Our Story....

A Day In the Life of Emma

2011-12-21T16:21:00.000-08:00

In the course of 24 hours Emma went from this.....

To this (her Junior High Choir Concert)......

To this...having her tonsils and adenoids removed.

She doesn't get sick, but they were so large they were obstructing her airway. They had to come out.

Here are her adoring fans waiting for her to wake up from anesthesia. She did great, and lucky for us she is kind and patient when she isn't feeling well. Oh wait.....well, she did great. :)

On the way home from the hospital Tessa saw how much ice cream we were buying her, and she has requested that she be next to get her tonsils and adenoids removed.

Tessa has been busy.....

2011-12-21T16:09:00.000-08:00

Tessa has been busy. She had her first day of preschool and could hardly stand the wait. She. Was. Ready.

She also learned how to ride a two-wheeler. She is officially the most determined (nice way of saying stubborn) 4-year-old I know. When she wants something she does not quit until she gets it - and this time it really worked in her favor and she is loving riding a bike like the "big kids."

Go Big or Go Home

2011-12-17T14:53:00.000-08:00

Ted and I took a quick weekend trip to Texas - and it was big, and not all in a good way. It was a BIG deal to fit it into an already jam packed fall schedule.

It was a BIG headache coordinating end of season soccer tournaments, basketball games, birthday parties, and traversing to and fro (seriously - our babysitter had seven soccer games, two basketball games and two birthday parties scheduled - we didn't make it to all of them. :)

Tessa threw an enormous BIG fit one evening and wouldn't cooperate with anybody. They were at the park and people were watching the babysitter thinking she was trying to kindap our feisty 4-year-old.

But...

While we were there we went to this BIG Texas stadium and walked around oohing and aahing at the Cowboys stadium (Ted's favorite since he was a kid).

We watched BYU vs. TCU - and they lost - but it wasn't by a BIG amount.

And I sat next to this guy for four hours straight with nobody asking for help going to the bathroom, nobody wanting to talk about Halloween costumes, Jedi attributes, gymnastics routines, soccer, space, or who knows what else. And we needed that. BIG time!

Yeah. I loved Texas.

Lincoln turns 12!

2011-12-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

This sweet boy of mine turned 12 today. He is getting the priesthood in church. He is about to attend Junior High full time (he already attends first period there for math and then heads back to sixth grade in elementary school). He is growing up, and I can't stop it. Dang it.

For his birthday he wanted an NCAA football game. That was it.

But he was a good sport and was excited about the clothes and the scriptures that he got too.

For dinner he wanted bacon cheeseburgers.

And he didn't even mind when his sister had to be in all of the pictures. :)

But the real hit of the night was when he opened up his very own phone. This is him doing his happy dance. I couldn't even get him to sit still for a photo.

Happy Birthday, Lincoln!

Grandma and Grandpa and the pumpkin patch

2011-12-05T10:45:00.001-08:00

Yes. It is almost Christmas.

But it's time for some serious catch-up.

This fall we were excited to have Grandma and Grandpa Wagner visit, and we tried to soak them in as much as possible since they were about to leave on another mission. This time around Grandpa is going to be second counselor in the Paraguay Temple Presidency.

So we visited our pumpkin patch for a small and "homey" experience picking pumpkins.

The kids enjoyed a good old fashioned tractor ride out to the fields.

They scoured the fields for the perfect pumpkin.

And did some serious posing. She is a pro. Seriously. (Heaven help us through the teenage years).

And to finish it off, the kids had some other activities they were interested in participating in at this "small" pumpkin patch: Swings, jump houses, corn maze, hay bale maze, paying a small fortune for some homemade donut holes, and....

bull riding. I think Linc lasted 2.3 seconds??

Nothing like a small hometown visit to a local pumpkin patch, eh?

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-05T07:16:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving week was an activity packed and fun weekend. The week started off with Ted taking the older kids to the BYU game. It was FREEZING, but they had a good time anyways. I. meanwhile, was enjoying some good ol' girl time with my sisters and my mom at Time Out For Women. I remember thinking how I wasn't sure if I was going to get much out of the presentations this time around - after all, I had been there only a year before. Man oh man - was I wrong. It was AMAZING and just what I needed to hear. Tessa had her own special date with grandpa and went to Build-A-Bear and McDonalds. She really knew how to work Grandpa, too. He was the nice one - I never let her buy the clothes at Build-A-Bear, but she came home with a bear who was fully decked out! She had a great time!

We ended the weekend by attending Music and The Spoken Word together. We had a great time and laughed like crazy. I even managed to get a little sleep after I switched rooms at 3 in the morning due to some extreme snoring. :)

Ted flew home to work for a few days and I stayed through the week to do some shopping, some resting, and let the kids see their cousins. We did manage to sneak in a visit to the aquarium which the kids loved. They loved seeing all the giant fish, the snakes, and the highlight was.....

the STINGRAYS! Sam even got so excited he just shoved his arm into the water and then looked at me when he realized he was wearing a long sleeved shirt. :)

The kids went out to "help" grandpa with the leaves one day.

And then it was Thanksgiving. We ate at Liese's house and had a great meal. However, all thoughts of pumpkin pie was gone from the kids' minds when they saw this: a chocolate fountain. Then the kids scurried off and played with cousins and the adults enjoyed the peace and quiet. It was a great day.

The following night we went to Temple Square to see the lights. It was great to see the Wagner side of the family - I wish we could have seen them more, but we will take what we can get! We were with the Rowleys, the Crandalls, and Rich and Megan's families - but I didn't manage to get pictures of everyone, but the kids had a great time hanging out together.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Ted turns 40!

2011-11-12T08:09:00.000-08:00

This is what was waiting for Ted as he walked into work that day - and his office was decorated, but this was up front for everyone to see. Everyone got to enjoy a picture of his sweet mullett!

At home he enjoyed a steak dinner, a chocolate bundt cake with glaze, and some peppermint ice cream. I think this milestone birthday has been a bit harder than anticipated simply because with a torn hamstring and an injured shoulder, for the first time ever Ted began to feel his age. Or maybe he just missed his mullett. :)

(The kids said this picture should be rated "B" for BARF.)

Liese sent him this gentle reminder that he is getting older.

Happy Birthday, babe! You are one hot 40-year-old!

University of Utah Camerata Award

2011-11-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

WARNING: THESE PICTURES ARE HORRIBLE! However, with so many flashes going off and so many people bustling about it was the best we got. Oh well - I guess you get what you get..

The point is this: My dad was honored for his ongoing contributions to the music department at the University of Utah and given a 2011 Camerata award. It was great to be a part of this - we are all so proud of him and for my mom who has always been his strongest support.

Love you.

As an added bonus to flying to Utah just for the day, I got to have lunch with these gals - and laugh until my sides hurt. My sisters are amazing and I love them all so much. I wish we got together more frequently, but I will take anything I can get. Thanks for the great day, gals!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

This year we recycled everything for a new life. New little witch making me cringe to realize how much Emma has grown up, recycled Jedi costume, and a little of this and a little of that put together to make Nacho Libre. It was a great Halloween, and I even had Emma at home to help keep me company while I passed out candy. Not a bad night at all! (Of course it didn't hurt that they were able to acquire 13 pounds of candy between the three of them!!)

Our 18th Anniversary!

2011-09-01T07:31:00.000-07:00

Between the two of us, over the last 18 years....

We have lived in three states
We have held nine different jobs of employment
We have moved nine times (some of those as interim stops for a few months in between state changes)
Graduated from three different universities
We have owned seven cars
We have bought two houses
Paid off one dental practice
We have moved Ted's office once
We have built an office building
Had four great kids
Had multiple fish, a guinea pig, and gotten a dog
Had one broken finger and one broken arm
Had two car accidents (one which did NO damage, and one where a car hit our car in the parking lot and we weren't in the car - we were so grateful because the insurance check paid for our existance during school!)
Countless other experiences which make me realize......

THESE HAVE BEEN THE BEST 18 YEARS OF MY LIFE!!

Happy Anniversary, babe. Love you.

Summer nights

2011-08-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

The anticipation of sleeping on the trampoline is always a favorite for the kids - until at least two of them hear the siren song of their mattress calling them.

Friend or Foe

2011-08-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

I am holding this hummingbird because it hit our window, was stunned, and Jack wanted a new play thing - hence, the rescue. So you would think I was a friend to nature wouldn't you? But then I went straight in and changed the laundry, and out plopped this.......

Can you tell what it is? I had mummified a frog in our dryer, and I think I even put it through the washer. Yeah - disgusting. Where did all of its gushy innards go? I don't want to know and since I couldn't be sure which load of laundry it came from I did them all again just to be sure.

Silly, I know, to take pictures of these things, but how often do you get to hold a hummingbird? And for that matter, how often do you mummify a frog?

Freaking out!

2011-08-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

Two things are on Emma's mind right now: soccer and driving. She is on the high school soccer team (even though she is only in ninth grade), and she is antsy about taking driver's ed and getting her license. I wondered why Emma has been more than willing to help Ted put the boat away in the storage unit after we are done , but now I know why. He lets her drive around the church parking lot, and she is loving it.

Where we live she can get her driver's license at 15. I have been absolutely opposed to this thinking it was far too young until I was calculating how many times I had driven to the high school soccer field. When I figured out that over the course of ONE week I had driven that stretch 35 times just to drive her to soccer practice (and no - that is not an exaggeration) I changed my mind. Now I am the one who is counting down the days until she can drive, and she couldn't be more thrilled.

Now if I could just stop freaking out over how fast she is growing up and that next year she will be in high school we would all be fine.

First Day of School

2011-08-31T15:31:00.000-07:00

5:30 comes early when you are used to staying up late, but she did make herself wake up. She may have been bleary eyed, but she was ready to go to early morning seminary and then over for her last year in Junior High. She is excited for ninth grade.

Linc is in sixth grade this year and his last year of elementary school, but he is getting a sneak peek at Junior High. He is taking math first period at the junior high since they don't offer his level at the elementary school. The routine is that Emma leaves for early morning seminary at 6:15, Linc leaves with me (or the other mom who car pools with me) at 7:15 to pick them up from seminary and then drive them over to junior high. (Junior High seminary was a lot more convenient when the church and the school buildnig were next door, but a few years ago they changed our subdivision boundaries to attend a different junior high which necesitates the driving). After his first period we go and pick him up from junior high and he heads over to elementary school just in time for school to begin. The only bright side to him not missing any elementary school is that during their math time he has time to finish any homework he may have.

Sam is in third grade this year, and is mostly excited for recess to play soccer games again. I have been fighting the bus situation and how early they pick up the kids - but he doesn't mind. It gives them more time to play before school and he is just fine with that. I wonder if his tune will change when it is 12 degrees outside? Knowing Sam, he'll find something else to be happy about. :)

Tessa had a visit from her preschool teacher, and she is ready to go, but she doesn't start for another week. Until then we will have lots of dates together. However, when she heard me refer to the season as fall.....

she went and got dressed in these. She can hardly wait because she just figured out that Halloween is in the fall. We have had discussions about Halloween every day since then. Never a dull moment with her I tell ya!

"Let me 'splain. No there is too much. Let me sum up." --Inigo Monteya

2011-08-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

So.....we were ready for summer. Seriously. It had been a crazy, busy, wonderful spring, but we were ready to hit summer hard - and we did. Really hard. I got my cast off and was dying to get out and enjoy the summer. Now it is the first day of school and I'm grateful for the break, because summer was crazy. Great, but crazy.

You see, Emma had been busy with school. She ran for class president and didn't make it, but instead she was made the ninth grade treasurer. She also made the audition choir Mad Jazz. She also had soccer competitions, piano recitals, end of year concerts, and in the midst of all of this she made the National Junior Honor's Society.

Lincoln was also busy - he had track, soccer, piano recitals, and he quickly became Ted's biggest supporter for going out on the boat.

Sam had a great end of the school year with playing the king in his class play, piano and violin recital, and spring ended with his team winning the soccer championship.

Tessa finished her first year of preschool, and most of all was a good sport and was patient (mostly) and went to every concert, every game, every play, every recital, etc., etc. In short, she was ready for summer too.

When it finally got here we were off and running. Here is the "sum up" of summer:

SEATTLE

We began the summer with a trip to Seattle to see the concert we had been waiting to see for 18 months: U2 360. It was totally worth the wait! We spent the weekend there taking an electric boat ride around to see the sights listening to music, eating an awesome chocolate bundt cake, and enjoying the beautiful weather. It was amazing!

Then came the actual concert. Lenny Kravitz opened, and he did fine, but when U2 came out - Holy Cow!!! It was AWESOME!!! Totally worth the wait. Totally.

Lake Powell

We met Greg and Lisa and their family down at Wahweep for some fun in Lake Powell. We were so new using the boat that we were nervous, but it all turned out just fine. By fine, I mean we loved it. We did lose our swim platform, broke a light, and even killed our battery once by mistake - but despite that we fell in love with Lake Powell....again. The only thing the kids said they would change is that they would stay for one day longer. We'll have to see about that......

Dave & Jessie

We were so excited to find out that Dave, Jessie, Noah, and Gage would be able to come stay with us for a few days - we don't get to see them nearly as much as we would like, especially now with them living in Singapore! It was great having them here.

Frank and Suz

After Dave and Jessie left we were excited to have Frank and Suz and their kids come up and stay for a few days. It is great because the kids all join up together and disappear to play together - leaving us with some much appreciated time to hang out as adults (and we let Emma hang out too!). Carly and Tessa have a love/hate relationship- right now they are loving each other.

Checketts Cabin

Following our fun visits we headed to Island Park, Idaho to stay for a week at the Checketts cabin. I swear the kids look forward to this all year long - they LOVE it, and so do I. I go to bed each night with my cheeks hurting from laughing so hard. We had a great time!

