Tater Time!

It has been awhile since I have posted a Taterism, if you will.  Sometimes there are just so many great things he says that I can't remember them all. I try to write the best ones down, so here is my favorite one of the day.

I was just getting out of the shower when I heard a knock on the door.  In my mind I was thinking, 'Oh great, what will he need right now!'  He always NEEDS something when I am trying to get ready.  After the knock our conversation went like this.

Tater: 'Mom'
Me: 'Yes buddy'
Tater:  'Don't forget to scrub your armpits really good!'
Me: 'Ok, Thanks!'

Where does he come up with this stuff.  I'm not sure I will ever scrub my armpits again without thinking of this!

A Decade Already......

I'm not sure how this little one has grown up so fast, but on this week my Tyler turned 10.  He has now been apart of my life for what seems like forever and I hardly remember what it was like before he came.  I am grateful he is mine. 

This year for the birthday post I have decided to ask some questions and then record the answers.  I thought it might be fun - mostly for me and for Ty, later in his life, to see what his answers were.  So.........

How Old Are you? 10
What Do you want to be when you grow up?  A football Player
What is Your favorite Sport? Football
What is your Favorite NFL Team? Denver Broncos
What is you Favorite College Team?  BYU Cougars
Who is your Favorite Player? Brett Favre
What College/University do you want to go to? BYU
What is your favorite subject in school? Reading
What are your 3 favorite books?  Tough to Tackle, Harry Potter, 39 Clues
Who do you look up to and why? Dad because he teaches me how to do sports and plays with me
Do you want to go on a mission and where? Yes, Hawaii???
What is your favortie color? RED
Who is your best friend? Trevor
If you could have anything in the whole world, what would it be and why?  A big house, so I can have my own room.  (I couldn't agree more)
What is your favorite band? Don't have one
Do you like girls? NO
Do you think girls are icky?  NO
What is your favorite sport to play? Cross Country (of course because this is what he is doing right now)
What is your Favorite Food? Spaghetti
What is your favorite desert? It is too hard to choose just one!

So there you have it.  Straight from Tyler.  He had a great birthday and I even got to take him on a lunch date.  All day long he had the biggest grin on his face even when he had to get up early to go to the vineyard for the grape harvest.  I really love this kid and I feel super blessed to be his mom, he is so kind and considerate and just a great kid!

Ty requested a football field cake, so this is the masterpiece that Steve and I came up with.  It wasn't exactly pretty, but he loved it.

 

The Birthday Bash!

As a Mother I do ok, but there are some things that I completely deserve the 'Worst Mom in the World' award for - One would be potty training, I hate it and it makes me mad and frustrated and that translates into grumpy mom and sad kid.  Thank Heavens I am not there yet.... TWO - I am awful about birthday parties.  I don't like to plan them, I definitely don't like to PAY for them and basically I just would rather keep it small and easy and intimate.  This doesn't go over so well for my kids.  I try in everyway to make the day special for them and I LOVE to torture ;-) them and make them wait ALL day to open their presents, but the big party thing is not for me. 

Why do I tell you all this?????

Well, for Noah's birthday we had a HUGE party, it included Me, Steve, Ty, Brookie and Tater.  HaHa.  Like I said I keep it simple.  I made something for dinner that included one of Noah's favortie things to eat - Beans in this case it was Pinto beans.  We opened presents, Grandma and Nana had even sent stuff for Noah. and then we had cake which my wonderful friend Emily made. The cake was soooo very cute.  That's it.  No big party with friends and clowns and ponies and all that stuff and it was Perfectly Perfect! 

My cutie on his big day.  I love those teeth!

Our Self Portrait

The Presents

The way so super cute Cake! 

He loved his cake and while I took the tray away he kept grabbing handfuls to shove in his mouth.

My baby is ONE!

Wow, I can't believe my little baby is ONE.  It has been a crazy fast year, but a good one too.  Some of it seems like a blur as do the first years of most of my kids lives.  The time moves so fast and the lack of sleep just makes it all a bit fuzzy, but it has been wonderful.  Noah is such a sweet, funny, fantastic little boy and I feel so lucky to be his mom.  He is the perfect mix of a baby -  He isn't super fussy, but has just enough attitude to keep you on your toes, he sleeps good - most nights, and although he does not laugh too much his smile is always there to melt your heart. Here is a run down of month 12

• He is a daddy's boy through and through.  He prefers daddy to anyone else and hovers around him if he is home, he also cries when he leaves the room and gets bugged if daddy does not immediately acknowledge him when he walks in the door (Daddy of course can't stand this....Haha)
• He is almost walking full time. 
• He is a monkey and loves to open any cupboard he can
• He waves......sometimes
• He has started talking to himself more and more and tries to say some words
• He says 'Uh-oh'
• He had surgery to put tubes in his ears on Aug 31 because like his brothers he has had chronic ear infections
• He really inspects his toys, he checks out all the details, he also loves to take things out of his bucket and put them back in
• He LOVES to be outside and to get out of the house to run errands.  This is a good thing since he will be my sidekick until he starts school in 5 years.
• His top teeth are finally showing, but he still only has 4 teeth
• He keeps us smiling and is completely adored by all of us!

Happy Birthday sweet baby, we love you!

