBQ and picnic tables next to the runway.

So Marc checked in and the kids and I went out to watch him get on the plane. We were all excited when we saw Marc walk out onto the runway, so I told the kids to wave at daddy. The girls started waving and yelling to Marc, then I noticed Scott wasn't standing with the other 2. So I glanced back and he was standing back from me just a little and to the right, just out of sight. He had decided that instead of waving to daddy it would be more fun to moon him instead. I WAS SO MAD! I told him that better not ever happen again and if it did he would not be having fun for a very long time, he would go to school and come home and stay in his room except to eat until I forgot what he did. All I can say though, is that he definitely acts more like his dad every day.

Mesa Temple lights

We went to the Mesa temple lights as a family this year. They were so pretty this year. And the kids loved all the lights and the little recreations of the nativity story. After we saw the lights, we stopped at Starbucks for hot chocolate on the way home. We drank as we were driving and all of a sudden we heard a lot of slurping and smacking and when we turned around all of the noise was coming from Kassi. The big kids had fallen asleep, and Kassi was not letting a drop of her hot chocolate go to waste. She ended up drinking 2 cups. Now she wont pass up a cup even if she thinks there is only a chance that there is hot chocolate in it.

Oil Changing Fun

One day while Marc was at work I decided to change the oil in the truck, and the girls decided to help me.

It was kind of a messy job with 2 little girls sticking their hands in everything and trying to use the tools. But with all of their help we got done pretty quickly with only minimal mess.



Kassi had a little grease on her face and Katie ended up rolling around and playing under the truck until her hair ended up in the used oil container that I had just finished filling to the top. She looked kind of funny with one long black streak on the left side of her hair.

Our little girl is not a baby anymore

On October 27th our little "tassi woo" turned 2. For those of you who don't know our kids couldn't say some of their letters when Kassi was born and they kept calling her Tassi and stuck and we added a woo. She is so big now I can't believe how fast time flies. On a side note there are good things about them getting older, for instance Kassi potty trained herself 2 1/2 months before her second birthday. Yeah for us, no more diapers.

She really loves presents, so ripping all that paper was very exciting for her. She got 2 Dogs which are her favorite things right now. She also got her very own princess crown, hopefully she will stop trying to steal her sisters crown.

Halloween

Halloween was alot of fun we carved pumpkins. Scott didn't want to get his hands gooey.

The girls had no problems with this though,
they were both in to their armpits and smiled the whole time. The kids picked their costumes and Katie of course chose to be a princess, Scott wanted to be an army guy so that he could carry his little cap rifle. Kassie is a different story though, since she wont talk still and would just grunt in her little language I decided that she would be a fairy this year, which must have been what she was trying to tell us, because she loved it. We got to go trick or treating a couple of times this year. Our ward had a trunk- or-treat and then the next night we got to trick- or-treat in our neighborhood. The kids made quite a haul. They are still trying to finish the last of the halloween candy and it is only a week until Christmas. I think our kids favorite part of halloween is when we went to Uncle Greg and Aunt Michelles house. They got to play with Ashley, and uncle Greg teased them and then he even let them play with the little dog Lucy. On Monday when I took the kids to school the first thing they both told their teachers was about playing with Lucy.

Scott Learns To Ride

Scott has been riding a bike for a couple of years now, but never without training wheels. For his birthday, this past July, we got him a bigger bike, since he had outgrown his first bike. He hasn't been able to ride it yet because it doesn't have training wheels. A few days ago, before he rode to school, I decided to raise the training wheels on his old bike up a couple of centimeters. It didn't even seem to phase him. Every once in a while, he would lose balance a little and his training wheels would catch him, but otherwise he did fine. Time to take them off, I think...

So, Saturday morning, the family headed out to the park before it got too hot. I took the training wheels off his bike and Scott was excited. I wasn't sure he would be since he sometimes lacks confidence in trying new things. But he was quite positive about the idea of being a big boy and riding without any help.

We put on his biking gloves, elbow pads, and knee pads (we forgot his helmet, DOH!) and then got his bike ready for him. He did some fine tuning on the direction of the bike, the position of the pedals and then lined the wheels up with a crack in the sidewalk (what that does, only he knows). I got behind him, put my hand on the bike seat and told him how to get started. He took a couple of unsteady pushes with his foot and then off he went.