This year we were there over the fourth of July and went into West Yellowstone to watch the fireworks.

It took the boys approximately .03 seconds to turn the glow sticks into light sabers - it was funny because nobody said anything about posing like they were holding light sabers, but being boys they knew what to do instinctively.

Even Jack went out on the wave runners - I don't think he was a huge fan. :)

We were home just enough for a piano recital (my camera died so I only have this one picture of Lincoln):

And then we headed to Five Star Ranch for the Wagner family reunion.

It didn't take long for this game of "mild" water sports to go from this.......

To this.......

To this!

As moms we knew where the safe spots were.

This was the end result - happy, exhausted kids. Priceless!

Sprinkle in many, many trips out on the boat and you have our summer - more or less. It has been one of those "go, go, go" summers, but we have had a good time.

And now we are in the midst of dealing with this.....but more on this later.

Right now the kids are at school, so I am going to go clean a room just so I can watch it stay clean for five whole minutes. I loved summer, but school has its perks too! :)

Our First (and hopefully last) Boating Accident

2011-04-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

There is groaning, some tears, a few expletives, a flash of pain, and then a sigh. It's done.

My shirt is on.

Now I sit and rest so I can gear up for the battle of pulling my pants on and doing the buttons with only one hand - one set of fingers. Try it - it sounds easier than it is.

Friday started out so great - I got Lasik on one eye (since the other sees 20/20 and my weak eye was getting exponentially weaker). I thought at that point that THAT was going to be the most uncomfortable point in the day.

I HAD NO IDEA WHAT UNCOMFORTABLE WAS!

On Friday night at approximately 7:20 PM the Wagners had their first boating injury which is quite notable since the boat has not been in the water yet. We were backing our boat into the storage shed and I thought it might be handy to know how far from the back wall the boat needs to go, so as Ted slowly backed the boat up (he knew we were almost there so thank heaven he was going so slow) I stuck my hand out to touch the platform knowing it needed to be about an arms width. As I went to move my elbow away from the wall my sleeve and elbow caught on a cinder block so I couldn't move it fast enough. As a result my left wrist twisted to the side on to the back of my arm.

I ran out of the storage shed and tried desperately not to freak the kids out. If I do say so myself I think I did okay. It didn't hurt that I had sunglasses on so they couldn't see how hard I was crying, and the storage shed provides a lot of corners to crouch down and sob.

Initially the instacare doc thought it was a bad sprain, but when he saw the x-rays we heard him say, "oh......get her a splint and some narcotics to take with her." Yeah, that's never a good sign. Both bones in my wrist are broken.

On Monday the surgeon saw me and said that it was surprisingly nondisplaced, and if I can keep it that way he won't have to do surgery. Otherwise it is pins and a plate on each of the bones. So, here I sit with a bright pink cast and my kids' names etched on my arm.

You wanna know the funny thing? As I was leaving the surgeon's office with no makeup on because of my eye surgery, a bright pink cast on my arm, and a 4-year-old bouncing off the walls, I got in the elevator and an older gentleman in there said, "you have a BEAUTIFUL daughter." I politely said, "Thank you." He then said, "She must get that from both her mom and dad." In a polite conversation tone (which I might add required some effort since my arm hurt so dang bad) I said, "yep - she's got some of her dad in her!" He then responded, "Well, yes, obviously. I just didn't want to say 'she must get it from her dad'."

WHAT?!!!

So I responded, "Listen you crazy old man - do you not see that my eye has burst blood vessels? Do you see the neon pink cast on my arm? You really think you wanna start a fight with me???"

Okay, I didn't say that, but I thought it. What I really said was, "oh." And then I left.

The moral of the story is this: Just when you think you can't imagine anything more obnoxious than a neon pink cast you will get in an elevator with an old man and no information filter. That is the moral of this story.

And also that you don't have to be in the water to be hurt by a boat.

And also that getting dressed with one hand is really hard.

And lastly - typing with one hand takes FOREVER!

Say the Words Please

2011-04-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

Ted was gone and I was just about finished with the entire bedtime routine. Tessa was laying in her bed, I had tickled her back, and I leaned over to kiss her goodnight. In her sleepy half awake tone she told me, "say the words." I didn't know what she meant, but I turned and told her, "goodnight." That woke her up.

"No. Say the words." So I responded with "Sweet dreams." Now she was getting irritated. "No. Say the right words."

I had no idea what she was talking about. She seemed frustrated but she was too tired to argue anymore, so she rolled over and went to sleep.

When Ted came home I told him about it and asked if he knew what she was talking about. He smiled and told me, and the next night I heard their own little bedtime routine. Ted tucked her into bed, kissed her goodnight, and said, "You are a good girl, a smart girl, and a strong girl, and I love you very, very much. Sweet dreams, jellybean." Then she responded, "good night daddy jellybean."

My heart melted as I heard this interaction, and now I know what "the words" are. Sweet.

It is precisely these moments that keep me going - the moments that make you remember how sweet and precious your 4-year-old is. The moments that keep me from flipping out when she asks me to help her tape something up to her door only to realize it is a picture of me with an "X" through it.

Yep. Sweet. :)

Mark My Words

2011-04-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

There will come a day that somehow or other your kids will cause you to eat your words. So beware: If you don't want a guinea pig as a pet, don't tell your kids that they can have one when they can save up and pay for everything down to the last detail, take care of it, and pay for the ongoing expenses of a pet. Because, mark my words, you will end up with a guinea pig as a pet.

Meet Lily (short for Kukulily from Tessa). Lincoln bought her, cares for her, and actually adores her. And I must admit, she is pretty cute.

Then again, anything is pretty cute when you don't have to deal with the mess!

A Rockin' Sunday Afternoon

2011-04-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

I guess if college doesn't work out these two can start a band - they are mastering the poses even if they haven't mastered the musical element. :)

You can see that the level of participation varies between the ages.

Spring Break Cruise 2011!

2011-04-08T10:04:00.001-07:00

We had a great spring break - we went on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. It was AWESOME!

Of course there were some bumps in the road. First, Mazatlan's port was closed due to security issues so we were going to spend two days in Cabo San Lucas, but there was a medical emergency causing the ship to turn around only three hours out of port which subsequently cost us a day there. Also, Tessa got a bladder infection so one afternoon was spent at the ship's doctor's office getting medicine for that. I admit that I was most concerned over the fact that as we walked in to the medical office I looked around and I began thinking to myself, "I know he serves at the buffet" or "that is the server at the table next to ours" or "they clean our rooms!" so I quickly avoided looking around not wanting to know what they were at the medical clinic for. Lastly, our flights were unknowingly switched for the trip home which caused some minor confusion, but still...it was fantastic!

You see, no matter what happens on a trip, if at some point my boys can put their arms around each other (without it being a choke hold or strategic wrestling move) then I will count the trip a monumental success. And incidentally, they got along almost the WHOLE time. I know....it must be something about the sea air. :)

Chilling by the pool drinking some delicious concoction.

This picture is just in to bug Emma. :)

Formal night - Tessa was the designated photographer.

Man, if I could just learn to fold towel animals maybe my kids would be happy to tidy up their rooms. I'll have to look into that....

Hot tubbing after dinner. Of course followed by another dessert. Can you ever have too many desserts? I didn't think so either. Just sign me up for my sansabelt pants right now -

Cabo San Lucas - taking a glassbottom boat tour around the arch and of Lover's Beach. They kept joking that one side of the beach was called "Lover's Beach". The other side had much more turbulent water so they called that "Divorce Beach."

For sure the highlight was just playing in the ocean. The kids were in heaven - and I loved just having the sun out! Man, I miss it in the winter!

Next day, Puerto Vallarta. We did an excursion to a beach called Las Caletas. It was AMAZING! Her we are, and note that we are all happy in this picture.

This is how Tessa sat for the one hour boat trip to the actual beach. She was mad that we didn't sit at the very front of the boat. She kept that sour face the WHOLE time. The other passengers were laughing and thinking it was hilarious. Ted and I ignored it. It wasn't quite as adorable to us, but it didn't spoil our trip.

Lunch at Las Caletas

Now that Tessa has found her a personal servant to swing her in the hammock she was happy again.

Here the kids are getting ready to zip line at Las Caletas. The age cut off was 11 years of age, and Emma was pretty bummed because it looked like a lot of fun, but she played on the beach, went snorkeling, and had fun also.

Lincoln just bugging Tessa by wearing her swim ring. I guess no matter what climate you are in some things never change. :)

Waking up each morning and laying on the window sill to watch the water go by - a favorite for Tessa.

Tessa's favorite towel animal.

Stinker or not, Tessa had won the attention of the servers at our table and those around us. Each night at dinner she would have origami animals, paper flowers, and napkin bouquets waiting for her.

Again - too many desserts? Are you crazy!!!???

Lincoln tuning Tessa's prized souvenir: a ukelele (or as Tessa called it: a Kukulele).

All in all - an amazing trip. However, there really is no place like home. When we walked in the door Ted said, "Why did we ever leave?" The next day we had piano, soccer, track, laundry, groceries, gymnastics, and the rest of real life waiting for us. I love being home, but I definitely remembered why we needed the break!

Emma is 14!

2011-04-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

Seriously?? Wasn't I just posting about her 13th birthday?

This year's gifts were pretty straightforward - clothes and Just Dance 2. Also, there were no wacky requests for cake design - just homemade frosting. That I can manage.

Her favorite dinner was prepared with a great deal of effort and love - homemade lasagna. Ted was totally excited because it is Cassandra's recipe, and he loves it. Emma politely (she was nice about it) told me later that she prefers the frozen Costco lasagna because "the spices are different." 400 dishes later I think I may agree with Emma.

However, her favorite gift came just a few days before her birthday.... She got her braces off!!! (Man that girl is lucky - she only got them on just before school started!!)

Happy Birthday, you beautiful 14-year-old!

Pinewood Derby 2011

2011-04-08T09:38:00.001-07:00

Well, try as he might, Ted couldn't convince Sam to do a "brick" pinewood derby car like Lincoln did last year. Instead, Sam knew exactly what he wanted. A blue racing car with a red stripe down the middle and two yellow racing strips next to the red. I think I, I mean Sam, did a great job painting the car! :) Sam was totally thrilled with his #32 Racing Special. He won several races, and couldn't have been more happy. I, on the other hand, was not very happy about their choice of weight. Yes, those are bullett casings (I think that is what they are called - I didn't exactly grow up with a hunter). I didn't think it was entirely appropriate, but all the scouts and male leaders thought it was a great choice.

I guess, try as I might, I will never truly be able to think like a boy scout. :)

To Be or Not To Be.....

2011-04-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

Lincoln's fifth grade class put on a Shakespeare play "Twelfth Night" which really has nothing to do with the number 12 or being at night, but that's not the point. :) They did AWESOME. I was seriously impressed. They were all pretty excited, and here is Lincoln delivering his speech - he did such a great job. I had imagined that they would get up there and mumble their way through the lines, but they were all animated and entertaining - it was great! Good job, Linc!

Here they are all taking a well deserved bow.

Deep thoughts from the Wagner household

2011-02-22T08:04:00.000-08:00

This is the picture: We are all leaving church and heading out to our car. The kids are in the car still being polite and kind to each other, and we all head home quietly discussing how church was, what we learned, etc.

That is the fantasy picture in my head.

Here is the real picture: Lincoln insists on touching Tessa - only because it bothers her. Sam is laughing maniacally practically exploding from being quiet and still for three hours, and coming up with absurd "what-if" scenarios that we silently tune out. Emma is egging on Lincoln, all the while acting innocent when she gets in trouble too. Tessa is screaming at the top of her lungs that they need to "keep the noise down because it makes (her) SO ANGRY!" All the while Ted and I are figuring out what the fastest way to get a nutritious meal on the table is before the ravaging of the pantry takes place.

Amidst all of this mayhem there happens to be one moment of semi-silence, wherein Sam says, "what if your nose had saliva and your mouth had mucus?" Tessa then responded in her most irritated voice, "Sam, then your food would be covered with boogers!"

Yep, you never know what deep thoughts you may here at the Wagner household.

Superbowl Traditions

2011-02-16T15:01:00.001-08:00

It was tradition - one of many. Every Superbowl Sunday we got together, made some hot wings and all the yummy food that you could think of and we ate, watched, the kids played, and we had a great time. However, moving out of state put a crimp in that tradition.

This year, however, Frank and Suzanne were able to come up for a quick visit and we got to relive all the Superbowl fun - just like old days except without the half-time wardrobe malfunctions. :)

We loved having them here, and the kids were in heaven. Carly couldn't have gotten rid of Tessa if she tried. Sam and Chase were like two peas in a pod, and Logan and Lincoln were thrilled to get to play and not have little brothers always around them. Although there weren't any kids for Emma, that was okay too - she likes hanging out with Suzanne (who doesn't?) and we all had a great time.

We cannot wait for another visit. Thanks, guys!

Valentine Shmalentine

2011-02-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

Ted & I had a nice date and I love, love, love spending time with him - always. He is and always will be my sweetheart.

But then we came home and I had to help the kids get their valentines ready, and I'm not feeling so lovey now. I say phooey with all of this love stuff. I'd like to take a new route with Valentine's Day and share 10 things I hate about my kids. Yes, you read correctly.

1. I hate that my 8-year-old will NOT under any circumstances hold my hand, hug, or even acknowledge that he is my child unless he is forced to do so under threat of grounding.

2. I hate that my daughter can wear my shoes and accessories. Wasn't she just wearing dress ups and costume jewelry?

3. I hate that we are coordinating weekend activities instead of just knowing everybody would be home with us.

4. I hate that when they think of which girls to send valentines to, dear old mom is not the first person they think of.

5. I hate that instead of hearing, "Mom, can you help me...." I hear "Mom, can I please have some privacy?" Wasn't I just bathing them?

