Kirt's birthday wish list...

Kirt's birthday is coming up this week. He can be a bit of a tough one. I know I want to get something thoughtful, personal, and if it fits in the budget, that's always a bonus.

He always complains that I'm tough to shop for. In fact, the week before my birthday this year he said, "If I had one complaint about you, it's that you never give me good ideas for gifts." I was all, "Seriously, that's the only thing you don't like about me?! That's so sweet, you don't have to get me anything." And he was like, "Were you listening just now?"

Anyway, back to Kirt's birthday. His birthday list this year is killing me. When I asked a few weeks ago, this was his list...

1. Flying lessons
2. Nothing, I got the Scout this year, that should be my present.

And this morning he exclaimed, "I know what I want for my birthday! I'm going to go buy it today. A nice garbage can for the kitchen."

For real? Flying lessons or nothing? What's worse, nothing or a garbage can? Has he heard of some clothes and a watch? Hopefully I've found something that will meet both of our criteria (nice, personal, meets the budget, doesn't leave us husband/father-less) but he's still got me laughing.

Reason #234 - Why I love Facebook

I'm hoping this doesn't catch up with me since one of the parties is a fb friend, but this had me rolling last night. Copied and pasted from a FB conversation not involving me or anyone I'm relatively close to. (So, why are we FB friends? Because of comedy like this!)

#1: Rain is ruining my life.. what a joke.. I;ve been biking with my cuz and uncle and the rain sucks to bike in.

#2: U should get one of those umbrella hats!!

#1: If you get me one then I'll wear it. If someone buys themselves something like that then it;s kinda gay but if it's a gift then it would be ok.

#2: Gay?? Well... U just were in jail..

This e-conversation then came to a grinding hault. Ouch.

First Day 2011

Please excuse the phone picture and yes, it's the same one as facebook. I'm having camera issues. Today was the first day of having 3 kids in school - at 3 different schools no less.

Cal was the one I was most nervous about. Maybe because it was my first time having a kid at that school. I still can't believe he's in middle school! How did the time go so fast? The first words out of his mouth once he got in the car were, "That was awesome!" He loved his teachers - said they were awesome and hilarious. He couldn't quit talking about all the funny things one of his teachers said. He has a good friend in most of his classes and seemed to find his way around just fine. I thought I would be the coolest mom ever and meet him after school with a giant Icee. He grabbed it like it was something that happened every day and started chatting about school. He's such a middle-schooler - too cool for acting surprised!

Owen walked out of school with a big smile and a skip in his step and told me that his day was "horrible." To which I replied, "What are you talking about? You look like you had a great day!" He responds, "Oh, my day in class was awesome. I'm talking about you waking me up too early. I need a good night's rest!" Let me now tell you that he was up (pretending to sleep walk) just after 6:30. He was dressed and ready to go before I could put waffles on the table a few minutes after 7. He let me take a few pictures at home, although he informed me that he no longer smiles for pictures (as evidenced above) and requested that I take no pictures at school because "it's just a waste of time." This kid has been on a roll today!

And our sweet little Tessa Jane started preschool today. Last year she refused preschool but we finally talked her into going when she was 4. In June, a few days after she turned 4 I took the boys to school and came home to a sad little Tess welled up with tears. "You forgot to take me to school and I'm 4!" We explained when the school year started and went to visit her future preschool and she's been looking forward to it ever since. When I dropped her off she seemed a little shy, but her teacher got her onto a swing within a minute or so and she never even looked back for me. When I picked her up she told me that she "already made up a friend. And she's 4 just like me!" I think she means that she made a friend. And how excited will she be when she realizes that her entire class is 4 just like her! She couldn't remember what letters they learned about until about 2 hours later she randomly said "A and C mom." and I realized that those were the letters of the day. She also told me that her teacher "has a beautiful name. It's Jessica, isn't that beautiful?" She told Kirt that they had pizza at school but they wouldn't let her have any. I saw some pizza there, I think the teachers had ordered it for lunch and they were waiting until the kids were done before they ate it. Of course Tessa would take that personally.

Overall I think Day #1 was a success. If we can keep the morning enthusiasm and glowing after-school reports we're looking forward to a fabulous year and driving all over the place every morning and afternoon will be well worth it!

33 so far...

