Pictures

We had some portraits taken a while ago. We weren't too thrilled with the experience, but we ended up with some good pictures just because our kids are cute.

Texas is turning me into a pansy

The other day at work I had to walk to another building for a meeting. I stepped outside and felt the crispness of the air and thought "Man, it's cold. I need my jacket." So I went back in and put on my jacket then started walking. The temperature that day was 56 degrees. I grew up in Wyoming for Pete's sake, I should be able to handle 56 degree weather. One time I had to change the alternator belt on my car in sub zero temperature and I was fine. During high school I used to have a competition every winter with the kid across the street to see who could go the longest in winter without wearing a coat. (It turns out he was just poor and didn't have a coat. Cheater.) My mom called me yesterday because they were getting like 40 feet of snow and she almost didn't make it home because they were closing off the canyon between Jackson and Star Valley. I complained the other day because the low here dipped down to 33. Man I am such a wuss.

Things That Make Me Feel Old

Here's a list of things that are making me feel old lately.

 

Going to the grocery store and getting annoyed by the kids with the wheelie shoes. "Where are their parents, and why do they let their kids by wheelie shoes and fly around the store like maniacs?" I ask. That sounds like something an old man would say.

 

Teaching Sunday School and talking about when President Hinckley was called as the prophet. Do any of the kids remember that? "No, I was like 5." I was a sophomore in high school. Grrrrr.

 

I'll glance at my picture id at work from time to time and realize that my forehead looks quite large compared to other people's. Why? Because other people have hair.

 

Kobe Bryant is the same age as me, and people are starting to say that he has a lot of miles on him.

 

I get sleeping related injuries. Peyton slept on top of me the other night and I ended up with a pinched nerve in my back. If I don't roll over enough times during the night one of my shoulders will end up sore. When I get out of bed in the morning, every joint in my arms and legs pops. It's just sad that I can get hurt while sleeping.

 

I have four kids, a mortgage, and a minivan. How the heck did that happen?

 

Until recently, I thought Bluetooth was a Harry Potter character.

 

 

Wolf in Sheep's clothing

I have had a very rough couple of days. Yesterday reached the point where I required an evening out with Aubrey, and some much needed shopping therapy. Today was significantly better, although I had Cameron wondering when he tried to call the house this morning, and there was no answer. Figuring I was in the bathroom, he called back 15-20 minutes later. Still no answer, he started to wonder if we were going to be on the news. I called him back, assuring him everything was fine, and my day went on without much incident. Now, "not much incident" in this house still consists of a child dumping dishsoap out onto the floor, while another one attempts to help himself to a healthy snack of apple slices (no, they were not already sliced, making that all the more terrifying for the mother). Thank goodness for the supersonic hearing a mother inherits upon giving birth, squashing these adventures in the early stages.
The subject of this entry comes from what happened at the dinner table after Cameron arrived home. We'd been sitting there making pleasant conversation for a few minutes, when I moved my foot for one reason or another. It was then that I realized there was a quarter of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the floor, leftover from lunch. I asked the kids why it was there.
No answer.
Cameron asked who had had PB&J for lunch.
No answer.
I answered that all of them had.
This is where Cameron becomes the "mean dad" and starts "lecturing" the kids in his all too sarcastic tone about how they were all going to get a beating.
Andi interrupted in exasperation "No Daddy, you cannot beat us, because mommy does not want you to hurt her beautiful, wonderful, children. Right mommy? You won't let daddy beat your wonderful children will you?"
I just stared at my food.
Andi: We're wonderful right?
Me: "That's debateable..."
Cameron was in hysterics. I don't think we're gonna have to worry about that girl too much when it comes to self esteem. She sure thinks alot of herself...

Dylan's Using the Potty!!!

Last week, Dylan decided to start using the potty. Since he started, he's only had one accident, and that was in the middle of the night. He's been going to sleep with underpants on for the past week now (woo hoo for us not having to buy pull ups!). When Grandma Sloan was here, she bought him a robot that he could have after he used the potty for seven days in a row. We opened it up for his last night. Here's a video of his reaction to his new robot...

The Tooth Fairy's Coming!

We were at the store today, and the kids grabbed some sandwiches that they were giving away as samples. Andi took a few bites of hers, and she said "Hey, my tooth came out!" Yep, it sure did. She's had two loose teeth for a couple of months, and one of them finally came out.