6. I hate that when I'm dropping off the kids at school they don't want me to hold their hand and walk them in. As a matter of fact, they barely want me to slow down the car and they DO want me out of there as quickly as possible.

7. I hate that they won't yell "love you, mom" from the bus stop to our house like they used to. Now it seems they don't want to whisper it from the doorstep to the front door.

8. I hate that I have to compete with electronic devices for their attention.

9. I hate that they don't want to snuggle with me in my arms but would rather be out playing.

10. I hate that they would rather read their own books than have me read to them.

In short - I hate that they are growing up. Try as I might to stop this, it is still happening. I hate it straight across the board from my 13-year-old to my 4-year-old - they are all defying me and growing more independent and strong. Some might say this is a good thing, but on Valentine's Day it made my heart ache to realize how quickly time is flying by, and how quickly they are growing up.

My heart just wants to burst open wide when I think about my kids. I love them so much. I could wallpaper my house with pictures of them. As much as I love a trip or date with my sweetheart, my heart is just happiest at home when we are all together - and they are growing up way too quickly. Time is moving by at warp speed, and I don't like it one little bit.

So, for now, I say phooey with all of this love stuff. My heart just can't take it.

Lincoln's 11th Birthday Party

2011-02-16T14:08:00.001-08:00

Since we only do birthday parties every other year Lincoln had plenty of time to plan what he wanted to do. Because of Christmas parties, traveling to Utah, baptisms, family visiting, etc., the birthday celebration got put on hold until last weekend (thanks, Lincoln, for being so patient!).

This year he wanted to go go-kart racing --and Linc thought it was well worth the wait. They had a blast. Mom, on the other hand, was a bit nervous that someone was gonig to crash and get hurt. Although they started out driving tentatively, that lasted about one lap, and then I think they forgot that there were brakes. However, everybody walked away unscathed, and every kid had "crash" stories to share over pizza and dessert.

It was great.

I love this picture because they all have red eyes like little demons - and that is how they drove. :) Trust me, I know who I will be watching out for on the road in five more years!

Happy Birthday, Lincoln (aka Montesque on the race track - don't know where that came from) We love you!!!

P.S. We have requested that the driver's license bureau extend the period of time you are required to use a learner's permit prior to a real driver's license. We are also saving up for private instructors. :)

Tessa's Birthday - For Real This Time

2011-02-12T10:36:00.000-08:00

After approximately three billion inquiries as to when it would be her birthday it finally came - and we couldn't have been more ready for the big day to get here. The morning of her birthday Ted came in and told her that she wasn't his favorite 3-year-old anymore. She laughed and squealed that she knew that because now she was his favorite 4-year-old. Man, she was excited. And so were we.

This is how she spent a great deal of the day - eyeing, touching, shifting things on her cake. Then I came in behind her to try and "re-sculpt" it. By the end I just wanted it eaten and gone!! :)

(I want to get clips that actually STAY in to keep mykids' hair out of their eyes, but that's another birthday wish...)

In case this scooter looks familiar, it should. She received this same scooter for Christmas a year ago - but the big kids played on it and it broke, so she was very clear that she needed a replacement scooter for "the one that the big huge kids took from me and broke!" FYI: The big huge kids are Lincoln and Sam, so apparently that scooter isn't cleared for a very high weight.

Emma's sweet friends were so concerned about Tessa that they even brought her birthday gifts...and she ATE up all the attention!

That Friday we had her birthday party and headed to Build-A-Bear. We let her invite a few friends and they stuffed their bears....

bathed them.....

named them, and played with them.

Our big fancy (yeah right) party then headed out to the courtyard area where they ate cupcakes. Ted and I were trying to keep it as simple as possible and it turned out great.

As you can see, Tessa was primed and ready to pose for pictures. Then again, she should be. She's been practicing for her birthday celebration for over six months now. :)

Happy Birthday to our favorite 4-year-old!

And in case you are wondering, she really is already planning her next birthday party. I'll break the news of the "every other year" policy for parties later on.

A trip to the ER

2011-02-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was fantastic - crazy, but fantastic. I had art in Sam's class on Friday, family arriving Friday afternoon, Sam's baptism on Saturday, we were the musical number for the baptism, I had to speak in church on Sunday, and Ted had to teach the fifth Sunday lesson for the men and women on Sunday (luckily he had some help from his parents speaking about missionary work). It was a packed weekend, but it was great. Monday morning I was determined to get back on top of things I had put off for a while.

We had gymnastics for Tessa, had to do some grocery shopping, pick up a few last minute things for Tessa's birthday, and then we made some birthday treats for Tessa's school. While we were making the treats she asked in a very matter of fact tone, "will you hand me that cup, my legs hurt and I can't walk." Yeah, right. What mom hasn't heard that before? I'm sure if it were candy her legs would be working just fine, right? I blew off the comment.

An hour later she said the same thing to Ted. Then she accidentally got bumped into and had to take a few steps and started screaming. Ted tried to pick her up and she was screaching that it hurt for her to be picked up. I tried picking her up and she did the same thing. This was no tantrum, this was her real cry. When we pulled her pants up to look her knees were huge. They were hot to the touch and were very swollen. When I set her down she couldn't walk. Her legs were just aching, but if we held her the right way where nothing touched her legs she would stop crying, but the slightest touch to them sent her into fits.

We dropped what we were doing and headed to the emergency room (because as is the case with every emergency it happens after doctor's offices have closed). She was a pro. She was calm, collected, and actually pleasant once we had her in the wheelchair so we weren't bumping her knees on accident.

The ER doctor initially thought she had broken her legs and went into a lengthy discussion about how this happens a lot when older kids jump on trampolines with younger kids. He ordered x-rays of her knees. As they came in to take the x-rays we noticed that she was starting to break out in a rash all over, and her knees looked like they had horrible bruises all over them. We asked them to call the doctor back to see all of this and he then canceled the order for the x-rays saying this was something else. He said it was Henoch-Schonlein-Purpura. He then told us not to look it up when we got home because we would freak out.

When we got home we looked it up.

But we didn't freak out. He had prepped us with what to expect. I was a little frustrated because he said to come back if we saw excessive amounts of blood in her urine or stools. How much is excessive???? He said she would be dramatically worse the next several days and that the bruises would last for several days to weeks. However, we weren't to worry, it would be fine.

It was fine. The next day she was fine. Her knees were still swollen and a little warm, but the rash was gone, the bruises were gone, and most importantly she was walking. It was a happy surprise since it was her birthday. We did have to go and draw blood for some further tests, but she is fine. The blood tests showed inflammation, and indicated some sort of viral infection in her blood, but she seems fine now. Other than that, it is a mystery.

However, Tessa has learned a valuable lesson. She has learned that all she has to say is, "my legs hurt" and mama comes running. She's also getting a crash course in telling the truth so mama doesn't flip out.

Sammy turns 8!

2011-02-05T11:53:00.000-08:00

That's a soccer ball cake - not our best, but time was short. :)

Yep, he's 8. He is one sweet kid who is hardly able to contain himself because he is so excited about getting baptized.

Shepherd's pie and fruit cocktail. I guess you can imagine that he's not all that hard to please. :)

Of course he had to have a few new spy gadgets for playing "laser baby" with his friends. Of course "laser baby" is now more grown up, and she can usually catch them when they are sneaking around which just meant they needed some more sophisticated equipment...at least that's what they said.

The only thing not shown here that Sam asked for for his birthday was a new suit. He wants to look his best for his baptism. I'm just not sure he can look any better to me than he does right now.

Sam's baptism weekend

2011-02-05T08:57:00.000-08:00

Sam had a great weekend. We all did. It was so fun to have everyone up here. Ted's sister Rebecca and her family came up, my sister Lara came with her daughter, Rebecca, and they brought another cousin, Katelyn, too. My parents were here, and so were Ted's parents. It was a great time. On Saturday the baptism wasn't until 4:00, so in the morning we went to the Discovery Center, and the kids had a great time and were able to run off a lot of energy. It was perfect.

I had to laugh because this is a giant bubble screen, and every time Sam would lift it up the little boy in this picture (don't know who he is) would wait until Sam was about to blow a giant bubble, and then he would reach in and pop it. It was funny in an annoying sort of way. This seriously happened about 25 times, and finally Sam just walked away muttering "that boy is not very nice and kind of annoying." I was thinking the same thing, but I was happy that Sam didn't get too upset.

Then it was time for the actual baptism. It was seriously the most perfect day. Sam was SO excited. He had invited several of his non-LDS friends to be there with him, and they were, and he was thrilled. We all were.

Here is a picture of Sam and his buddies: Chase, Sam Wagner, Sean, Sam Cain, Blake, and Jaren. The two on each side of him aren't members of the church but were so polite and excited. The other boys are giddy about when it will be their turn to be baptized. It was so exciting and touching to have so many people there to support him. I was overwhelmed by how many people love this sweet boy. We all do.

The girls saved the musical number for us - Tessa sang the first verse of "I Am A Child of God." She had been throwing a tantrum moments before, but when she got up there she sang loud and clear, and I couldn't help but think how perfect it was. Then the older kids sang the next two verses, and it was beautiful. The boys sang too, but they weren't quite as excited about performing as the girls were. Regardless, it was beautiful.

Lincoln and Spencer - inseperable the whole time.

Oh my, where did the last eight years go? I see this picture and begin to panic at how quickly the next ten years will go and we will begin suit shopping for another momentous occasion - his mission.

All the grandparents.

Wagner family.

Thompson family.

Of course there are always hiccups in the day. Lincoln had to tease Sam over something while they were getting ready, we forgot a comb for Sam's hair, and Tessa absolutely had to be the center of attention at all times so she weasled her way into the circle while Sam was being confirmed (we didn't know that until after the fact). But these are the very moments that add color to the pictures in my mind, and the picture I have of this day is stunning.

I had to chuckle because Sam's friend, Sean, was very curious about the whole baptism itself. He went home and was describing to his mom what happened, and how he thought we should call it "bathtism."

Seriously a great day.

Congratulations, Sammy. We love you.

It's all relative I guess....

2011-02-05T08:17:00.001-08:00

I was talking to my mom on the phone and Jack was ringing his bell like crazy to get outside. When I looked out to see what he was so excited about, this was standing by our back fence. Can you see it? It is a coyote. I see them around here all the time, but this one kept pacing back and forth by our yard like it was looking for a small and tasty morsel to come out and play.

I've decided the yard threats are all relative.

The rock chucks are kind of cute even if they do eat a few of the plants.

The gophers are inconvenient and dig up the yard, but they don't bother anyone really.

The skunks are smelly of course, and that is the pits when the smell comes into your home and car. However, I don't worry about them eating my dog.

The deer eat our plants and poop in our yard, but they are kind of pretty and fun, and my mom always loves to see them. They do scare the pants off of me when I'm out running and it is still dark and all of a sudden something comes bounding across the lawn, but other than that they are great.

The coyotes raise the creepiness factor up a significant notch. I hate listening to them cry back and forth to each other either at night or when I'm out in the mornings. I do worry about them eyeing Jack as a tasty treat, but for the most part they keep their distance. However, lately they have been getting more and more comfortable lurking on the path behind our house (or maybe I've just noticed more). Either way, I worry. So, I keep a closer watch on him and all seems to be well.

And just when you thought it was safe to let your dog out again, my next door neighbor calls. Yesterday when he went out to put something in the trash can which was already out at the curb he thought he saw a cat, then he thought it was too big for a cat. Turns out it was a bobcat. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! Now I'm not only worried about Jack, but I have to admit that I worry about Tessa too! Ted assures me that it wouldn't approach Tessa, but I don't think he is really thinking about the craziness that I attract when he makes that statement.

I love animals and I love nature - but I may have just hit my limit.

The funny thing is when we moved here we were warned about all the rattlesnakes we would see. Guess how many of them we have seen? ZERO! I've seen snakes, but no rattlers. Then again, we have some more yard and house projects coming up. Maybe we'll feel like Indiana Jones as he discovers the den of snakes. I swear, nothing would surprise me anymore. :)

Look out Chef Emeril....

2011-02-01T16:54:00.000-08:00

Tessa's favorite gift this year? No contest. The EZ Bake Oven. Mom thinks Santa was a little CRA-Z to buy this when it requires specific food packages that are not so EZ to come by. But mom will search high and low and avoid being LA-Z and will stock up on our EZ Bake Supplies. Tessa will make FANC-Z cakes, brownies, and treats full of oozy goodness.

At least they are nutritious (HA ! - RIGHT!). :)

Christmas Morning

2011-01-04T16:36:00.001-08:00

Let's see - six weeks late? Right on schedule - for me.

Christmas morning is always a blur, but the fact that Jack ate too much prime rib and was up about eight times being sick (yes, Jack is the DOG!) brought a new type of fatigue to this Christmas. Oh well.

The kids waited until the pre-appointed time to wake us up, and one nano second after the clock struck that time they were in our room ready to go. Even when you feel like a zombie the excitement is overwhelming. It was a great morning. They were good sports about waiting for us to get cameras ready.

and then we took more pictures. And more pictures. And got ONE where they were all kind of looking at the camera. :)

Tessa was on the hunt for one present, and although this picture doesn't demonstrate her excitement, she couldn't wait to "cupcake bake."

Sam was also searching for one particular present, but here he is being a good sport when he thinks he didn't get it.

But here he is when he actually did find it - man he loves that telescope. (Man, I don't love finding a place to store that telescope, but what are you going to do?)

Emma wanted one thing - an Ipod Touch. She didn't think it was very funny when we wrapped a new toothbrush for her knowing it was about the same size box. Man, I am just realizing how immature we are as parents, but it was still fun.

Linc's favorite gift was a new digital camera. He and Emma love making and editing movies that they create around the house, the yard, the bluff, etc. He was pretty happy!