I was fully expecting a few crashes, some crocodile tears and plenty of drama, but none of that materialized. He just went. I jogged behind him as he went down the sidewalk, and though he was a little unsteady at time, he never once came close to falling. After a little bit of coaching on how to get started (that's the hardest part, you know) he became an expert. He rode all around one end of the park, and just kept going. I really think he likes his new found freedom.

Thanks for the memories...

I was just at my sister's blog and I saw this post...

Here are the directions: 1. As you comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

So, I thought it might be an interesting experiment...

The Tiger Twins

I should have posted this a couple of weeks ago, but I just kept forgetting... is old age setting in?

On a typical day, Kristi put the kids down for "quiet time"; Scott in his room, and Katie and Kassi in their room. Not long after, Kristi realized it had gotten really quiet. She went to investigate. This is what she found:

Katie decided that it would be really fun to be tigers, so she got a pen and drew tiger stripes on her and Kassi. If you look closely, you'll also see a little stick figure on Katie's left arm... I think that's talent.

10 Reasons to Weight Train

I put this here more for my own reference than anything, but it is good information and it doesn't hurt to share it, right?

10 Reasons to Weight Train
Original By Kelly James-Enger

1. It works. "One of the beauties of strength training is that it's a very efficient way to not only improve your appearance, but your overall health," says Brad Schoenfeld, author of Look Great Sleeveless (Prentiss Hall, 2002.) Just three 30- to 45-minute sessions a week will produce results


2. You'll look better. Nothing sculpts your body like weight training -- you must overload your muscles to change their shape. And firm muscles also help mask the appearance of cellulite by smoothing out those lumps and bumps.


3. You burn more calories. Every pound of muscle you gain burns about 50 calories a day, even at rest, meaning you can eat more and maintain your weight, says Schoenfeld.


4. It keeps you young. Women in their 30s begin to lose about 1 percent of their muscle mass per year. Weight training staves that off and helps you maintain bone mass to combat osteoporosis.


5. It makes you tougher. And less prone to injury -- the stronger your muscles are, the less likely you are to get hurt, says exercise physiologist Richard Cotton of First Fitness, Inc.


6. It reduces anxiety. Studies show that pumping iron reduces anxiety and eases depression. Channel the stresses of the day into your workout, and leave them at the gym.


7. It boosts your metabolism. When you weight train, you increase your metabolism -- it's like replacing a 4-cylinder engine with an 8-cylinder one, says Cotton. You have more power, and you need more fuel.


8. It improves your posture. Not only will you stand straighter, you'll feel more confident as well -- research shows that weight lifting improves self-esteem, says Cotton.


9. It makes life easier. Strength training -- duh -- makes you stronger so you're better able to perform functional tasks like carrying groceries or picking up your two-year-old.


10. You'll reduce your body fat. Proper diet and weight training will lower your body fat. Even if the scale number doesn't change, you're replacing fat with denser muscle, which means you'll lose inches, says Cotton.

A funny Katie moment...

Yesterday, our ward had a young women's spaghetti dinner and silent auction. I didn't make it, but I guess it was pretty good, because Katie really didn't want to leave. Kristi and Haylee were putting the kids in the van when Katie decided that all her screaming and fussing wasn't working well enough. So, she took it to the next level and started kicking, pinching and hitting Haylee as she was helping Katie with her seatbelt.
When they got home, Katie got to have a talk with me. Here's a snippet from the condensed version:

Me: "...Ok, Katie. Now remember that even though you're in trouble, I still love you."
Katie: "I already know that, Daddy! You tell me that all the time. You tell me that too much today! It's already in my head!"
Me: "Katie, be nice or you'll find yourself in more trouble. You need to be nice to people: don't hit, don't punch, don't kick, don't bite, don't pinch. Be nice. Now I want you to put that in your head and remember it, ok?"
Katie: "I already did, Daddy."

So, today, as Katie and Scott were getting in the van to go to a birthday party, a fight broke out between them over who got to carry the present. I stepped in and sent them both to their room. I came in a little while later to talk to them.

