Luke's Little Stunt

Last night I was exhausted! I had been watching my sisters kids, and I tell you I'm just not cut out for 4 kids I guess. But in my own defense, it's like having 2 sets of twins. I had a 5yr old, a 4yr old, a 21 month old, and a 20 month old! Things were going as smoothly as possible with 4 kids. I put Luke down for his nap like usual, but about a half hour later he was still not asleep, but he was not crying so I didn't want to go in. Then an hour and 15 minutes had passed and he was still not asleep, just happily talking to himself so I thought maybe today he was just not that tired. I don't know why, the kid has croup and bronchitis--the thought of having that makes me tired!

Then 7:30 pm rolled around and I went and put him to bed. He didn't make much noise so I figured he had fallen asleep. So then I just quickly gave the FHE lesson I had somewhat planned (a new goal for me), and then got Blake to bed. By this time it was 9:30 pm and I was climbing into bed. Yay! Then about 10:00 pm Luke decided that his "nap" was over and he was awake! Chad and I (well mostly Chad) tried to get him to go back to sleep and stop screaming--no such luck. Then a little after midnight Chad took him downstairs to see if his favorite show would finally put him out. He put on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Luke was finally silent, but only because he was really into Mickey and the gang.

As soon as it ended, he was off the couch and wanted me to come with him. This is where I drew the line! What was the deal, Luke has always been a great sleeper. After all it was now almost 1:00 AM, he had been up for about 18 hours with no sleep. I picked him up, grabbed a cup of milk, put him in his bed, shut the door, walked into my room turned off the baby monitor, and got back in bed. Not sure how long he was crying for, I was asleep. Just a little side note Luke, we DON'T do all nighters at our house! And it was so nice to see you bright and early this morning at 7:15 am, at least one of us had a smile on!

Walking With Dinosaurs

On Wednesday night we were able to take Blake to Walking With Dinosaurs. He absolutely loved it!! He was so excited for the show to start; and when it did we no longer needed the paleontologist there to tell us about the different eras and types of dinosaurs, Blake knew it all! The minute he saw a dinosaur about to enter the stage he told me the name and several facts about it. I guess it helps that his favorite show is Prehistoric Planet.

I would list the names of these dinos...but I haven't a clue as to what the names are.

Blake's favorite part of the show was when the T-Rex came out! He loved it!!! He said it was so cool that the T-Rex looked right at him and growled!

Blake's play by play on the way home of his favorite parts of the show....this is the T-Rex!

This is what he thought of the show!! He was so cute at the very end he gave the dinosaurs a standing ovation and clapped his heart out! His excitement for the show made it so much fun for me.

Adventures in Snowboarding!

I had been wanting to find something Chad and I could do together that is a little more down Chad's alley. He loves anything outdoors, and especially loves winter sports! He loves to ski and is really good at it. I tried skiing a few times with him, but it is not for me. I don't enjoy it and am very uncoordinated when it comes to keeping my ski's together, I usually end up going down the hill in the splits! So I have been wanting to try snowboarding, this is something Chad has picked up in the past few years and loves it.

My sister-in-law Jessica wanted to plan a snowboarding trip while she was here for the holidays. She wanted to also take a lesson before hand. This was perfect, not only was I going to be able to try something new with Chad, I was going to do it with girls, and with some sort of instruction! A dream come true!!

Here we are in our group lesson. It was nice we all got to be together for the "Colyar private lessons".

Jess, Kirsti, Dan & Eli (instructor)

Me looking like a beginner! I think I could use more lessons.

Jess & Kristi getting the hang of it. Nice form girls!

Dan Shredding!

This is one of my favorite pictures-for some unknown reason Jessica kept getting drawn to this sign. It brings a smile to my face every time I see it!

This is for Chad and Craig---see your wives are cool and athletic!

The group!

(Chad, Kirsti, Kristi, Jess, Dan, Iris, & Jeff)

I ended up really liking snowboarding!! I hope Chad and I can do it again before the snow is gone. We all know I could use the practice--no worries Chad I'll get faster. Thanks Jessica for planning this amazing trip!