They were all excited (especially Ted) about the big gift. It is a new tube to use behind the boat we just bought. We don't have the boat here, so we included a picture of it. When they opened it Emma said, "great, but we don't have a boat." Then she figured it out and said "DO WE???" They are all excited - but Ted is really excited. We're excited to try Lake Powell even though it is a hefty drive - those are some of Ted's best childhood memories so he can't wait to create some with our own family. I am more hesitant thinking about having to learn to really manage the boat both on and off the water, but even with that hesitation I'm excited too.

It was a great day for everyone. And Jack? He was so tired that he slept through the whole thing. Maybe next year I'll skip the dog treats and just buy him Tums. :)

Daddy-O is 39!

2011-01-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

You'd never know it. He doesn't look a day over 25. People at our high school reunion were joking about whether he had been cryogenically frozen for 20years. That isn't quite so funny when people are mistaking you for his mother, but the point is -- he looks AMAZING! The best part for me is -- he IS amazing!

Five interesting things about him:

He sends me an email every single day to tell me good morning (since we don't have much time to chat in the morning as we are both running around).

He has discovered that he loves sushi.

He is in the process of trying to read all of the "classics." After his review to me, I won't be reading Moby Dick any time soon. :)

Ted puts salt on everything. Seriously. Everything.

He STILL eats candy every night.

Happy Birthday, Babe! I love you!

We got a wild hair and went crazy......

2011-01-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

Well, maybe we should say we were just going crazy trying to keep Tessa's hair out of her eyes, her food, toothpaste, etc. etc. So, we woke up one morning and chopped it. About 10 inches to be exact. I was hyperventilating the whole time. Tessa was upset that it was taking so long, but other than that she was cool as a cucumber. Since then there have been NO fights over doing hair, NO toothpaste, ketchup, glue, or other non-hair substance stuck in there. Man oh man, we LOVE her new haircut!

This is Tessa making what she calls her "super excited kind of surprised look."

Some Serious Catch Up

2010-12-24T09:03:00.000-08:00

Okay, time to catch up. There will be more to come - lots more, but here is a start. What happened to November and December? A few key events over the past little bit:

We created a storage room

It borders on ridiculous how excited I was to get a real storage area. We did have a makeshift area that was created by the previuos owners that was outside the basement foundation, but under the upper level structure. Although we appreciated that, it was dirty, hard to access, and didn't hold much. After really trying to figure out the best alternative where we would be able to get the most "bang for our buck" we decided to dig out a small portion of this storage area, put in a real door, put in some shelves, add some lights (the previous light was turned on by a ping pong ball that was tied to a string), and put concrete down so you wouldn't get so dirty climbing into the storage area. The catch was that unless we wanted to shore up the structure, dig up the front yard, and make the project exponentially more expensive, it had to all be dug out by hand. That is a big deal with clay like soil. It isn't the prettiest room in the house, but I am giddy with excitement to have a real place to put our food storage, decorations, freezer, etc. It may just be my new favorite room in the house. (Although Ted is quite certain I will move on to a new project any day now. :)

Before: This is the door you used to have to climb through to get to the storage area.

AFTER: The new door:

BEFORE: The view as you first walked into the storage area - note the hole just inviting rodents, skunks, or other annoying critters into our warm home. And in case that picture doesn't do the hole justice, the five gallon buckets of dirt were passed through that hole - no enlarging necessary.

AFTER: Here is the view now. The hole has been sealed up, there is a solid concrete wall and there is a nice concrete floor.

BEFORE: The room is L-shaped, and this is what you saw after all the digging had been done to excavate just a little more room -

AFTER:

A few interesting facts about this project:

Over 1700 buckets (5 gallon size) of dirt were removed.
We were the most popular house in the neighborhood when the cement truck was here - little boys from all over came to watch (see picture below). You can't even see our house in the picture, but that truck was hoisting the cement tube over the side of the house to go around back and into the basement hole.

28 trailer loads of dirt were hauled away.
No skunk nests were found. :)
Our kids put their handprints in the cement, and Tessa wouldn't cooperate. I was so mad. I put her in timeout and she still wouldn't cooperate. The cement was drying fast and when I said I was going to just leave her in her room all day she said, "And ghosts might come and get me if I don't make my handprint?" I was so mad that I answered, "Yes."
We have four kids' handprints in the right place in the basement. :)

Jack got Sprayed by a Skunk

One morning at about 6:10 Emma came running up to me and said in her loudest whisper (since the other kids were still asleep) "JACK GOT SPRAYED BY A SKUNK!" So I thought "@!#&*>?" to myself and ran to see where he was. Our fence along the bluff area is (due to subdivision requirement) a split rail fence. Since we need to keep Jack in the yard we put up chicken wire, so I wasn't sure A: How the skunk got in, and B: If the skunk got out. Emma said she saw the skunk run under the grill. Out of concern for Jack getting sprayed again and again, I hurried and brought Jack in the house. MENTAL NOTE: IF YOUR DOG GETS SPRAYED BY A SKUNK, DO NOT BRING HIM IN THE HOUSE!

Because of my stupid action, our house stunk - and it stunk really badly. I hurried and looked up online what to do, and went to the store to get the appropriate ingredients to bathe Jack. The people in the grocery store stayed plenty clear of me so I was in and out of there.

I walked in the house and about gagged. I had read that if you put baking soda on your carpets, your couches, your floors, everywhere, and then clean it up that it absorbs the scent. So, I sprinkled baking soda EVERYWHERE. In the meantime, the kids were staying clear of me. No asking for breakfast from mom that day. I bathed Jack, and went about trying to get rid of the scent. Ted was really helpful - he got showered and left for work without coming near the rest of us. :)

I then got busy. I was burning cinnamon on the stove to aid in scent removal. I scrubbed floors, washed Jack, cleaned couches, washed Jack, did laundry, and washed Jack. In the meantime Ted called and informed me that I may need to leave the house and actually go around humans to buy him some new clothes because when he walked into the office all of the staff said, "What is that smell!!!" Luckily, with some serious Febreze action he was okay. I am sure his first patient (that he knew well) was a little shocked when Ted leaned over and asked if she could smell anything funny. But I digress.....

Over the next few days the smell began to dissipate, and the skunk was nowhere to be seen. Until one day when I came home from Costco and began unloading my car in the garage. It had been a huge Costco run so I had all the doors and back door open on the Suburban. There was a faint smell of skunk, so I began looking around. I began investigating everywhere I thought that stupid varmint could be hiding (from a distance anyways). Then I walked past the old empty garbage can in the garage and something caught my eye. Something black and white and I could hear a spraying sound. That stupid stupid skunk was caught in our old garbage can, and it was spraying away. I started screaming and yelled for Tessa to get in the house, and I ran and got the men working on our storage room - surely they would know what to do, right? Patrick saved the day and put a piece of particle board over the can and a cinder block on top to make sure he couldn't escape, and then I went to call Animal Control. They directed me to Animal Rescue.

When I finally got on the phone with Animal Rescue they were mad at me accusing me of catching the skunk. When I assured them that I hadn't set some trap, our conversation went like this:

THEM: "I'll tell you how to get him out of the garbage can. Just stand behind it and as gently as possible tip it over and then stand still so he can run off."

ME: "But then he is still in my yard."

THEM: "Well, he was there first. If you move him away from your yard he might die. Can you hold please, someone is on my other line."

ME: Thinking: Are you kidding me?

THEM: "Sorry about that. That was someone on the other line that has an injured squirrel."

ME: Thinking: We are clearly not on the same page about this.

THEM: "Now that he has been caught I'm sure he will stay clear of your garage."

ME: Uh-huh. Thanks.

When I called Ted and told him about the conversation he told me to call them back and tell them they can rescue an animal or pick up a carcass, either way the skunk was leaving our yard. Instead I went to Patrick who was working on the basement and told him about the conversation. He laughed out loud. Then he did me the biggest favor ever, and he put that disgusting smelly garbage can in his truck and got ready to drive away. When I asked him if he was worried about getting sprayed he said, "not how I'm letting him go." He then told me later that he stopped his truck, pulled the garbage can to the edge of the truck bed, and then he got back in and hit the gas like nobody's business. The can toppled over and the skunk made it out. He told me he could go back in a day or so to pick up the garbage can.

I don't want it back.

As an added bonus, the entire inside of my suburban stunk for two weeks since I had left all the doors open after my Costco trip.

And don't worry, I'm sure the skunk made lots of new friends in his new home. Maybe he is busy nursing a squirrel back to health as we speak.

Halloween!

We had a pink flamingo, a ghostly ghoul, Napolean Dynamite, and a witch who walked a cowboy, and a not so happy rocker to take the kids trick-or-treating. The reason this Halloween was so AWESOME!! -- every single costume was recycled. I did not buy, stress, or worry about creating costumes this year - it was by far the most relaxing year ever. WOOHOO!

Lincoln Turned 11!!! Woohoo!!!

Lincoln turned 11 and celebrated with Chicken Squares (don't ask me why my kids go for the typical "Tuesday" night meal instead of the good stuff for birthday meals!), and a Scotcheroo cake. (He also requested donuts for his classroom treat - no typical requests here! ) Lincoln has grown up so much this past year and never ceases to amaze me. He is by far one of the most empathetic and compassionate kids I know - he wears his heart on his sleeve, and I don't know if he will curse me or thank me for that someday. If you see his teacher she is always very quick to say how kind Lincoln is - if only we could get that kindness to extend toward his little brother we would be set! Love you, Linc!

Lincoln Received his Arrow of Light.

Some people count the passing of cub scouts by how many badges they have earned, how many campouts, etc. Not us. Ted and I count down by how many more pinewood derby cars we need to create. But Linc is done. No more cub scouts for Lincoln. He is totally excited - especially for Klondike Derby which is a winter camp that is totally freezing and Ted has to go with him. Man, I love being the mom! :)

But don't worry - Lincoln left cub scouts in December, and Sammy joins in January - just in time for Pinewood Derby! :)

Welcome to Crazy Town

2010-10-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

It is 8:10 a.m. We're already behind. Here is the schedule for the day:

9:00 Sam's soccer game
10:30 Lincoln's soccer game
11:00 Sam's soccer game
1:00 Sam's basketball game
4:00 Ted's Stake Leadership Meeting
4:30 Lincoln's basketball game

Although we thought that Emma would have a game today, she actually doesn't - she already had three this week. Ted and I keep telling ourselves to enjoy the ride. I say that in my mind about 3 million times a day so as to avoid running away screaming. The thing is, one day of pure chaos isn't so bad. It is just that over the past week, since Monday, we had to add four practices, five games, two class parties, one team party, and one birthday party to the schedule.

Don't get me wrong, this ride is tons of fun. I love watching the kids play hard. I love how excited they get about playing. And I admit, I even love to watch Emma getting feisty on the field because it reminds me of her dad (although she came dangerously close to getting a yellow card and I'm okay with THAT never happening). I love how Sam's team gets so into the game, but win or lose they come off the field laughing. I love watching Lincoln's team work together and strategically play a game that seemed to be pure "jungle ball" not too many years ago.

This time goes way too quickly. I know that, so I'm going to do everything I can to enjoy the ride. I also hope that today's ride doesn't leave us in crazy town. Either way we better get going. We have a soccer game waiting.

Bogus Basin

2010-10-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

The Bogus Basin Hill Climb was this last month. Ted did great. He had one goal - finish it in less than 1:05. Last year's time? 1:07. Every year through the winter he spends countless hours on the bike trainer in the garage. Every spring he has his light gear out and he is training on hills being careful to avoid running into deer or raccoons. Long rides on weekends. Getting up at 5:45 every day. He was ready.

He did great and finished in 1:05:02. Now on to bigger and better things, right? Triathlons? Half ironman? Or maybe just Bogus Basin Hill Climb in 1:03 next year. :) Way to go, babe!

Tessa's Birthday - According to Her

2010-10-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

We had a birthday celebration the other day. I caved because I could not take it anymore. Tessa has been asking me non-stop (and by non-stop I mean approximately every 32 seconds) when her birthday was going to be here. She would ask me if it was closer now. She would ask me how many minutes until her birthday. It was crazy. It went on like this for approximately four days. When I tried to explain that her birthday was not until AFTER Christmas she was hysterical. She then started stomping around and screaming, "but Christmas is taking TOO LONG!!!"

I actually tuned it out. I can get pretty frustrated, but I can tune out a certain level of craziness around here. However, Emma couldn't take it anymore.

We came back from our date and Emma had made a yellow cake for her, dyed it pink, and also frosted it with pink frosting. Tessa was thrilled. I kept telling her that she couldn't have another birthday until February. No more asking, no more screaming, no more tantrums (yeah, right). She did agree, though.

She also thinks she is turning five. Whatever - it's all pretend, right?

Ted had consented to pretending the cake was a birthday cake, but when she insisted that we sing to her he just looked at me and said, "we're not really doing this are we?" Clearly he isn't home when she is stomping around and complaining every 32 seconds about how her birthday can't get here fast enough. By the way, she hasn't asked about her birthday since.

Tessa's First Day of Preschool!

2010-09-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

She came in at 7:00 this morning grinning from ear to ear telling us it was time to leave for school! There were some kids crying. There were some moms crying too. However, we were all smiles. :)

I went to the gym and didn't check someone into child care - it was so nice!

Ted had a little harder time - can you see him reaching back for her hand? Her reply was, "no, I'm big. I don't need to hold hands." It was funny and heartbreaking all at the same time.

As I was driving I reminded myself to "memorize" this moment, because they go by so quickly - our baby is growing up!

Wagner Family Reunion at Brianhead

2010-09-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

This year we had the Wagner family reunion at the Adams' cabin in Brianhead, Utah. It was beautiful. It was so fun to see everyone, and watch the cousins interact together. We played games, ate smores the size of your head, rode four-wheelers, did crafts, ate great food, talked, read, and played some more. It was fabulous!

