The Lucky Ones

Last Saturday, Ty and Tristan went to see a new ski movie. Ty was really into Warren Miller movies when we were first married. On a side note, I liked to watch them to see Glenn Plake's hairstyles, but I digress. (If you want to check out some of his hairstyles, check out www.glennplake.net and enjoy.) Anyway, a friend of Ty's at work couldn't make it, so he sold Ty his tickets. Tristan wasn't sure he wanted to go, but he tagged along to check it out.
I guess the movie was quite an event. They had a raffle and a silent auction. Ty made a couple bids, but he was outbid as soon as the movie started. So, Daddy and I were watching a show on TV when the front door opened and Tristan walked in with a huge snowboard! Ty may have been outbid in the auction, but that didn't stop him from winning the raffle.
Tristan commented, "This is pretty much the best day of my life!" The boy doesn't even know how to snowboard. I guess he'll be learning this winter.
Now they're just being silly.

It Doesn't Take Much

It's funny what kids will play with. Sometimes, you can't entertain them with all the toys in the world. Then, sometimes all it takes is a fabric grocery bag.
The INL had a health fair and Ty came home with a lot of free goodies. My favorite was information from The Sleep Institute. He found out that because it had been so long since my last sleep study, I was eligible for a new sleep study and a new C-Pap machine. (The new ones have technology that will let you know if the pressure is off or if there is a leak at some point in the system.) The kids' favorite goody was the two cloth shopping bags.
First, Ty stuffed Samantha into a bag. I remember when I was that small! But I digress... Let me tell you, those straps are STRONG!!! Ty carried Samantha from the living room into the kitchen where I was making dinner. She was giggling like a madwoman.
Then, Samantha had Zachary squish into the bag so that she could carry him around the living room as well. It just goes to show, you can spend hundreds of dollars on toys and games for your kids and all it takes to entertain them is a freebie grocery sack from a health fair!

Best of Friends

You would never guess it, but Mayzee and my mom's cat, Gabby, are the best of friends. They got off to a rough start when we first moved here. There was much hissing and spitting as Mayzee tried to play with the only other critter her size.
Before long, we realized that the hissing and spitting cat didn't seem to want to get away form the playful, energetic puppy. They often chase each other around the table and chairs in the dining room. It's so funny, watching them run and chase. Watching Gabby bat at Mayzee's head while Mayzee goes in for little kisses on Gabby's nose.
Sometimes, the hissing and spitting gets so loud that we can't hear the TV over their noise. They run up onto the couch and go nuts. We spend a lot of time laughing at those two characters.

Twilight Frenzy

Well, last night was the long-awaited Twilight date. We figured that since we already had tickets, we didn't need to go and stand in line for an hour. We got to the theater 30 minutes early. Hey, with all the commercials that precede the movie these days, plus, it was showing on 10 screens, that should be plenty of time, right? Wrong. We ended up sitting far closer to the front than I would have preferred. You know how they have the first four or five rows waaay up front and then there's a walkway and then the stadium seating begins? Our theater has a row of seats at the back of the walkway and that's where we were. On the plus side, there was a wall to our back and not some inconsiderate butthead kicking our seats!

As I said before, I was a little nervous that the movie would be disappointing after reading the books and being so excited about the movie for so long. I was not disappointed. I think the setting was amazing. My SIL has been to Forks, so I will have to ask her how accurate it was. I disagreed with a few of the choices of actors. While he had his moments, Edward was all wrong. Not nearly hot enough. Same for Rosalie, although Ty really liked her in her baseball pants. lol Bella, Charlie, Jacob, Billy, Mike, Carlisle, Alice, Emmit, and Jasper were perfect, IMHO. I also thought that Edward's skin in the sun was all wrong, although I have NO idea how they could make it look the way it did in my imagination! I LOVED the baseball game and the ballet studio fight. I really enjoyed the inside jokes that were rampant throughout the script. I think that made it real fun for those of us who read the books. I also thought it was fun to see Stephanie Meyer make a cameo appearance, she's so cute. All in all, I really enjoyed the movie. And I hope they make a cubic boatload of money off of this one so the next (Please let them make the rest of the books into movies) will be even better. Better special effects and all that.

I asked Ty if he liked it as we were leaving the theater. He commented, "I can see why there are so many groups of girls here. But there was just enough hunting and fighting to make it good for guys, too." I guess that's a good review. What do you think?

Now I think I want to read the books again. Just as soon as we get all our stuff out of storage. *sigh*

I Got Tickets!!!