I was probably awake when I actually turned 33 a few minutes before 2 am this morning. I tossed and turned with a sweet 4 year old that couldn't get comfortable all night. I cried tears of sadness with my sweet little one as she threw up a little later, which turned to tears of gratitude for a husband that rubbed my back as I did the same for our baby. I decided to give 33 the finger - laced up my shoes and killed a 5 mile run before anyone else in my family was up. A few years ago a dear friend's mom told me that life started to get really good at 33 and you know what? I think Ann was right. Bring it 33.

Conversations from my Wednesday

Annoying kid at the playground: I think your girl just tried to do fake karate on me!
Me: She probably did. She's a black belt in fake karate.


Owen: That kid is kind of gross. He eats his boogers.
Me: And you don't eat your boogers?
Owen: Well ya, I just don't tell people about it. (Completely justified in his answer.)


Me: Cal, have you and your friends decided if you want your graduation party at our house or Matthew and Andrew's house?
Cal: Probably their house. It's more fun with the pool and everything.
Me: Talk to them and decide because their mom said that they wanted the party here with the trampoline and the waterslide.
Cal: If we have it at their house are you going to be there?
Me: Yep, I'll be helping Diana with the food and crowd control.
Cal: Can't she just do it by herself?
Me: I guess you don't want me there? ...but it's okay for Diana to be there?
Cal: Well, she's just a little cooler than you.

Oh snap. No he di-in't!
Can I tell you that when I called him out on it and reminded him what a nice mother I was (throwing him this big party for a fake graduation!) he didn't bat an eye. Completely unapologetic and matter-of-fact about my embarrassing-ness. The joke is on him because I've invited his grandparents to the party! (But, it's 100% possible that they're cooler than me too.)

Ragnar

Preface: This is long and I’ve told the stories a few times. I realize that nobody is obligated to read any post on this blog, but this one may be particularly boring. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Kirt and I committed to this crazy race late last year with a group of friends. We trained like crazy fitting in runs wherever we could (including Hawaii) trying to make sure that our bodies would be able to handle 3 different challenging runs in about 20 hours. I wasn’t feeling as much pressure because the distances of my runs weren’t too bad but I tried to train well enough that if someone else on the team couldn’t complete their leg I would be able to step in. About 1 week before race day Kirt had to bow out. Without putting my honest thoughts on the www for Kirt’s employer to read, I will politely say that he was ‘asked’ to work that Friday to close a deal. What I thought to be over-training turned out to be lacking when I inherited Kirt’s 21.6 miles of crazy terrain. (Luckily I found a friend to fill in for my 13.1 miles.)

Our team started racing about 12:30 on Friday (April 15). Anneli took off as our first runner. As she came in from her 5-mile leg and handed off to me for my 5-mile leg I could tell it had been tough. She said, “It’s hot. Be careful. It’s really hot.” By mile 2 I knew what she was talking about. The heat was no joke. It was 90 degrees with no breeze, no shade, and 1 water station with water that had been sitting out in said heat. When I came to my exchange point I echoed Anneli’s sentiments to runner #3: It’s hot. I’m serious. Be careful. Shortly thereafter I was so relieved to be done with that hellish run that I lost it. I was talking a mile a minute, cracking jokes, sticking my sweaty feet up on the arm rests. I was definitely a spectacle. (Anneli may have accused me of being on meth.)

We all struggled with the heat and even the runners with shorter legs ended up having ridiculous hills to climb. As we met up with van #2 (runners 7-12) we warned them all about the heat and reminded them to be careful. Runner #7 took off like a road runner sprinting out of the exchange and ended up paying for it later. Read: heat exhaustion, puking on the side of the freeway and contemplating calling an ambulance. (Wouldn’t have been the 1st ambulance called for a racer.)

After those first rough runs, things got better. Thanks to Kirt’s mom, when he got off work a little early she spent hours on the road bringing him down to meet us and then driving back to our house to help my mom take care of (spoil) our kids for the weekend. My 2nd run began about 11:30 Friday night and was a long 9.4-mile run, most of which was on a horse trail that required me to sign a special waiver earlier in the day. Kirt was able to run it with me which was really nice, especially when I was sure I went the wrong way and when I tripped just a few miles into the run. I was a little beat up, but jumped up and started running again. I knew that if I needed help I could always send Kirt up ahead, luckily adrenaline kicked in and the rest of the run was great, easily my favorite of the race.