He's in Preschool!!!!

My Tater baby started preschool.  It makes my heart hurt just a little, ok alot.  And although I didn't think I would be sad or lonely, I miss him.  With only Noah at home the house is super quiet and I'm not quite sure what to do with my self (blogging is a good option I guess). 

Preschool is in the afternoon.  Yesterday morning was just pure torture and he asked me for lunch at least 4 times an hour all morning because after lunch he could go to preschool.  We packed his snack, fixed his hair took some pictures and then headed out the door.  Tater is my momma's boy - he always has been, I was worried that he would be sad or not want to stay or not want me to leave, but he walked right in started playing and never looked back.  He is so cute and funny and he always makes me smile.  I miss him, but I am so glad he is at preschool because he really was ready for it!

Although I caught him not looking - this picture is just so him!

When I picked him up I could just see how much fun he had.  I asked him what he did and he responded, 'I did some numbers.  I did Maff!'  Haha, he is so funny.  Before he went he had told me he wasn't gonna learn letters and numbers, so I think he was pretty excited he did. 

The Chef and The Injured

Steve has a new hobby...... he bakes.  No I am not kidding.  It is great.  Every week he grabs one of the kids and they plot to create something wonderful in the kitchen.  Steve has always enjoyed cooking and often takes charge of dinner and always makes something yummy.  The baking is a new endeavor.  It was especially inspired a few weeks ago when he came across a copy of his Grandma Poulsens best recipies.  I have had her cookbook since we were married, but Steve isn't one to peruse my cookbooks.  Anyway, he started looking through the cookbook and you could see on his face the memories that went along with his Grandma's food.  His latest creations have come from her book. 

Two weeks ago it was an Apple Pie, crust and all made from Scratch.  It turned into a group effort because it had been years since I made pie crust and Steve had never made pie crust.  In the end it was the MOST delicious apple pie I have ever tasted and the fun we had making it made it that much tastier!

Ok tell me that dosn't just make your mouth water!

That same day, soon after we came home from church, we heard a crash and some crying and then Tater came out of his room with blood and mess all over his face.  He was jumping on the bed and crashed into the dresser.  As I'm sure you can tell the dresser won.  Initially we thought he had put his tooth through his lip, but thankfully he didn't and after a little super glue he was put back together again!

Nobody Won......

Tater and Noah had a fight over Tater's glasses.  Let's just say Nobody Won this round - especially not the glasses.  Thank Heavens they were still under warranty. 

Back To School!

School started the end of August.  I sent these two cute kids off to school with MUCH joy and celebrating.  To say I was ready for them to head back to school and to have a schedule would be an understatement, but they were also VERY ready to have me off their case all the time. 

Tyler heads off to 4th grade - his teacher is Mrs. Saunders and already I have a feeling she will be the perfect fit for him.  I really like her a lot - she is my kind off teacher. She doesn't believe in any more homework than absolutely necessary - did I mention I really like her!  Yay, for us!

Brooklynn, who just could hardly stand the wait for school to start is now in 2nd grade.  Her teacher is also great and I just know she will have a great year too.  After the 2nd day of school they changed her class into a 1/2 split class.  It was a bit of a surprise, but the majority of her class is 2nd grade and as a bonus for having the split her classroom will enjoy some new extra computers!  Yay for her! 

All in all the first couple of weeks have been great!  We are getting back into the swing of things and I have been able to start getting back into my 'School' routine too.  That mainly consists of cleaning, laundry and working out regularly. 

The Last Horrah!

The weekend before school started we decided a quick getaway would be fun.  We let the kids give us a few ideas and then opted for a trip to Monterey and the Aquarium and then a drive up to San Fransico to see a few of the sites. While we had been to Monterey before, we had never taken the kids to San Fran.  We set out on Friday and had a great time.  Noah loved the fish and Josh was so excited about all of it.  He just couldn't get enough of the aquarium.  Brooks and Ty loved it as well and it was fun to be together as a family. 

Noah absolutely adores his Daddy. He can't get enough of him. He follows him around everywhere and cries when he leaves the room. 

 On Saturday we headed into San Fran.  Our first stop was Candlestick - you know home of the 49ers.  While we couldn't go in to take a look around, we still got a picture.

Next, we hit AT&T Park, where the Giants Play.  They actually have a children's park inside and on most days it is open to the public FOR FREE.  We took advantage and had a look in the open areas of the stadium and then had some fun at the park too.  

Did you know the big Coke Bottle actually has a whole bunch of fun slides in it??? Neither did we.

Yep, here is the proof one of the slides.

This Trolly Car is in the Stadium

They also have a mini-replica Stadium for the kids to play. The kids and Steve thought it was awesome - it was! 

After heading down to the pier, checking out the seals and having some yummy Chili.  We walked up to the Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory.  We couldn't leave without having some delicious treats, A Banana Split, Rootbeer Float and A Sundae were the perfect way to end the day!

The Out Door Adventure

Steve decided he and Ty needed an adventure.  So they set out with some friends for an overnight backpacking trip.  After getting geared up they set off with fishing poles in hand (or in backpack) and left the rest of us at home. They hiked into a lake and set up camp.  Steve said it was a beautiful little lake and although the fish weren't really biting, they had a wonderful time.