Here are all the cousins in the posed picture.

Here they are showing more of their personalities as we tried to get another picture!

At the top of the mountain - it was cold, so we got out long enough to take a picture and then rushed back to the car - yes, we are wimps.

Crafts in the afternoon.

Playing the cotton ball game (and praying that nobody fell as they ran full speed without watching where they were going).

The Oreo game (Note howTessa skipped the game part and went straight to the

cookie eating part!)

Holding the pinata for all the kids - probably the safest place around given how some of the kids (and grandparents) were wildly swinging the bat around. :)

Don't worry - she DID manage to get that entire thing in her mouth (and on her face, and on her shirt, and on her pants,....)

Sam spent more time on these four-wheelers than anywhere else. He LOVED them, and he would wander from person to person until someone would agree to go out with him....

until he knew we were making smores.

The front entry way - a happy sign of all of us being together.

Thanks for a wonderful reunion! It was FANTASTIC!!

Sweet Sammy & Surgery

2010-09-01T15:42:00.001-07:00

So, it's over. And we couldn't be more thrilled. Sam doesn't gasp for air anymore. As a matter of fact, he thinks Lincoln is too noisy when he sleeps because he is breathing so loud! When I ask him a question, Sam doesn't turn his head and put his ear towards me and ask me to repeat it. He actually hears me the first time, and we are thrilled. We were so concerned about the breathing thing - and then the hearing frustration was aggravating to us, and especially to him. There were times where it seemed almost normal, but then it would deteriorate again and it would take weeks or months for it to resolve.

The doctor discovered (as I mentioned before in an earlier post) that his adenoids were likely large enough that they were preventing proper drainage from his ears resulting in fluid buildup, ear infections, and scarring which all affected his hearing. It wasn't something that traditional tubes would have fixed (or at least they don't think so), and it wasn't something that hearing aides would have helped.

Hopefully we won't have that problem any more. There still may be some residual hearing loss, but it is minimal, and mainly on one side. He falls within normal limits on his hearing tests -barely within limits on one side - but within normal limits, and we are pleased as punch about this.

His tonsils were so large that he wasn't getting enough air, but then he would go and run in a soccer game, so we didn't know what to make of this. The overnight sleep study showed that his breathing did drop dramatically during the night, so the tonsils needed to come out. Since then his breathing is fine. The doctor said that on a scale of one to five (five meaning that the tonsils completely occlude the airway) his were a size four. I am SO GLAD they are gone!!!

Trying to get Sam to wake up from the anesthesia.

They brought out the tonsils to show us how large they were - that is Ted's hand so that you have some idea of the scale of how large they were.

Sam crashing after surgery on our bed - and Jack keeping him company.

The thing is, Sam was great through the entire process. He didn't complain. He didn't whine. He was just sweet.

A few weeks later I found this note that he had made during that time, and he asked me to deliver it for him. I didn't think much of it and then I thought I needed to open this and see what it was. My heart just melted when I saw what it said.

It says: From: Sam To: The Army Navy

Inside: Check the other side.

On the back of the card he wrote: To the army of United States of America. Thank you for fighting for freedom. (If you have ever heard Sam pray, you know this is a big deal to him.)

When you open the card up he had included $6 of his own money that he worked for, and he wrote: This money is for food.

Sam's little body may have had trouble breathing, and a hard time hearing. But one thing is clear: His heart is as big and strong as ever.

Brace Face!

2010-09-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

The day before school Emma went from this:

To this.

She was sore, but happy. Her philosophy was the sooner they are on, the sooner they are off!

Our trip to almost see U2

2010-09-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

It is an item on Ted's "bucket list, " so...
Tickets purchased more than six months in advance - check.
Hotel reservations made - check.
Flights booked - check.
Arrangements for kids to be watched while we are gone - check.
Activities planned - check.
Weeks of anticipation and growing excitement (not only for the concert, but also to get away with some good friends and enjoy Seattle!) - check!

Bono falling and needing back surgery and canceling the entire North America tour - What!!!!

Oh well. We decided to go anyway, and it was SO FUN! We had a great time. We rode the ferry, went to the pier, went to a Mariners game, ate at some awesome restaurants, and did some shopping. And the best part? - knowing that we will be going next summer again - this time to see U2!

Mariners game - you can also see that they are halfway through the process of closing the overhead canopy of the field due to rain - pretty amazing.

(Obviously the guys weren't into shopping as much as Gayla and I were, but they made some use of the couches at Restoration Hardware. )

Wrappin' Up Summer

2010-09-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

What else did we do all summer? We had our trip to Brianhead. We went to Island Park. We went swimming a lot. We took bike rides. We went to the Natatorium. The boys went camping. However, one of the kids' favorite activies during the summer is going to Snowbird to ride the slide, do the zip line, do rock climbing, and do these trampoline bounce things - I have no idea what they are really called.

They also like to float the Boise River.

I hate this. Every year I dread it like the plague.

I haven't had the best luck floating rivers, and it scares me to death that my kids want to do this - which is crazy, I know. Because, let's face it, the Boise River isn't exactly known as a "whitewater" river. However, I still hate it. Seriously. But they love it so I knew I had to let the kids go. I seriously talked to Ted for about 35 minutes about how nervous I get about this. (Keep in mind, they go every year, but I still freak out.)

Here they are coming to the pull-out point. I see this picture and laugh thinking about how this river represents the "jaws of death" in my mind, but it looks pretty peaceful here. Oh well - they had fun, and I didn't have to go, so it worked out just fine. Until next year when we have this discussion all over again.

Thanks, Troy, for going with Ted (and making it so I didn't have to go!!).

Back to school --WOOHOO!!!!

2010-09-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe she is in eighth grade. But she is ready. No more is she the lowly seventh grader wandering the halls. Nope - she is familiar with the school, ready to tackle her classes, and eager to wear makeup. (I still haven't conceded to anything more than mascara, but that doesn't stop her from asking.) Man, they grow up fast.

Lincoln and Sam are thrilled about school starting later, it means there is less of a rush this year to get out to the door to the bus. Instead of being to the bus stop by 7:53, they get to stay home until 8:20. In kid world that is awesome -more time to sleep in and dawdle. In mom world that means that there should be no reason that their rooms aren't cleaned and chores done before school. However, it seems that mom world only exists in my mind.

Sam showing me that he is in second grade - no he isn't giving me the "peace" sign.

Lincoln is going into fifth grade. He is excited but nervous, mostly because Emma has been telling him how much homework he will have this year.

Tessa here meeting with her preschool teacher, Mrs. Patricia. Tessa is so excited - her school starts one week after the other kids go back to school.

What does a finger tell you?

2010-06-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

It is amazing what a finger can tell you. There is the thumbs- up, the thumbs-down. You can point, scold, type, speak, and yes, you can even curse with just one finger (or at least I've been told this -:) . It is amazing. However, a few weeks ago Sam's finger told us some new and crazy things. They told us he wasn't getting as much oxygen as he is supposed to be getting. Let me back up and start from the beginning.

Sam has had on again, off again struggles with hearing for as long as I can remember. He will get ear infections on a regular basis, but tubes didn't seem to be the answer. It began as frustrating but quickly turned a corner and became heartbreaking as Sam would scream in frustration, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Keep in mind that he wasn't being sassy when he said this, he was genuinely frustrated when he would turn his head to hear, we would say something, and he realized he just couldn't figure out what was being said. We ran through this cycle many times a year - and they lasted for quite some time. However, every hearing test came back within normal limits - barely, but within normal limits enough that hearing aides weren't the answer either.

We felt like we were chasing our tails and getting nowhere.

As an added bonus, earlier this year Sam began having trouble catching his breath. He would come into our room in the middle of the night and tell us he couldn't get enough air. He would be taking deep breaths to try and catch his breath. We saw the doctor with such frequency that I was certain they were going to designate a parking stall just for us. The entire staff knows us by name, sight, and I'm just sure we are going to be invited to the Christmas party. :)

Anyhoo....we saw the doctor, but still had no answers. Was it asthma? No. Was it allergies? Didn't seem to be. Was he allergic to his bedding? Nope. Were his lungs working? Yep. Were we frustrated? Yes. I even began to wonder if Sam was just doing the weird breathing thing out of habit. (By the way, this happened during the day, too. He would breathe normally about three or four times and then compensate with a huge intake of breath. He got so adept at this that he speaks through it, prays through it, and we generally ignore it now). I began to feel like I was making a mountain out of a mole hill, but then other parents were noticing too. The school nurse was noticing it. It felt oddly reassuring to know that it wasn't just good old mom and dad worrying about him.

When we finally saw the ENT which took FOREVER because they are booked out so far, I was certain that I knew what we would find - nothing. First was the hearing test - and of course it came back within normal limits - low normal, but normal. Then came the doctor's evaluation. Yep, lungs are clear - no problems getting air in and out of the lungs. But then he saw his tonsils and was amazed at how large they are. Sam has never had strep, never had a problem with sore throats, and aside from hearing issues is a very healthy kid. However, the doctor decided to do an oxygen saturation test to see how he was breathing at night.

Sam was hooked up with one finger to a little monitor that would record his oxygen levels through the night. For it to be considered a significant problem his oxygen saturation level would need to drop 4% or more. As it turns out his oxygen saturation level began at 99% which is excellent. During the night it dropped to 89%. The doctor assured me that it didn't do this with enough frequency to alarm me - he was still getting oxygen, but he did merit further intervention. In addition, if his adenoids are at all comparable in size to his tonsils then they need to be removed as well. As it turns out, his adenoids being so large (if, in fact they are - we can't see them so we don't know for sure, but it is likely) is likely impacting his hearing. The ENT informed us that if they are proportionate in size to his tonsils then they are likely compressing his eustachian tubes affecting his hearing and also affecting the draining of his ears which then in turn leads to ear infections which leads to increased hearing difficulty, etc., etc.

So what do we do? A tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. Of course I am nervous about having any of my children have surgery of any sort, but this is by all accounts a VERY simple surgery. In fact, it is SO simple and routine that we find ourselves wondering why we didn't come to this result faster. And we have every reason to hope that this will solve his breathing problems, and we are crossing our fingers that his hearing issues are resolved as well. I cannot tell you how exciting this is - for everyone, although Sam's excitement stems less from the fact that we have a probable solution to the problem. Rather, his excitement is due to the fact that he gets lots of ice cream and smoothies after his surgery - and I don't blame him.
So, that's what Sam's finger told us. It told us why he was struggling to breathe, particularly at night, and it inadvertenly may have lead us to the solution to his hearing issues. It's amazing what one finger can tell you - and man am I grateful.

Lyle Pearson 200

2010-06-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

Ted and four friends trained like crazy for the Lyle Pearson 200 - a race from Boise to Sun Valley. We all planned with happy anticipation a short vacation in Sun Valley after the race! Did I mention it has been raining like crazy here? Well, it has. As a result the race started out as normal, but when they had gotten about 2/3 of the way to Sun Valley they were detoured back to Boise. As it turns out Mother Nature isn't through working her wonders around here. A mud slide had covered the highway and nothing was getting through - not that way anyway.

Are they disappointed? A little. Did they have fun? Tons. Did they do great? Fantastic! Will they do it again next year? You bet. Will we start praying for dry weather a little sooner? No question.

Now, as much as I would like to think that I am not a paranoid person, I do think things happen in threes. As a result I have already asked that Ted take a weed whacker to the shrubs on the bluff behind our house, at least directly behind our fence line. As a matter of fact we have been encouraged to do this. After all, fire season is just around the corner, and with all of the rain lately (did I mention I'm sick of rain??), Mother Nature has made some soon-to-be-nice-kindling on the bluff behind us. I'm sure everything will be fine, but then again I didn't think Boise had tornadoes, so we're not taking any chances. :)

Summer comes in with a bang - literally!

2010-06-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

School got out at about 1:15 on Friday - which means summer has begun. And it began with a bang! It has been raining like crazy for the last several weeks (we are a little sick of the rain, can you tell??) Then the winds picked up to where it was blowing REALLY hard. However, it wasn't until I drove out of my circle that I realized what had been going on in our subdivision.

At about 3:30 a funnel cloud formed and came through our subdivision ripping trees from the ground, tearing shingles from rooftops, ripping pergolas away from houses, crushing fences, and contorting trampolines. However, despite the trees being destroyed, there was relatively minimal damage, and luckily nobody was hurt. This is in no way a small miracle because early release is not a usual thing, and the usual thing is for kids to be dropped off of the bus at about 3:30 right where this happened.

I guess this summer looks to be anything but boring, eh???

Tessa and Sam are enjoying the new climbing apparatus.

Surprise Way - you can see it has been twisted right off.

A view of Emma's school.

Yeah - that's why the flights were delayed...

Another view from Emma's school.

Happy Summer!

Those gophers never saw it coming!!

2010-04-15T08:40:00.000-07:00

Redwood...check.

Corner posts....check.

New dirt and compost....check.

Metal screen......check.

Don't those garden boxes look great. Ted and Lincoln did a great job. And those gophers are in for a challenge.

We have flooded, trapped, poisoned, and even blown up gophers trying to get them out of our yard. In retalliation they have mangled our grass, filled sprinkler boxes with dirt, and eaten new bush roots in our garden area. Well, this year we are trying a new tactic. We are trying higher garden boxes complete with screen lined bottoms to hopefully deter those little varmints from entering our garden domain.

I hate gophers, and I love my new garden boxes. If they don't stay out of our yard then we will have to let Jack loose on them.......ooooooh! Scary!!! :)

A Wagner fable...

2010-04-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

This is the house where Jack lives.

This is the pen, where Jack can go potty, outside the back door of the house where Jack lives.

This is the bell, hanging by the back door, that leads to the pen, where Jack can go potty, outside the back door of the house where Jack lives.