Me: "Katie, do you remember the talk we had yesterday about being nice?"
Katie: (sheepishly) "Yes..."
Me: "What did I tell you to remember?"
Katie: "I dunno..."
Me: "What did I tell you to put in your head and remember?"
Katie: "I already don't know! I don't have nothing in my head anymore!"

Needless to say, I had a very difficult time keeping a straight face after hearing that retort. How am I supposed to respond to that?!?

Life Rife With Change As Everything Remains Constant

Mar 16 09:31 AM US/Pacific
By: MARC THOMSON
Thomson Times Editor

In my experience, it is commonly perceived that, in the absence of dramatic events, life remains constant. Not so. It's easy for me to slip into the thinking that other people's lives are more exciting than my own. In reality, life is as exciting as you want it to be. For some, excitement is an undesireable attribute, replaced instead by stability and predictability. I like a little of both, I think.

As days, weeks, and months go by, I find myself reading over the events occurring in other people's lives, whether in their blogs, on the family websites, or in email. As I read, I find myself wondering what kinds of stories or events I could share in return that the reader would find interesting and entertaining. Nothing really comes to mind. I think I'm living in the stability and predictability portion of the cycle. But it's not all that bad.

Looking back on my life for the past few years, I graduated from college (twice), moved 1,400 miles from the place I grew up to a place completely alien, got a good job, got married, had three kids, lost some loved ones and gained others. So, I can't say my life has been boring; however, I can say that I feel like something big is on the horizon. God doesn't seem to like letting me slip into complacency, preferring instead to keep me on my toes.

As I write this, I hear the sounds of the kids getting ready for church: Katie is in the tub singing a song she made up, Scott is asking Kristi about how to spell a word, Kassi is making baby noises to herself while she drags her favorite blanket around the floor, and Kristi is preparing something for Young Womens. It's a typical Sunday morning.

I guess I should spend some time to give an update on what each family member is doing these days. Let's start with the youngest...

Kassi continues to transition from being a little baby to a little girl, though she thinks she's as big as Scott and Katie. She likes to explore the house and get into things she's not supposed to. She seems to like to bump her head on things as she can rarely be found without a bruise on her head somewhere. Her red hair is coming in thicker and I can't help but notice the redhead attitude she has to match. She isn't much of a talker yet, but she has her moments. She also loves to play in the sandbox with the big kids and is quite a connoisseur of sand and mud. But, on the flip side, she loves looking pretty and will frequently want "pretties" put in her hair so she can show them off to Daddy.

Katie is a typical little girl with a very special spirit. She loves learning new things and will often attempt to do Scott's homework with him. She makes me so proud with her eagerness to learn and her ability to absorb information. She still likes to sign phrases and words, and is always interested in learning more sign language. I truly think she's blessed with intelligence. Her latest exciting news is that she gets to give her first talk in primary today. She's been looking forward to this day for quite some time.

Scott is going through another growth spurt. Yesterday, I noticed that the sleeves on the shirt he was wearing ended a good five centimeters above his wrist. He seems to be quite the popular kid at school, which I cannot relate to one bit. He will make an excellent missionary one day because he has no reservations with talking to anyone. Scott is quickly developing his sense of humor and is quick to share or play a joke on anyone who will let him. He loves riding in the truck and refers to the two of us as "truck guys." He especially loves treasure hunting in the hills of Arizona and will bring home all sorts of rock as his reward.

Kristi has been developing the talent of juggling over the past few years. She is currently juggling the rigors of homemaking, raising kids, managing finances (yes, I know I should be more involved with this...), and fulfilling her church calling in the Young Womens organization. She always seems to have so many balls in the air, I constantly wonder how she does it all. She is currently busy preparing for this year's Pioneer Trek and at the same time planning for Young Women's camp. What a busy,
busy job. What amazes me about Kristi is how she keeps so much of this straight in her head... I don't think I could do it.

I have been spending much of my spare time trying to get back into shape. Over the last eight years I did a great job of getting out of shape. But now I think it's important to change that so I can spend as many enjoyable years with my family as possible. I've also started learning morse code... again. One day, I'll get it down. It's not so much a requirement for a Ham radio license anymore as it is a personal challenge. That's about it for me right now.

Hopefully, I'll feel more inclined or inspired to write again sooner.
Until then, hasta la vista!