Christmas

We had a great Christmas! We had my parents over for an amazing breakfast, thanks to Chad! He made a baked french toast with a raspberry sauce, it was really yummy. Something good has come from him watching the Food Network.

Then we were off traveling from family to family the rest of the day. It is such a relief to finally get home at the end of the day and relax! I think next year we should stay home and let family come and visit us!

You can tell from the pictures who was excited it was Christmas and who was not. Luke had more fun with Blake's gift then his own, but he is really not a toy lover he would rather play with something electronic.

It's officially too cold for me!

Tonight as I was leaving work my windows were frosted over like usual. So I thought with a few quick sweeps of the wipers and the heat on full blast I didn't have to get out and scrape my windows. So I began to leave and soon realized that I couldn't see a thing. I was going to have to pull over, get out, and scrape. I got out and began to scrape my windows...nothing was happening. So I felt it with my bare hands...nope, no frost. Weird...? Then I felt the inside, and sure enough they were frosted on the INSIDE!! Who would have guessed that the inside of their car would have frozen over! Never saw such a thing! So, awkwardly I scraped the inside of my car windows, and was left with frost shavings everywhere, and an ice box to drive home in! I tell ya I have to get out of this place, much too cold for me!

Oh, a big thanks to Tara for waiting with me, and laughing so hard I'm sure you peed your pants!

Dear Shelley,

I know there are some thoughts and or concerns going through your mind about your recent trip planned to Utah. Here I am going to answer them for you!

• 1-Will my "warm" blooded kids get to experience somewhat of a "White Christmas"...or will there be snow?

-Yes! This is what we did today during Luke's nap. There will be snow...might be iced over by the time you get here but it will be here!

• 2-Did Kirsti really make the truffles that are to die for?
  
  

-Yes. It's a dirty job, but somebody has got to do it. Two days later and a huge mess; I think I am done in the kitchen for the holidays.

• 3-Will there be any truffles to partake of by the time you get here?

Ahh...little pieces of heaven!

-No guarantees on this one. I did make three different flavors this time, Chocolate, Mint, and Candy Cane. I have heard they are really good, but still have yet to try them. I know...I know I will do it tonight!

You better hurry! I will try to save you some, but I don't think that they will be in such cute little boxes! If I were you I would think about moving up your dates!

Best of luck,

-Kirsti-

Holiday Happenings!

Last year we started a tradition of letting the kids decorate the tree. This worked out really well this year because they put on all the decorations and everyday rearrange them. I could care less because there is no rhyme or reason to it and I didn't have the headache this year trying to make it look good. (which never ends up happening anyway.)

Luke helping to do his part. He practices everyday, and finds way to improve his masterpiece!

Blake is a pro this year! His careful placement of the bulbs are very well thought out.

Job done! Pure satisfaction!

This year we thought we would hit the "Big City" and see the Christmas lights at Temple Square. Blake really enjoys riding the "train" so we jumped on board with the public transportation. Big mistake...this is expensive! This cost us more then parking and gas to get there would have. But Blake was sure excited to show Savannah "NYC" (Blake thinks SLC is NYC), and tell her all about when he gets big he is going to live there. Next time, I am NOT going to remind him that we can take the train.

Enjoying their train ride to the "Big City"!

The boys bundled up for the chilly night.

Looks like we were all enjoying it at some point.

Next, I thought that we could make sugar cookies! Which was a lot of fun, but man this is a lot of work! This took me almost all afternoon. Blake was eating the cookies as fast as he was decorating them. I decided to do it all myself this year instead of getting the store bought cookie mix or the ready made dough. I even made my own frosting and colored it too! (I think my mom has just passed out!) See I do use the pricey mixer I "display" on my counter!

Blake loves doing this. If only he didn't make them look so appetizing and eat them as he goes!

Our finished product. I can't believe they turned out so well! They were very yummy, crunchy on the edges and soft and chewy in the middle. I surprised myself! Maybe I'll do it again next year!