Once our van was on our 2nd rest period we tried to lay some sleeping bags out on some grass and get some sleep. Just an hour into our snooze the sprinklers came on and doused any hope of rest. It was horrible. Not only were we rudely awakened, now our sleeping bags, pillows and everything we were wearing were soaked. Another runner yelled, “Just leave me here to die!” when he was yanked from his dripping sleeping bag. Probably the roughest part of the journey, but the one that still makes me laugh out loud.

Finally time for my last leg and I could feel that the heat was going to be a bit of a factor again and I was tired. It felt good to finally get started and know that I just had 7.6 miles to knock out and I could relax and cheer the rest of my team on. As I started out I passed a guy in my first ½ mile. It felt weird: he wasn’t the ‘type’ of guy that a novice like me should be passing. He was tall and fit and I knew as I passed him that it wouldn’t be the last I saw of him. I heard his footsteps behind me for several miles as we passed a couple more people together. I finally gained some ground on him, which I quickly lost when I was stopped by a few traffic lights. As he caught up to me I was all ready with my smart-aleck comment, “I knew you weren’t going to let me beat you without a fight.” I felt ridiculous when he said, “Thank you so much for helping me out. I’ve kept my eye on you this whole time. I never could have kept running without you pushing me.” I continued to give him a hard time about ditching his water bottle several miles back because I was hoping I’d at least get a drink if he caught me. We talked as we ran together about how he had returned a month earlier from a year long military deployment. He was definitely in shape, but just like me wasn’t fully prepared to take on such long distances in such intense heat and circumstances. Luckily, a bit later his girlfriend appeared with water and graciously shared it with me. As we neared the end I said to him, “Half mile left. We can do anything for 5 minutes.” He grinned and said, “That’s what we say in the Navy. Let’s do this.” (How lame that I kind of tear up remembering that?) We picked it up sprinting to the exchange and ended up finishing together, each grateful for the other pushing and inspiring along the way. (Still wish I could find him and thank him for the race and the military service.)

Our team’s 2nd van had a rough set of runs with punk teenagers moving (or stealing) signs meant to direct runners. They were running along miles of beach boardwalk crowded with excited beach-goers. Despite the craziness, they came in just over 30 hours after we began. 2 members of our Van #2 were a dad and his oldest son. The son was Runner #12, (our finishing racer) it was so awesome to see his dad’s face when he sprinted in with a smile. That’s another memory that I hope to never forget. We entered the race with no thought of how we would compete, but we were pleasantly surprised with the results.

Overall, it was an amazing experience that I’m looking forward to repeating. I’ve said it many times, but I was so grateful to have Kirt there to run with me and to obey every order I barked at him. We owe special thanks to both our Moms for making the trip down to hang out with the kids all weekend. The fact that our kids’ grandmas get along so well that they come to visit together occasionally is not lost on us. We love it.

Baseball

Baseball has begun yet again. This year Owen was pretty sure he wanted to play and Cal was feeling exactly the opposite. Cal finally came around and they've each had a few games. Want to know how it's going?

Awesome.


(More to come, Kirt has just been bugging me to get this pic out to the family.)