This is the kennel, where Jack hides from the kids, who want to play rough, not far from the back door of the house where Jack lives.

These are the toys, that Jack SHOULD play with when the kids want to play, near the back door of the house where Jack lives.

These are the shoes, that Jack WANTS to play with, that have been moved away from the back door of the house where Jack lives.

This is the certificate that says Jack was trained, so that he COULD play with the kids without being kenneled in the kennel near the back door of the house where Jack lives.

This is Jack - for much of the day. Resting up for the time that he gets to play with the kids outside the back door of the house where Jack lives.

The End.

And by the way:

1. The shoe toll taken by Jack and destroyed currently is two pair of flip flops, part of one croc, one pair of 3-year-old's Sunday shoes, and one 13-year-old's pair of sandals.

2. Yes, he rings a bell to go potty.

3. Yes, we are just that uptight that we make him go in a penned area because the thought of watching where you are walking at all times makes me nuts.

4. I yell, "Leave it!" about three hundred times a day.

5. I yell, "Leave him alone!" about one hundred times a day (to Tessa mostly).

6. Jack thinks he is as big as the german sheperd next door.

7. Jack loves Ted to play with him in the morning.

8. First thing in the morning Jack will go outside to go potty and then come inside to search the house for me - which makes Ted crazy if it happens to be a rare occasion where we got to sleep in, because Jack will be jumping up in our bed to wake me up.

9. When we went on vacation it surprised me that I did miss him.

10. Our kids love Jack, and he is a good dog.

11. I know that impatience is learned: While I was wiping down a counter Jack went to the back door and rang his bell to go out. I said, "Just a second, boy." 1.5 seconds later he rang it again. I only had time to look up before he rang it yet again . I guess he is smarter than I thought - he's learned a few tricks from Tessa!

There is a teenager in the house!!

2010-04-14T07:37:00.000-07:00

DANGER! DANGER! There is a teenager in the vicinity. Please keep your comments to yourself, do not enter the domain or habitat of said teenager, and be on the lookout for eyes rolling, attitude flaunting, and drama creating behavior.

I think that should be a sign in our house.

Okay, not really. Okay, most of it not really.

Emma actually is pretty mild mannered. In fact, she is one sharp cookie. Our little 13-year-old is in fact, pretty dang sweet. A few updated facts about Emma?

She is the most considerate kid I know - leaving notes for her siblings or parents to tell them they are loved and appreciated.

She is very bright - at present a straight "A" student - and often we don't find out about how well she is doing until other parents tell us (i.e., "I heard Emma has the top score in her math class - that's great!" My response: "Huh???")

She has a great voice and loves to sing.

She loves to play the piano for us and play hymns on Sunday mornings. It really helps to set the entire tone for the morning.

She loves playing soccer - she loves practices, she loves the games, and she is very competitive in soccer - just like her dad!

She is not afraid to try anything and everything. She blows me away at how she is willing to try anything new!

She is in her second year of Beehives and is almost done with her Personal Progress.

She LOVES Jack. Good thing, too. Her love of Jack has saved him on many occasions.

She takes the longest showers - seriously. We can get the remaining five of us showered in other bathrooms before she is out of hers.

She is VERY responsible. I NEVER have to ask her about homework, soccer stuff, misc. activities, etc. The only thing I have to get on her case about is cleaning her room - and I must say that if that is the worst thing I have to nag her about, then I am one lucky mom!

Now don't get me wrong, she can roll her eyes like nobody's business, but the truth of the matter is, she is one sweet girl. I actually LOVE hanging out with her. I wasn't sure how I would feel about my first baby growing up, but she is so amazing and we are enjoying her so much that we seem to be doing okay with this transition. :) I make no guarantees as to how I will respond as she as she continues to grow up way too quickly, but for now we will just enjoy this amazing teenager of ours!

Happy birthday, teenager!

Spring Break 2010

2010-04-14T07:20:00.000-07:00

The cousins in Toon Town

It has been gray here. Very gray. Cold and gray. Depressing, cold, and gray. That is why I could barely control my excitement when we decided to go to Disneyland for spring break. I was excited. The kids couldn't control their excitement. Ted was supportive. (It isn't that he doesn't like Disneyland, it is just that when he thinks of a vacation he thinks of a place that is quiet, serene, and as sparsely populated as possible. That is to say, he thinks of an environment that is essentially the opposite of Disneyland. That being said, he was a GREAT sport and even, I daresay, excited about taking the kids to Disneyland, and jealous that we went out ahead of him.)

We met my two sisters and my parents. The kids were in heaven. My family is so dang fun to be around. Tessa loved it. She was just tall enough to go on most of the rides (with the help of a specific pare of sandals). She even went on Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and the Matterhorn - and the Matterhorn and Splash Mountain were her favorites. We did the Fantasy Land rides - but every time Tessa got off she would say, "Now are we doing the mad bear ride? Let's go do that." (Translation: Now are we doing the Matterhorn with the angry ice monster?) Sam loved the jedi training and made himself a double light saber - (yes, we have one already here that he got for Christmas, but he MADE this one!) Lincoln and Emma both loved going off with the older cousins and riding the big roller coasters - especially since Ted and I are a bit more squeamish these days.

Tessa in Tarzan's Treehouse.

My sisters and the kids on Splash Mountain. This is where Lara insisted that she had her arms up the whole time - she is in the pink shirt. I'll let the photo do the talking. :)

Channelling their inner princesses! Tessa already had the dress on which didin't hurt.

Everyone got along well despite the different opinions as to which University to support!

Sam at Jedi Training. I think he about died when he saw Darth Vader come out - he was in HEAVEN!!!

Outside Tower of Terror - Yep, Tessa rode it bravely.

Taking a break after California Screamin' (no, Tessa didn't ride it - she/mom opted for the carousel next door.)

When we got home we hurriedly got excited for Easter and decorated Easter eggs. (You know the kids are all exhausted when Tessa decides to just sit and watch everyone color eggs.)

The next morning they all had enough energy to run around and search for eggs and their Easter baskets. (We only had to gently encourage Emma to wake up in the morning.) What a great ending to a great week!

The only thing we missed here was cold, rainy, snowy, gray weather. Man I love spring break!!!

Pinewood Derby 2010

2010-04-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

Man, Lincoln never disappoints us. This year they were following the actual weight rules, so we were ready to fashion a serious sports car for competition. Lincoln had a different idea, though.

This year he wanted to construct a brick. He wanted it to look like a brick, say "Brick Corp." on it, and it was going to be cool. He loved it. The other kids loved it. And surprisingly, it actually won several races.

When Ted heard that he wasn't needed for hours of sanding, weighing, gluing, and whatever you do with a typical pinewood derby car he knew he had struck gold. He simply grabbed Lincoln in a bear hug saying, "I love you, Lincoln!!"

Lest you fear that Ted is being deprived of the typical pinewood derby experience, put your mind at ease. Sammy will have nothing to do with these "out of the box" concepts. His will be a race car through and through upon which you can spend hours and hours of work. :)

Don't try this at home.....

2010-04-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

Don't worry. She isn't really about to fall out of the car. This is her showing me who is boss...and it isn't me.

I think I broke the ultimate code of motherhood (according to Tessa) and didn't provide her a drink within the allotted .02 seconds after said request, so she is mad. Really mad. Mad enough to show me that she is going to throw a huge tantrum. Mad enough to know that I was worried about her hurting herself and so she kept pushing herself further out of the car (and yes, I did take her out of the car and shut the door, but she got back in the car just to demonstrate how mad she was). The more I worried about her falling out and hurting herself, the more she responded by pushing herself further out of the car, so I went and got the camera instead.

The "terrible twos" have nothing on the "tantrum threes."

Now don't get me wrong - most of the time she is a happy and sweet girl. However, there are moments where a terrible monster takes over her body and leaves us searching for the phone number of an exorcist.

I guess I have two options: Work on my reflexes so I can more adeptly respond to her majesty's wishes, or learn to love photos of tantrums.

What can I say...I love tantrum photos.

Sammy is SEVEN!!

2010-02-04T19:48:00.001-08:00

Sweet Sammy. Sammy is seriously the sweetest, most supportive, sincere, smiley kid ever. (Mrs. Nelson would be so proud with my use of alliteration!) Seriously though - he wakes up happy and stays that way most of the day. Don't get me wrong, when he gets upset he usually lets us know by saying "You're the worst mom in the world." But, he quickly gets over it.

His birthday landed on a Saturday this year, so we really debated just going out to dinner for his birthday dinner. However, he really had his mind set on what he wanted for dinner: Shepherd's Pie. No, I'm not kidding. Shepherd's pie, Caesar salad, and fruit cocktail. We did try to talk him into steak or salmon - even pizza - but we had Shepherd's pie.

For his birthday he had only one request: Anything Star Wars. So he got Star Wars coloring items, a Star Wars ship, Star Wars figures, and a soccer ball.

This year Sam gets birthday party, but he decided to have an unbirthday party this summer so we can do some outside activities.

My favorite moment came when he saw his birthday cake. Nothing fancy, but his name was written on it and when he saw it he said, "Hey, Mom! My name is written just like Star Wars!!!" Not too bad for the worst mom in the world. :)

Happy Birthday sweet seven-year-old!!!

Tessa turns three!

2010-02-04T19:15:00.000-08:00

At our house we have birthdays every month beginning in November clear to March, and it has been making Tessa crazy that none of those birthdays were hers. So on the eve of her birthday was she ever ready. She had been talking about everything that she wanted: pretty much everything she saw on TV which ranged from Bendaroos to chia pets - SHE WANTED IT!

She had the birthday cake planned - princess, pink, and a million candles.

She had her outfit planned - her princess dress.

She had her day full of activities planned including swim lessons, and she was going to swim like a fish.

She had her dinner planned: candy and milk.

She was so excited! Her day was going to be perfect. She even had me practice singing "Happy Birthday to Tessa" so that I would be sure to get it right.

The big day finally came.

She didn't get to wear her princess dress (at least not yet). She had to settle on a pink sweatshirt instead.

Instead of going to Disneyland to meet the princesses she had to go to the gym with mom. She did get to go to swim lessons, but instead of swimming like a fish she squealed like a pig, and not a happy squeal. This was a "this person is trying to drown me!" sort of a scream. It wasn't pretty.

Sadly, she didn't get any Bendaroos or chia pets. Instead she got a doll bed, some doll clothes, a cute bag, and bubbles. She also got a toy cell phone and she did enjoy pointing out to Lincoln that she got a cell phone before him.

For dinner she had yet another disappointment - chicken tacos (hey - if nobody makes a specific request then I go to one of my fallback dinners!).

Despite the fact that the day didn't follow her plan she had a great time. We sang Happy Birthday at least 30 times.

( Sorry for the picture, Emma)

As for her cake: it may not have been princessy or pink, but it WAS covered with candy and she ate it with milk!

Happy birthday, Tessa!

2010 Snapshot

2010-02-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

So I saw a friend do this on her blog, and I thought it was a very clever way to capture the memory of what life is like right now (since this is the ONLY form of scrapbooking I do!!). Here is a brief snapshot of what life is like right now:

We are finally a diaper free family. I would say that I don't have to clean up messes anymore, but we still have a dog.
We are finally all skiing now. Tessa can go down by herself, but the fact that she doesn't left versus right makes it hard to tell her which way to turn. She does know "pizza" and "french fries" though!
Emma is amazingly diligent about getting all of her schoolwork done on her own. I never even ask about her homework because she just takes care of it herself. She is a great student with the grades to show it. (hopefully this will continue!!)
Lincoln is a great student but hates homework. His philosophy is to do it as quickly as is humanly possible. Lucky for us he loves to read, so when he is reluctant to do homework we can threaten to take away reading time and this motivates him to get it done.
Sam wakes up happy every day. He is dressed, room cleaned, and ready to leave for school before he even comes downstairs.
Lincoln will contemplate getting out of bed by the time Sam is eating breakfast.
Tessa loves to play with Jack and pretends he is Bolt and that she is Penny.
Tessa hates nursery at church.
Tessa loves the 11-year-old boys class at church (the one Ted teaches).
Emma loves cooking - especially Sunday mornings.
Lincoln decided his new motto was going to be "A day without reading is a day wasted," and now his entire class says it too.
Sam loves anything and everything Star Wars. You can never have too many light sabers or clone helmets.
Ted gets up between 5:30 and 5:45 every day to work out.
Although I do get up early, I wait until the last possible second to finally exit the warmth of my bed. I love sleep.
I love that we do "Best and Worst" at dinnertime each night. It's the only time I hear about some aspects of my kids' lives!
Every Sunday we take turns picking which family activity we will do together. The hands down favorite is playing Peas in a Pod in the dark.
I love a dance aerobics class at the gym - and although I love it, I realize I was never meant to be a dancer. :)
Emma throws all clothes in the wash to avoid having to put them away. The boys never think to wash anything.
Tessa has to eat off of pink dishes only.
Our kids will only eat Caesar salad.
I threaten to get rid of the dog at least once a day.
I have decided that the kids will now fold their own laundry. For years I have believed that if I folded their clothes they would keep them neatly in their drawers. This has NEVER been the case. From here on out they fold their own clothes. If they won't keep them folded in their drawers then why am I wasting my time?
I love vacuuming.
Tessa loves vacuuming with me.
I love photographing my kids. I could wallpaper my house with their photos. I love seeing their personalities shining through candid photos.
Emma has been swimming twice a week through the winter, and now all the kids are swimming until soccer starts.
Tessa just started swim lessons this week. Each session I find myself calculating how much it cost to pay for her to sit on the side of the pool with her feet dangling in the water. That is all she will do.

I find myself wondering how much will change by next year's snapshot. I hope that by next year at this time Jack will be a trained and happy part of our family. I also hope Tessa will have actually gotten in the pool for swim lessons. Hey, it never hurts to dream, right?