Here's Andi with her moneymaker. I asked her how much the tooth fairy will give her and she said "A penny!" We got off easy.

You can't really see it here, but it was one of her bottom middle teeth. One of her silver teeth is loose too. When those teeth fall out, the tooth fairy should give me a check to cover the cost of the dental work. I'll have to run that by her if I see her tonight.

This is our first tooth fairy visit. Since we have a ton of children, we'll have a ton of them through the next several years. It makes me feel kind of old having a kid old enough to have teeth coming out. That's ok, because I am pretty old.

Birthday Party Extravaganza

We had Andi's birthday party yesterday. Last year we did the party on her birthday, and two people came. This year more people showed up, presumably because more people were in town. We decided to tell people it would be from 1:30 - 2:30. At first that sounded really short, but then the party started and I'm glad it was just an hour. I didn't do an official head count, but I think 723 kids showed up.

The kids seemed at least mildly entertained by the games. There was much confusion with the spoon on the egg egg on the spoon race. Two girls did a suspiciously good job at pin the tail on the donkey. Then we put some rolos in balloons and had the kids pop them. There were two kids who popped the balloons themselves, and they got the most candy. All the other kids said "I can't do it" and brought balloons to me, or just stood in a corner and covered their ears.

Aubrey made this totally awesome cake. She is the coolest.

Since there was leftover cake, the children got chocolate cake for breakfast. It reminded me of the Bill Cosby routine. I don't know if this will work, but here's a link to the video if it doesn't.

I tried to get the kids to sing "Dad is great. Gives us the chocolate cake." but they just looked at me and said "Daddy, stop being silly." We'll try that again in September April after Peyton's birthday.

Resolutions

Every year I make New Year's Resolutions. Most years I don't keep them, as I have pointed out before. Here is a list of what I kinda resolved to do this year:

 

Lose Weight - This one is more of a tradition than an actual resolution. I'm pushing 30, so I should actually do this. And this is the year that it will happen. (Sure it is). To lose weight I would probably need to stop drinking Mountain Dew, and there are no signs of that happening any time soon.

 

Stop Procrastinating - Says the man making a list of resolutions on January 11th.

 

Don't use my vacation time too soon - The very first day that I was supposed to go back to work, I took a vacation day. I had a good reason to save vacation time for the end of last year with the baby being born and all, but I was barely able to squeak out having two days worth when the baby was born. At least this year I don't have to plan on a wedding or anything since all the siblings are married.

 

Don't yell at the kids so much - This was something I was trying to do over Christmas break. I kept saying saying to myself "That whole not yelling thing isn't going so well" by 11:30 every day. This really is something I should work on. I just think that subconsciously I get a kick out of yelling "Hey, stop yelling!" at the kids.

 

Quit swearing in front of the kids - Another one I should really work on. Andi and Dylan have had discussions of who can say "Damn it" and when. (Only daddy, and only in the car when someone else is going slow). I guess I can preemptively call off plans for my Father-of-the-Year celebration.

 

Finish what I start - I have a bad habit of starting something, then not finishing it because I end up getting bored with it. Like our fence. I started painting it hmmmmmmm, October of 2006 and it's still not finished. Yeah, I should probably finish things like that.

 

Don't drink so much pop (or what Texans refer to as Coke, no matter if it's Coke, Pepsi, Mt Dew, etc.) - Hahahahahaha.

 

That should do it for my list of semi-attainable yet probably not gonna happen resolutions. I'll probably check back on this in a few months and laugh at myself.

Soni's blessing

Cameron blessed Soni today at church. It was a nice blessing, from what I could hear between Dylan complaining that he couldn't see Daddy, Peyton pointing at the stage giggling and saying "mama", and Andi telling them both to "Shut up". Soni cooperated until the very end, and slept the rest of the day, in her beautiful dress...

I made the dress, with Aubrey's help.

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful"

Don't you just love the bow?

"HELP! I'm drowning in Tulle!"

The other 3 kids after the blessing. Don't the boys look handsome in their new clothes? They all LOOK so well behaved...

What do you think Soni's thinking in this picture? I think she's thinking "I'm stuck, I may as well make the best of it..."

I think she can't decide whether to laugh or cry in this picture.

Well, since the rest of the family was represented, I guess I should be too.

Baby's first makeover

So, it turns out Peyton COULD reach Andi's play makeup. I guess lipstick tastes pretty good when you're alone in the early morning, and you haven't had breakfast.