The Dream, Realized

This story began many years ago and I'm not sure I can do it justice with my meager writing skills, but this is a story we'll be telling our kids for years. If it wasn't our first date, it was shortly thereafter when Kirt told me about his family's old Scout International truck. It was the truck he drove when he first got his drivers license. The truck met a terrible fate before we ever met, but I was always aware of Kirt's desire to own one again. For about 2 years he's been pretty serious about his pursuit. He's looked at several, driven a few and even had friends check one out for us in Phoenix. (Thanks again Memmotts!)
Well, last Sunday Kirt and I were asked to speak in church. (Which is a whole 'nother story about what a selfless and giving wife I am. When Kirt and I realized that we had prepared the same topic I caved immediately and let him keep his talk while I started from scratch with 2 days to spare.) I hadn't heard/read anything about his talk except the topic so when he got up and started describing his dream car I got a little nervous - not sure where the link was coming. He told everyone (true story) that a few weeks ago he said to me, "I really think a Scout International will make me really happy." (Or something to that affect.) He did tie it in nicely with his topic of gratitude and in closing, while making note of all his blessings, he said, "...and I know that I don't NEED a Scout International to be happy."
Cue the universe, The Secret, or whatever you want to call it. (I have my own theory, noted below.) Tuesday night (48 hours after his talk) he came home from work, "Kady, I think I found the one."
He didn't even have to say what he was talking about. I asked, "Where is it?"
You see, homeboy has found "the one" a few times and we've even priced shipping costs because "the one" was in Pennsylvania or Atlanta. This "one" was in Redlands - less than 2 hour drive. He mentioned it a few more times throughout the week and when Saturday morning rolled around and I asked him what he wanted to do that day he gave 2 options: replant the flower beds or go see the truck in Redlands. We decided to give it a shot, partly because I was feeling a little sick and a nap in the car felt like just what I needed.
The drive was just over an hour and a half, we had some lunch and went to the car lot. As Kirt walked around the truck he made a ridiculously low-ball offer just to see how firm the price was. Before I knew it we were taking this picture at the gas station down the street - on our way home with Kirt's dream car.
(Pardon the camera phone picture. I'm sure Kirt is scheduling a professional photo shoot with his new baby soon.)
After a 2 hour drive home with no radio, Kirt was back out the door within 10 minutes, off to run made-up errands. He is so excited that it's comical. He has a little spring in his step and when people asks about it his face lights up. I told Kirt that I think God needed to hear him say that he didn't NEED the Scout to be happy before he could actually put it in his path. But ultimately, I don't think it's hurt Kirt's quest for happiness! We're looking forward to trips to the beach this summer with the top off.

All about Owen

We have a Super Star on our hands. Owen received a few special awards today in a school-wide assembly. One for "writing neatly" and another for earning a library patch (reading and passing quizzes on about 20 books in the library.)
It's a good thing Kirt and I have been running - we lost track of time and had to SPRINT to the school. I arrived just in time to get a picture of Owen getting his award.

Related?

Like father, like son.
Kirt - age 5
Owen - age 5

Just getting caught up

Just when I think I have something to blog about, I hesitate because I just can't pass up a Thanksgiving/Christmas catch-up post. So here we go...
For the first time in our 10 years of living outside Utah, we went home for Thanksgiving. The kids had an entire week off of school, it was a great opportunity to spend the day reminding ourselves of family traditions complete with bowling with the Petersons on Thanksgiving night. (Which turned into bowling with the Arnolds as well - double bonus for us.)
Libby and I, and our cousin Annie started out Thanksgiving morning with a Turkey Race at Ogden Regional Hospital. It was supposed to be a 5 mile run, ended up being 3.7 miles. While I realize it was a very laid-back event, the distance discrepancy still cracks me up. It was a fun way to start the day and surprisingly, I think the 9 degree temperature that morning was harder for Libby than me. I only got yelled at twice for pushing "my friend" too hard when people saw Lib puking on the side of the road. We have since concluded that Libby shouldn't eat before she runs - and maybe not ever get pregnant. That is one sensitive tummy.

While in Utah we had late/early birthday celebrations for Owen and my nephew Lincoln. Once again we gathered the Petersons and Arnolds together and had a blast.

It's not the main tree in the house, but I had to have a picture of Bonnie's Ute tree. Every decoration pays homage to the University of Utah including the Ute Snowman family that sits at the base of the tree. This family bleeds red. Saturday morning as we all bundled up to go to the Utah/BYU game I was dying at all the Ute blankets, red and black coats, gloves, hats, shirts, face tatoos, Bonnie was wearing drum and feather earrings. It was awesome. The game wasn't bad either.

This should probably be a separate post, but I already uploaded the photos, so just deal.
Christmas morning at our house.
This is the kids waiting in the hallway to head out to the tree. It was 8:30 before everyone was up and we headed out to open our presents. I don't know how we got so lucky, but it was wonderful.
We had a great Christmas complete with all of our favorite traditions. After opening presents, we headed out for bagels for breakfast. When we got home we skyped with Grandma and Grandma Peterson while the kids opened their presents from them. Hit a movie with some friends that afternoon and a laid back evening playing with all of our new toys and watching the videos from earlier that day. Although it had only been 10 hours since it all went down, I was a little sad seeing the footage of the kids and their Christmas morning excitement. These kids are growing up and the years are flying by. Before you know it we're going to be dragging them from bed to start Christmas.
We hid the kids presents from Santa behind the couch, to be opened last. Cal had only really asked for one thing - which would have been easily identified, even when wrapped. He surveyed all the gifts and realized that it wasn't there. The disappointment on his face was heart-breaking, he tried so hard to smile and was really grateful for everything else -but he was THRILLED when his favorite gift was pulled out. (Almost as excited as Tess when she opened her socks!)
Ultimately, it was another fabulous holiday for the books. The new year has started off great and we're looking forward to all the fun that 2011 holds. Now lets get to it...