I am so excited. Ty got us tickets to see Twilight on Friday. All but one of the shows that day are sold out and ALL the Saturday showings are sold out. I'm lucky I have a friend who's manager of the theater who warned me that the tickets were going fast. (Thanks Debi!) Ty's not nearly as excited as I am. Actually, I think he couldn't care less, but he knows I want to see it badly, so he's ready to see it, too. Now, I just hope it isn't a dud. You know how you work things up in your mind and then, when it happens, it's disappointing? I really hope it isn't like that.

My Baby's 12!

Today, my oldest turned 12 years old! I can't believe it. I just looked at my watch and exactly 12 years ago, to the minute, I was pushing and trying to bring my first baby into this world. That's just crazy to me. It seems like it was just yesterday that I first held him in my arms.
A few of Tristan's friends came over and we took them over to Leo's Place for pizza and playing.
The kids had one table and the adults had another. That way, we could at least pretend to be sane.
The boys played in the fun equipment, played a game of laser tag, and in general, acted silly. They had such a good time.
The football cake was a big hit. The players' jerseys were even the right color, green and white. Notice the expression on my dad's face? The singing was less than stellar.

It is so strange that my baby is twelve years old. Tomorrow, he will be ordained to the Priesthood! Then, the following week, he will be passing the sacrament!!! How is that even possible? I look at him and see that baby I held so close, not a young man. Today has been a little bittersweet as I am not quite ready to let my baby grow up. I love him so much and I am so proud of the sweet young man he has become. He is very helpful to his little brother and sister. Zachary absolutely worships him and tries to copy his every move. It's so cute.
Happy birthday Tristan! I love you so much!!!

Clean Up

With five extra people living in my parents' home, conditions get a little crowded. One of the biggest problems is that we went from three bathrooms down to one. The bathroom counter was so covered, you couldn't even see it. One day, Ty couldn't take it anymore and he had an epiphany. He came home from work with an over-the-door shoe hanger and went after the bathroom with much gusto. I wish I had taken a "before" picture, but at least I got the "afters".
This is the counter after his clean-fest. Doesn't it look nice?

Look at the shoe hanger. Can you believe all that stuff was on the counter? I have the best husband ever!

The Toothless Wonder

It's funny how things all happen at once. One day, Zachary had all his teeth (except the one the dentist had to remove) and then, within a matter of two weeks, he lost 4!
He's so funny cuz it freaked him out each time that the tooth got loose enough to come out. It would be hanging by a thread and he wouldn't let us pull it. Ty tied a bit of floss around it so that Zach could gradually pull it and even that made him nervous. Finally, Ty attached a vitamin bottle that Zach could drop when he was ready. Ty "accidentally" bumped him, he dropped the bottle, and the tooth popped right out. Zachary was pretty excited after that.
He looks so cute with all his missing teeth. We had a mishap with the school pictures. Tristan and Samantha's came out great, but Zachary's never even showed up, so we had to sign him up for retakes. His teeth all fell out between the two picture sittings, so his school pictures will show him with all his missing teeth. I can't wait to see them.

Halloween Fun

I love Halloween. It marks the beginning of the holiday season for me. And it's awesome to be home in Idaho to celebrate this year. There's a slight bite in the air. The leaves are falling out of the trees. My parents have two huge maple trees in their front yard and the kids are having so much fun jumping in the huge piles of leaves.
Since school was closed on Halloween, the school had their parties and parade on Thursday. I worked in Zach's classroom for his party and it was so much fun.

I was in charge of the pumpkin bowling. The kids had so much fun rolling the pumpkin down the "alley" to knock over the Lil Jugs

The parade started in the kindergarten and as the kids went through each of the classrooms, the next class would add on to the end of the parade. Every time Zach went past a group of parents or teachers, he would put up his hands to show off his skeleton fingers. He made me smile.

The only picture I got of Tristan in his costume was in the parade. He was way too cool and too busy to pose for any other pictures.

Zachary was an adorable little skeleton. He had so much fun at the trunk or treat. He loved going from trunk to trunk. It was fun to watch him.

Samantha was a Gothic sorceress. She was very pretty. I don't think we'll get many more pictures of her either. Why do the kids have to grow up so fast?
The trunk or treat was very popular. It was unlike any other we have done. It wasn't as organized as others we've been to, and nobody decorated their trunks, but the kids had a blast. One of the trunks was full to overflowing with stuffed animals! I think they must have owned one of those crane games that you see in the doorways of shopping centers. It was the most popular trunk there.
Afterward, we went out to Ty's parents to show off their costumes. All in all, it was a great night.