Merry Christmas 2009!

2009-12-26T09:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve we took all the kids skiing. This would be the first for Tessa. After one run she was doing okay until she saw me, then she needed hot chocolate and a rice krispie treat in the lodge. That was okay, though, because Santa came in and visited the kids in the lodge. She did manage to take two more runs, though. It is pretty fun having all of us up there together (if only we could make the getting ready part a little more enjoyable!)

We were all tired, so the kids had vowed not to come and wake us up on Christmas morning until 7:30. We heard them stirring at 5:00. Then we heard them telling Tessa to come get us. When all was said and done, we were up and ready to head downstairs by 7:15.

Here is a rundown by the numbers:

18 new batteries used

7 times playing games on the Wii

6 stockings stuffed with candy and goodies

5 BYU shirts

4 fights over not sharing

4 new ornaments

4 new Star Wars items

3 meltdowns from one tired 2-year-old

3 board games

3 times chasing Jack so he didn't choke down various items

2 presents opened by Tessa when they weren't hers

2 robots

2 new scooters

1 bike

1 unicycle

AND

0 naps

It was a terrific Christmas! We hope yours was equally amazing! Merry Christmas!

Holy cow, where did the time go?!

2009-12-26T08:34:00.000-08:00

Is it already the day after Christmas? I swear Halloween was last week. At least it feels that way. I know that everyone always says that, but seriously. Anyway, here is an update of what we have been up to for the last two months!!!

1. Ted's birthday. I surprised him by taking in several dozen cookies to his office where he happily informed me that they had brought in treats so now he didn't have to share any

cookies. :) (I know - life really isn't fair how he seems to look younger each year and eats candy and cookies like they are going out of style and has NO fat to show from it.....but I digress. That's another post. ) We had a great dinner at home, a rich chocolate cake filled with peanut butter cups, and he got the new bike rollers he had been wanting. Emma also saved up and got him a sweatshirt from "The Killers" concert. She had a friend who was going, and she knew that Ted really liked that group, so she arranged the whole thing by herself. She really is a sweet girl.

(Ted drinking prune juice that the kids gave him!)

2. Lincoln's birthday. Because of the different school schedules Emma leaves for school before the boys are even awake. She had made a simple sign for Lincoln to wish him a happy birthday without any reminding or prompting from us. He woke up, saw it, and he was thrilled that she had remembered. Man, those moments take my breath away. Linc got his favorite dinner of salmon, pasta, and peas, and of course a cake. This year he wanted a cake that looked like a bus riding on a road. I think he just comes up with the most abstract thing he can to see if we can pull it off. It was a visual stretch this year, but he knew we had tried. :) I can't believe he is 10 years old. Man he is a great kid!

3. We crossed to the dark side. If there was ever one thing we were sure of, it was that we were not getting a dog. For years the kids have been asking. Each time we had a great reason why we weren't even considering a dog. We always suspected that there might come a point in time where we did get a dog, but that time always seemed so far away. Our arguments were something like this:

We just can't have a dog when we have little babies in the house. (Repeat this argument three times to coincide with each child being born).

We can't have a dog until our youngest is at least a year old.

We can't have a dog until our youngest is at least two years old.

Why would we get a dog when I am already cleaning up food and poop from one of my children?

We can't consider getting a dog until our youngest is potty trained.

Man these time lines seemed so far away when we were saying them.

At any rate, we knew the time was getting close. So, we decided to start searching for a dog. We were determined to get a little dog, and we wanted a grown up dog so as to avoid the puppy stages. Well, we filled half of the requirements. It is small.

Santa delivered him to our doorstep early along with this note. It is a bitter sweet present. Ted and I love him, and think he is a pain. The kids just love him. It was priceless watching the kids see him for the first time. It was also funny because one of Sam's friends was over, saw that Santa had delivered a dog to our house, so he ran home yelling, "I'm gonna see if Santa took a dog to my house too!"

So far all is well. However, just this morning after many nights of not enough sleep and waking up to take the dog out and get Tessa some milk he told me, "You know, it was your idea to get a dog and it was also your idea to have kids." I'm not sure which one he was thinking of getting rid of! :)

Happy Halloween 2009!

2009-11-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

Well, it's over. And what do we have to show for it? A couple of empty makeup tubes, some chocolate covered costumes, sparkles all over the floor, and 16.7 POUNDS of candy. No, that is not a typo. The kids are thrilled. Ted is ecstatic. Me...not so happy about the sugar induced frenzy that I anticipate. I've already been coming up with clever ways to at least ration out the candy. So far they have been good about not overdoing it, but man it is so tempting to just throw it all out....but that is for another day.

Right now I'm still over the moon with how fun it is to have young kids on Halloween. It was a great night, and luckily the weather held out for the most part. The older kids had a great time in the haunted house the next block over. Tessa got pooped on our block and then had a blast opening the door for the trick-or-treaters. She thought it was great the way some kids would scream as the ghost by our front door would turn on and "oooooh" with the noise of their "trick-or-treat!" Totally fun.

This year I learned several things.

1. Taking an almost 3-year-old to school parties is a TON easier than taking an almost 2-year-old.

2. Tessa will wear any costume so long as you add the label "princess" to the end. For example, she was not "Supergirl." She was "Supergirl princess." She was sold.

3. Sam will be anything Star Wars. No fighting. No fuss. If it is Star Wars he is all over it.

4. Emma is growing up so quickly, but she is truly Ted's daughter. He has taught them well that you are never too old to love candy. (Hence the stash in his nightstand!)

5. Linc loves to put his own costume together.

This year was also fun for me because I dressed up as a witch for the school parties. (I know - totally predictable and creates an open invitation for Ted to make some obvious jokes!) Sam thought it was great because he thought I would be trick-or-treating for candy which meant even more candy at the Wagner household. He was quite disappointed when he learned the truth. Tessa was observant and when I accidentally pulled too hard on her hair as I was braiding it she turned to me and said, "You are NOT a GOOD witch!" And Lincoln just cracks me up. He was reading a book and when I asked him if he would be embarassed if I dressed up like a witch when I came to his classroom party he didn't miss a beat and said, "No.....so long as you say you are someone else's mom."

Holy cow, I love Halloween.

Got anything good to read???

2009-10-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we woke up and decided enough was enough. Tessa was telling us when she had to go, she just didn't want to go in the potty. We decided to really push it this time. We've been talking about it for a long time. We even put some books in there for her to read. She's doing great - no accidents so far. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

However, I guess I need to get some NEW books for her. When I came to check on her once, this is what I found.

One minute they are reading The "Belly Button Book" and the next, they are reading "Bicycling".

Man they grow up fast!

Pumpkin Patch 2009!

2009-10-20T10:49:00.000-07:00

Every year I see the signs at Walmart for the pumpkins. $3.98 for a giant pumpkin. The cheapskate in me cringes every time because I know it is a better deal to buy the pumpkins at Walmart. Yet every year I pass by the pile knowing that we will be headed somewhere else for pumpkins.

The pumpkin patch may not be what I look forward to most each year, but it always surprises me how much fun it is watching the kids pick out pumpkins. They have only one rule: They have to be able to carry the pumpkin by themselves. Gone are the years where the kids run around the patch while Ted and I try to juggle four gigantic pumpkins in our arms all while making sure the kids don't get lost, hurt, or run over by a tractor.

This year was great. The weather was perfect. Still a ton of pumpkins to choose from. Tessa understood what the mission was, and she loved it. For the kids the highlights are always the train ride, the swings, the hay bale maze, the home made donut holes, and of course the tractor ride to choose a pumpkin. Some of the highlights for Ted and I? Sam diligently carrying a pumpkin that might just weigh as much as him; Emma dutifully helping Tessa choose a pumpkin only to have Tessa decide she was bored and drop it on the ground (Emma then carried her own pumpkin and Tessa's - what a great sister!); and my personal favorite: Lincoln asking if he could ride the swings again. His exact words were, "Can we ride the swings again? I'm sure they are free!" Ted just started laughing. Yeah. Sure they are. Ahhh.....the innocence of children!

I love watching the kids help each other examine each and every pumpkin to ensure that they get the best "canvas" for their carving creation. I love watching them run around and laugh together. I love seeing them dutifully help each other as they navigate the field with their pumpkins to the tractor. I love watching them hide in the hay bale maze, find each other, and then do it all again. I love listening to them make plans for next year's trip as we are driving away from the pumpkin patch. Priceless.

Maybe those Walmart pumpkins aren't such a great deal after all.

Playing while the kids are away....

2009-09-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

Who needs a dog?

2009-09-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

You know, you can never have too many light sabers. Everyone loves them.

The kids love using our dog run for all things Star Wars. One more reason we shouldn't get a dog. If we actually owned a dog for the dog run, where would the Jedi prison be??

First Day of School

2009-09-10T08:15:00.000-07:00

Sam has a sweet way of keeping us grounded. He really is a "glass half full" sort of a kid. He is almost always happy and supportive. That is why it is so funny the way he will make sweet comments that are a bit disconcerting. Allow me to illustrate: When we travel on a plane he will say, "I love you. I hope your plane doesn't come crashing down out of the sky." or if Ted goes for a bike ride he will say, "Bye, dad. I hope you don't crash your bike." When Ted is in a bike race he will say, "I hope you don't lose and come in last."

It isn't that he is being sarcastic or mean - he genuinely is hoping for the best things, but it just doesn't quite come out right.

This summer was crazy. Lots going on. On any given day there were between 6 and 11 kids here at any one time. It was crazy. I tried to control it. I tried to limit it. I tried to have fun activities to keep everyone busy, but towards the end it was pure chaos. I admit it. I had lost it. I knew I had lost it when I came into the kitchen and found 6 new cups being used to get water - only to add to the 12 that were already out. I knew I had lost it when I started yelling, "paper cups!!", and the kids knew I had lost it too.

When the last day of summer was ending and I took the last of the kids home (9 including my 4 had been at the house that day) I asked Sam a rhetorical question. Mostly I was thinking out loud. I said, "Oh- am I just the meanest mom ever?" Sam politely sat in the back of the car and said, "Yes. You are. Sometimes you aren't, but most of the time you are." As I looked at him in amazement, he happily turned to me and said, "You're welcome for being honest!"

I knew without a doubt I was ready for school to start.

My heart just melts seeing them on the first day - mostly because I can see from previous year's pictures how much they have grown, and it is going by too quickly. Try as I might to keep them little, they still manage to grow up. I cannot believe that Emma is starting Junior High, but she is ready. Linc is loving fourth grade. This year he is in a third/fourth grade combo class. His favorite part? That he gets to eat lunch first before the other fourth grade classes. Sam loves being in first grade. He loves the full day. He loves being a "big" kid. His biggest challenge? Resisting the urge to fill his pockets to overflowing with all the rocks he finds on the playground.

Tessa is as mad as ever that she can't ride the bus, too. However, being the only kid to run errands with mom has its perks!

How am I doing? I miss them, but they were ready. Truth be told, I was ready. I love their school. I love that I'm not all alone yet and there is still one child to cuddle in the mornings. I love the quiet of the mornings after everyone has safely gotten off to school. I love grocery shopping with only one child. I love cleaning a room and knowing it might stand a chance of staying clean for a few hours. I love not hearing "I'm bored." At this point I don't even mind the homework. I love hearing the bus pull up and knowing that the chaos will begin again - after all that quiet I'm ready for it all to get crazy again. I love hearing the door open and the first thing out of anyone's mouth is a loud "Mom?" I love it. I love school.

You're welcome for being honest.

Can you hear the singing?

2009-07-08T08:39:00.001-07:00

Do you hear the Allelujah chorus coming from Boise? Do you hear the shouts of joy? Our kitchen is done. Can you believe it? Our three week minor remodel is done after only eight months? Seroiusly, we signed the original contract for this to be started on November 13th. It was supposed to be done three weeks later with a back up date of December 18th. Here we are in July, and he finished on Monday the 6th.

Now we have a cabinet door on every opening. Each drawer has a handle. We can sit at our table and no one has to climb in over chairs to get seated. Here are a few before and after pictures. I don't know why, but these pictures make the cabinets look more red than they actually are.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

We were fortunate that our kitchen has been functional for most of the time. We never had to wash dishes in the tub or anything like that, and the changes over the last six weeks have been small at best. We started out just changing the island and counters, but then it expanded into new cabinet doors and a new hood. Despite it being relatively small, it feels like an enormous weight has been lifted. No more wondering when it will be done. No more accommodating schedules to meet workers. No more exposed garbage cans, tupperware, and kids' cups. No more reaching in through the bottom of the cabinet to try and push out a drawer because there was no drawer handle on it.

Now as we look at other projects we have been contemplating we find ourselves thinking, "Nah. We can live with it!"

They're back!

2009-07-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

I took this photo of Ted and Sam because I thought it was so sweet how Sam gets so excited each week to help Ted mow the lawn. Tessa just follows them around too. However, I am publishing this picture because Ted's nemeses have returned. If you look between the lawnmower and Sam you can see the holes in the lawn. We have trapped, flooded, poisoned, and even blown up these holes hoping to eradicate the gophers. But to no avail. They are back. Their holes are destroying our lawn. I am ready to give up. The point goes to the gophers in my book. I don't ask Ted about it. I know it makes him crazy, and what is he going to do about it? What is the next step after blowing them up????

Moab

2009-07-08T08:27:00.000-07:00

It was awesome! I never cease to be amazed at how beautiful those red rocks, cliffs, hikes, and arches are. It is simply amazing. It was so fun hanging out with everyone from the Wagner side of the family. We simply loved this trip and had a wonderful time - can't wait until next year!

We also want to let everyone know how much we appreciate their help when our stupid car wouldn't start. From the kids being farmed out to other cars, the late night drive to Salina and back, and emotional support through a rocky ride home.....we genuninely appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts. We love you all. If only we could rewrite the story a bit and change mom and dad's car being hit. I am just so grateful no one was hurt. Love you all.