Post Post - sorry, I didn't realize that people wanted to know what Cal's gift was. He got a game for the Wii called Tony Hawk SHRED that came with a kind-of skateboard to play the game with. It hasn't been used in 2 weeks, which is about par for the course with most Christmas gifts, no?

My Virtual Christmas Gift

Disclaimer - This may only be funny to me, a few Grandma's and a random sampling of other close family members, but I felt the need to share.

It's true, I'm sucking over 4 minutes of your life away if you watch both of the videos below. If you're already a Modern Family watcher you can skip the first one, but if you're a true Modern Family watcher you know you'll want to see it again. Pay particular attention to Cameron watching from the sidelines. His delayed reactions in desperation to be part of the group are my favorite.


I have realized why Cameron's reaction was particularly entertaining to me - because I have my very own 3 year-old female version of Cameron at home...or in this case, at the local elementary Christmas (er..Holiday) Program. I was recording for a family at church - their daughter is somewhere in that sea of 2nd graders. But my attention was diverted when the choreography started. At the 39 second mark the cameo begins.
Please forgive the horrible camera skills and close range. Had I realized how many times I would be watching this, believe me, I would have tried a little harder. : )


A little play-by-play: At about the 54 second mark you hear the kids sing "JUMP" and Tessa's reaction follows shortly thereafter. Just after the minute mark I had to stop her from punching the guy in front of us. (Right after that song he moved to a different seat - he found her far less entertaining that I did.) Once she discovers she's being filmed I pan back to the kids for a second, but she ends with her own little finale.

Owen is 5!

Owen had a quite the birthday this week. Kirt and I took donuts to his class for recess and when I picked him up he had these cute balloons tied to his backpack. He was so excited and I thanked his teacher for the balloons, she looked confused, "You didn't bring those in? We were gone for a few minutes and when we came back they were there." With a little detective work we found out that it was our friends the Kleinbergs. These kids come home after school with ours at least once a week to hang out for a few hours.
Just as we got home from school Owen's best kindergarten bud Edson stopped by with a gift and more balloons. That night was Family Night at McDonald's for their school and Owen was more than happy to spend his birthday dinner at McD's with a bunch of friends from school. It was insane - I don't know if I've ever seen that many kids on 1 playground. It was enough to make me claustrophobic just looking at it.
Back at home, after a sanitizing bath (you know those playgrounds are nasty!) we were ready for cake, ice cream and presents. Owen wanted his own little cake with his name in green and blue on top. He declared the day "The best birthday ever!" and we all slept well that night.

Utah @ Notre Dame

Kirt and Cal headed out to South Bend this last weekend to see the Utes take on Notre Dame. Despite a disappointing loss, they had an amazing trip. A few members of the Peterson clan met them out there and from what I hear it was a weekend to remember. Kirt said that everywhere they went they saw Utah fans. The flights to and from LA were full of red and white, an old high school friends found Kirt at the game, and they ran into family friends in a pizza place in Chicago. (Side story: Last week our friends Jono and Anneli had some shirts made and took them up to Utah to sell before the TCU game. They sold about 30 before the fuzz shut them down, but Kirt saw a dude in the same pizza place wearing one of their shirts. They both had a good laugh about it.)
Cal sitting on the glass outlook at Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower.) I heard that Bart was dancing out on the ledge and they couldn't get him to come back in. (Or maybe he just got one foot out there before deciding against it.)
Joni, Jake, Jon and Kirt in front of Touchdown Jesus on the ND campus. Just missing from the clan is Bart and Cal - not a single picture of the whole group.
Word on the street is that Cal and Jake were a couple of partners in crime. Causing trouble and talking smack everywhere they went and staying up all night watching the History Channel while Kirt fell asleep by 8 every night.
When I picked them up from the airport on Sunday night Cal jumped in the car and said, "It sucked that they lost, but that was an awesome experience." He went on and on about the campus and all the fun things that they did.
Cal and Joni - I think they might have matching coats? Thanks everyone for listening to Cal and his non-stop chatter. I know it was a trip that he and Kirt will be talking about for a long time.

Mohawk X2

Today was crazy hair day at school. After last year's smashing success, there was no question about this year's 'do and this time Owen wanted in on the action too. We woke up a little late and with 40 minutes of hair time we were rushed for pics, but the boys were both super excited about their hair. Now Tess has been asking for "rock star hair" all morning!
Cal even had to do the same pose as last year. I think I'll hit the school up today just to see all the kids - I love seeing them all get into stuff like this. Monday was pajama day and when I went in to help Owen's class everyone was so excited to show me their jams. I was just a little sad that I forgot to wear mine.

Best Halloween Ever... so far.

We may have this whole Halloween thing figured out, just remind me of that next year when I'm wishing for it to be over. Between baking for 3 different kid parties, school parade, church party, 2 birthday parties, a pretty sick Owen and getting ready for a little shin-dig at our house on the actual 31st of October, I was ready to be done by Saturday night. Luckily I awoke Sunday with a whole new attitude - I think I could feel that this would be a night to remember.
By Sunday night Owen's body had recuperated, but his poor little voice was still struggling. At one point as he ran from a house I asked him if he had thanked them and in his best whisper/yell said "THANK YOU!" I had forgotten that he had no voice. A moment that made me want to cry and laugh. (Background of this picture: I think Peter Pan was a little nervous about Owen's ninja skills AND college football fever is in full force around here. Kirt requested that I re-plant the flower beds in tribute to his beloved Utah Utes. I'm a sucker.)
Our little frog and her bestie Wendy. We had quite the Peter Pan theme among friends this year!
We started the night with a group of friends and a big pot of taco soup in our driveway which turned into a neighborhood event. The Nielsen's brought a popcorn machine and at one point trick-or-treaters were standing in line waiting for their share. Random trick or treat chaperones were snagging brownies or cookies off of the table and drinks from the cooler. It was hilarious.
Here is a portion of the kids that trick or treated with us at some point in the night. Cal went out with 3 different sets of friends throughout the evening (none of them are pictured). We were also one of the earliest groups out and as we hit the first few houses people freaked out a little bit. (I think it was a combination of scrambling to get the candy bowl filled and the sheer number of plastic pumpkins being shoved in their faces.)
The neighborhood did not disappoint and everyone came home with full bags of treats. I tried something new this year: I let the kids each pick 10 pieces out of their candy that they really wanted. (Those are in a name-labeled baggy.) The rest went into a communal pile. From there I filled our go-to treat bucket that we use for little sugar fixes and sent a heaping bag with Kirt to work. He'll be the most popular guy in the office for a few days.
Speaking of Mr. Popular - homeboy pulled off a serious haunted house in the garage. He spent most of Saturday (in between college football breaks) lining the garage in black plastic sheeting and broke it into 2 rooms. He had a strobe light, spooky sounds in the CD player, ghosts suspended from the ceiling and a spider's nest that contained the candy bucket. When the kids went to get their candy a giant spider on a pulley lurched at them. It was legit. Kirt and Cal are already talking about improvements for next year.
So if I forget and start complaining next October, remind me of how fun this was and that I would stay up baking til 2am any day to make memories like this with my family and friends.

For the Grandmas

Here are some pics from the Halloween parade at school on Friday. We're doing our actual trick-or-treating tonight, so hopefully some better pictures are in store, but I know the Grandmas wanted to see what the kids looked like in their costumes.
Cal is a member of the Aquabats with his friend Nick. Thanks to Nick's family and my newly found sewing skills, the costume turned out pretty cute.
Owen in a ninja (pronounced inja by him). I lucked out this year when I pulled out my Halloween box and O and Tess picked a few of Cal's old costumes to wear. Poor Owen has been pretty sick. I took him to school for the parade and back at the end of the day because I had planned a party for the class. He missed our party at church yesterday and we're home resting up in hopes that he'll be well enough to trick-or-treat tonight.
Tess was so excited to walk in the parade even though she's not a student at the school. The PTA let her lead the group and this little frog could not have been more excited.
This was happening at our house last Sunday. Owen pulled him all the way down the street and back. Then Owen got his turn.
Happy Halloween everyone! Can't wait to see everyone 's fun photos!

Things heard around my house tonight...

1. Cal and Owen fighting over clothes. I thought I had avoided this by a) having kids 6 years apart and b) having boys. Apparently not.
2. Tessa to me: "Mom, I LOOOOVE your ugly jacket."
3. Owen to me: "Mom, Cal hit me so hard I can't even feel my brain."

Overdue

We've done some celebrating at our house as of late. Cal turned 11 in September. It's hard to believe that he's just 2 years away from being a teenager. He had a great birthday weekend with Grandma Peterson in town.
He had specific requests for all of his celebrations. This was his mint chocolate chip ice cream cake on his actual birthday. I didn't get pics, but he requested glazed and chocolate donuts for his class party at school. I guess it's the last year for taking treats to school as he'll be in middle school next year. (Holy crap!)
He had a party with a bunch of friends. The rental company made a mistake on the bounce house. I was so bugged that I took a picture to school, pulled Cal out of class for a minute and showed it to him to make sure it was okay before I let them leave it at the house. I thought it looked little kiddish, Cal couldn't have cared less. He made sure that it had the slide and a bounce house and he was fine. (And maybe looked at me like I was crazy.) Luckily the mistakes didn't stop there and the company forgot to pick up the bounce house until 10:30pm. Those kids played on that thing while having a NERF war all night long.
Red Velvet cupcakes with red U's were the requested dessert for this party. We did a late-night party on a Friday and I have to say, it may have been the best idea ever. We're not crazy about sleep overs, so we had the kids over from 5:30 (some of the kids just came home from school with Cal at 2:30) and had parents come pick them up at 10:30. I didn't have to worry about getting kids to bed, drama in the night or breakfast in the morning. I think it was successful.
Kirt had a birthday too. We had his favorite homemade breakfast before he worked a long day. It ended with dinner with the fam, cake, ice cream and a few gifts that night. We also went to dinner with a few friends a few days later. Kirt picked the craziest BBQ place I've ever experienced. The tag line on the menu was "For a dern tootin' good time." The restaurant had cartoon pigs painted on the walls and sketched all over the menu. Luckily the food was pretty dern good and Kirt got his wish for some adults-only bowling after dinner.
These boys asked for it...literally. Who knows why boys like the things they like. They taped their own mouths and requested help for the rest of their bodies. It was not safe. They lost their balance a few times and fell over a couple of times before I made them undo their legs. Goofballs.
We went to an assembly at the boys' school this morning. Owen was so excited, "Guess who's the person of the day? ME!" Everyday he tells me that he thinks he'll be the person of the day tomorrow - yesterday he was right. This is his best bud. They draw each other pictures constantly and talk on the phone several times a week. It's hilarious.
The reason we attended the assembly was Cal received a Super Star award for outstanding citizenship. So proud of him. His friend X since 1st grade also got an award. These two have always bonded over college sports. I wonder what it will be like when their teams are in the same conference next year!
Cal's other best friend Nick, another super star! These two have coordinating Halloween costumes that they're pretty excited about. I can't believe Halloween is just over a week away. Yikes!

It's all about the LOVE.

Tess has recently cut the word "like" out of her vocabulary. It appears that she's far too passionate a girl to settle for lukewarm feelings...for anything:
Yesterday I offered her a sandwich. "But moooom, I don't LOOOOVE sandwiches."
Getting in the car. "But moooom, I don't LOOVE getting buckled."
Altercation with a brother. "Mom, I don't LOVE Owen." -This one stings a little. I have tried to reason with her and discuss that, of course we love Owen, but right now we're a little mad. But she just keeps saying "I don't LOVE him." I am likely the first mom ever to ask my child to say that she doesn't LIKE her brother. Hearing the former just breaks my heart in two.
It's one of those quirks that I hope she holds onto for a while. Hearing her talk about the things that she LOOOOVES makes my day. As the baby in the family, (don't mention that to her, hearing her called a baby fires her right up.) I am having a hard time letting go of certain things. Namely, mispronounced words. The other day she said 'zipper' correctly and I mis-corrected her and reminded her that it was 'zlipper'. I couldn't stop myself, my favorite part of the day is when she asks me to zlip her jacket or jeans. She tells Kirt not to getfor (forget) his computer for work and jumps out from behind doors yelling "Guprise!"
Man, this little girl has a hold on us. Every day Kirt stops and says, "Just look at her! She is so cute!" I think we'll keep her.
Post Edit - I can't believe I forgot to record 2 other favorite mispronunciations: Remimote - remote and the day after today is tomorroriow. An extra i in any word is just adorable.