Ode to the Crib

2009-07-06T15:33:00.001-07:00

Man I love this crib. It has gone through four kids, seven moves, three states, and countless teeth have been cut on this thing. It has been painted, mended, and loved from the start. I love this crib. I've learned several things from this crib:

1. The crib is a great place for your baby to make sure they are nestled safe and sound and that they get a good night's sleep.

2. The crib is a great place for your baby to make sure they are contained to make sure mom and dad get a good night's sleep.

3. Kids can climb and jump higher than I think. As I am sure every parent has experienced, there comes a point where your child will fall, climb, stand, and jump to escape the crib. With each experience we lower the mattress and pray for a bit more time with our beloved crib. Which brings me to my final lesson.

4. Where there is a will there is a way.

I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but the side of the crib has been kicked off by Tessa. It is being held up by the ties on the bumper.

Goodbye crib. Hello extended bedtime routine. Hello mid-night awakenings for a drink of water. Hello new freedom for an active two-year-old.

Man I miss that crib.

Really??!!

2009-06-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

This past month has absolutely flown by. So many fun things have begun. Emma and Lincoln started swim team again. Sam is in swim lessons. We are all doing more bike riding. Ted is gearing up for his bike races. Tessa is in a big girl bed. Emma is in Young Women's. Sammy lost his first tooth.

Life is great, and we are loving it.

However, lest we get too comfortable there will always be a few things that make you stop and say, "REALLY??!!" And just to be clear, I am not saying this in a tone of, "that is great" or "I can't believe it." Rather, it is more a tone of "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????"

Example: In our kitchen there were four cabinets that were cut to the wrong size. Send them back, re-order them again, wait the two weeks to have them built, another week for the staining, glazing, blah, blah, blah....and then finally? Ah.....the day arrives. The cabinet installer gets here with beautiful doors. I could almost cry. The kitchen is so close to being done. The next words from his mouth should be "Ta-Da!!!" Instead, a cry of anguish. The doors that were too narrow are now the right width, but they are two inches too short. REALLY??!!!

Second example: We have mostly switched from ground beef to ground turkey. As I thawed some meat for dinner I ran outside to grab something. In that brief moment Tessa opened the microwave, reached in, and grabbed a handful of raw ground turkey. Being poultry I called poison control. No need to panic. Just spend the next 24 to 72 hours watching for signs of salmonella poisoning. REALLY??!!! (She is okay by the way).

Last example: At any given point in the day you will probably hear kids running around, doors being opened and closed as kids are in and out, music playing, and occasionally some TV. What you will also hear is a constant "THUD" as a narcissistic bird runs into our window. I'm not exaggerating when I say he does this about 200 times a day. When you look in from the window there is a mirror. I can only imagine that each time he makes an attempt at the window he is thinking "this time I'll make it to that good looking bird!" I have resorted to closing our dining room drapes in an effort to dissuade him. No such luck. the drapes make the window an even bigger mirror. The thuds continue incessantly. I can usually tune him out, but at 6:00 in the morning I begin dreaming of Red Ryder BB guns. Whether the bird is just dumb or narcissistic you find yourself thinking "REALLY??!!"

Here he is waiting for his next attempt...

And making another attempt. Stupid bird.

Life keeps us guessing, doesn't it?

By the way, I'm the new girl's camp director - REALLY??!!

Sad Goodbyes and Remembering

2009-05-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

This is somehow therapeutic for me. This blog serves as my family's history - and she is a part of that.

It has been almost four years since we met.

It has been almost nine months since she went back to work and begn a messy divorce.

It has been four and a half months since she called me in the middle of the night telling me her son Lincoln's age was on our doorstep so she could take her other son to the hospital since he was having a hard time breathing. No questions, no explanations, and that was the way it should be.

It has been since the end of March that she really started to feel like the world was caving in on her.

It has been 10 days since I hugged her as she wished me a happy birthday and handed me a package delivered to her house since I was gone.

It has been 7 days since I emailed her.

It has been 7 days since she emailed me back telling me her schedule and saying she would be in touch. Instead of her signature "Keep smiling" sign off, it was "Love you."

It has been 7 days since I dismissed concerns in my head.

It has been 7 days since she died.

It has been 6 days since a friend she was supposed to meet called police when she didn't show up.

It has been 6 days since I pulled into my driveway, saw the cars, and knew.

It has been 2 days since her funeral. And that felt wrong.

It has been 1 day since her boys played over here - and that felt right.

It has been 35 minutes since I last wept for her.

There are many more questions than answers. More "what if" scenarios playing through my mind than anything else. More people wanting answers and not finding them. More people wanting to blame someone - and not knowing who to blame. I am sure that somehow and someday everyone will find peace, because life moves forward, but not yet.

Cassandra was always out with the kids playing in the yard, hanging out with all of us as we watched the kids, making smores in her firepit, laughing, smiling - she had an infectious smile, and driving around in her big Suburban as her tiny body barely saw over the steering wheel. She was an amazing tennis player, always remembered birthdays - the whole family's, took the kids skiing, ice skating, and she would take the kids swimming even when I couldn't go with her. Whenever she saw Tessa she was reaching out to hold her and kiss her. When I went to the gym she would find me to say hello and chat for a bit - then she would go to the child care center to see Tessa again. All of the kids adored her. When we had struggles we would talk together and cry together. When we had successes she was the first to congratulate and celebrate. She made a mean lasagna - it was my favorite. Every Christmas Eve she brought over homemade cinnamon rolls for us to bake on Christmas morning.

And she has two terrific young boys who we took swimming yesterday - they were smiling, laughing, playing, and reminding me what is right.

Today was a beautiful day. Perfect weather. Perfect temperature. She would have loved it. She would have been out in her tennis skirt playing with the kids. The sun was setting behind the bluff, and it was beautiful. I couldn't resist taking a million pictures. Emma and Tessa sat and played with the grass.

Sam, Lincoln, and Ted jumped on the trampoline.

Tessa ventured over to the slide. We had root beer floats and the kids wore ice cream mustaches. It felt right.

As I sit her writing, I realize how many problems there were, and I didn't know how bad it was. I also realize just how many wonderful memories I have of her. She was my neighbor and my friend. I mourn this loss for myself, for my kids, and most of all for her kids. Will they ever know how much she adored them?

I will remember her always. We will have "Cassandra" rolls on Christmas morning. I will remember her smile. I will find joy in her boys being over here and reminding me that life moves forward. I will remember how blessed I am to have the gospel in my life. I will soak in and try to memorize every minute with my children and my sweet husband. I will strive to have people remember me for my smile the way I will remember her. I have been blessed in my life to have known her, and I know I am blessed beyond measure. My cup truly runneth over.

I will remember this..........and this feels right.

Pinewood Derby 2009!

2009-04-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

Our scout troop decided a couple of years ago that they were going to take the weight restrictions off of the pinewood derby cars. They realized that many parents ended up making the cars - not the boys. They wanted the boys just to have fun with it and get creative. It has been AWESOME!

This year Lincoln had a clear idea of what he wanted. He worked on the car himself. He put the plaster on himself. He painted it himself. And it was exactly what he wanted.....a bus.

He had a great time and fun was had by all. My personal favorite? The bumper sticker on the back. Linc - you are a crack up!

Easter 2009

2009-04-13T12:07:00.001-07:00

Easter is always one of my favorites. The kids rank it right up there with Christmas and Halloween. It is a great day.

I love that Emma wanted to do a family night lesson about the true meaning of Easter.

I love coloring eggs. (Tessa even tried drinking the egg color until we put a quick stop to that. That is when she lost her shirt as well. )

I love the egg hunt in the morning. I love the search for the Easter baskets.

I love the way the kids look in their Easter outfits.

I love Easter dinner.

I love the way Ted searches through all of the candy and is like a kid himself.

One added bonus? I love that it was sunny and warm yesterday - we haven't seen that in a while!

Happy Easter!

Do you need help with a remodel?

2009-04-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for someone to coordinate your minor remodel job then maybe we can help. Of course, you need to be looking for our special talents. You need to spend more than you planned, you need to have it take nine times longer than you expected with no immediate finish date in sight, and you need to have to switch contractors smack dab in the middle of the project and therefore spend time trying to match what has been done before and pick up the pieces. As an added bonus you will become intimately familiar with what is in your cabinets because they won't have cabinet doors on them. You will also become limber and adept at reaching inside cabinets to push out drawers since there will not be drawer fronts on them.

If this is what you are looking for, then man oh man -- you are in luck. We are the people for you.

Don't get me wrong - we get that in the scheme of things this is no big deal, and we can appreciate that. That being said, if we never look at another cabinet door or talk to cabinet makers - that's okay with me.

Are we old enough to have a 12-year-old?

2009-04-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

As much as we would like to deny being old enough - the answer is yes. We are old enough, and we do in fact have a 12-year-old. This year we were going to be in Utah for a quick weekend, so my sister put together a surprise party for Emma - and she loved it!! It is always a special treat to see your cousins, and she had gotten to spend the previous day with her other cousins and was thrilled about that, so to see them all and have all the attention on her made her ecstatic! What could be better? She really had a great time, although I think she about had a heart attack when she went downstairs and they yelled "Surprise!" It was priceless.

Although we see glimpses of true teenage behavior coming through - we are enjoying the attributes of this 12-year-old immensely! Here are 10 things about her:

1. Emma loves being in Young Women. She is so excited. I thought I would be sad to see her leave primary, but she was so clearly ready that I was actually thrilled for her. A few days before her birthday they all came and kidnapped her with a big poster full of candy bars and she was practically jumping out of her skin she was so excited. It almost brought tears to my eyes.

2. Emma is a great cook. She loves baking - not something I love, so the whole family is thrilled to have one cook in the house! However, I did make her a "soccer" cake, and at least she seemed to be able to tell what it was!

3. Emma is one heck of a soccer player (hence, the above cake). For years we have been telling her to play more aggressively. She used to run up to the ball, see that someone else was going for it, so she would stop and let them have first shot at it. Now we are trying to tone down the aggressiveness. (Truth be told....she plays like her dad! - although he will deny that)

4. Emma is a great babysitter. Our lives truly opened up the day we had a built in babysitter. We try not to abuse it, but man oh man is it great having a babysitter in the house!

5. Emma is one of the most thoughtful kids I have ever seen. She will, of her own volition, make gifts, buy gifts, or prepare surprises for her siblings and her parents. Sometimes it doesn't even occur to me to do such nice things. She never ceases to amaze me.

6. Emma is a great creative writer.

7. Emma loves to perform in singing groups and is looking forward to her solos in this year's spring musical at her elementary school.

8. Emma can roll her eyes like nobody's business! Okay, just a reminder that my sweet 12-year-old is in fact growing into a teeneager.

9. Emma and her dad are two peas in a pod. Sometimes I sit back in awe at the way they communicate - they just "get" each other.

10. Emma is always up for an adventure. No matter what it is, or how last minute, Emma will go for it, and what is more? She will be a good sport about it.

We love you, Em!

The sneaky leprechauns strike again!

2009-03-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patty's Day to all - the leprechauns worked their mischief here as usual. Whether it is the shamrock kisses on their hands, the shoes filled with candy, the overturned barstools, the upside down pictures, the green "gems" from kindergarten, or the green milk - the kids love it!

Lincoln told me this morning why he loves St. Patrick's Day so much. He said, "there's no calendar to count down so you are just surprised and excited to have a holiday the next morning....and you get candy!"

I guess that about sums it up. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

CANCUN!!!

2009-02-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

And just to answer the question you are all thinking....yes - we really were the pastiest pale people on the beach!

Pros of Cancun:

A beautiful beach.
Water so clear that it is hard to believe it is real.
Not cooking for a week.
Swimsuit versus a parka
No homework, scouts, Activity Days, soccer, piano lessons, etc., etc.
No cleaning, laundry, or grocery shopping
A week away with your sweetie
A week away from the kids
Traveling with a fun couple
Sleeping in as late as you want - or even taking a nap!
Reading a book that didn't involve flaps, hippos, or Dora the Explorer
Did I mention being with your sweetheart for a full week!!!

Cons of Cancun:

Being away from the kids for a week.
Having to travel the roads with the virtually non-existant driving laws (I was seriously scared a couple of times).

Cancun was amazing! We spent time on a beautiful beach with perfectly soft white sand, went kayaking, snorkeling, sailing (thanks, Curtis!), ate to our heart's content, visited the ruins of Tulum and Coba (AMAZING!!), went on a zipline, visited a Mayan village - it was fantastic! We had to laugh because after we finished going across the zip-line over some water we looked down and there were alligators (or crocodiles? - don't know which) in the water. Oh well - another sign that we weren't in the U.S. anymore! The trip was wonderful. We missed the kids and were ready to come home after a week, but totally look forward to going again!

Thanks Liz and Curtis for a great trip, and thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Wagner for babysitting the kids so that we could go!

We always knew Sammy had a great heart!

2009-02-17T08:49:00.000-08:00

Last week we went in for Sammy's well-child visit and we discovered that he has a flow murmur in his heart. Although the doctor wasn't too concerned, he wanted us to have Sam do an echocardiogram just to be sure. I thought Sam would be nervous but instead he kept telling everyone who would listen how excited he was that he was going to have pictures taken of his heart. He couldn't wait! We took him in and he was a champ. He thought it was pretty amazing and the doctor printed out a couple of pictures for him.

The results are back and he is fine, but he is still anxious to show anyone he can the ultrasound photos!

There is a true romantic in the house!

2009-02-17T08:27:00.000-08:00

No....it isn't Ted or me. Emma is the romantic that lives here. Our Valentine's Day celebration this year was truly unique! This year Emma emailed Ted and I several days before Valentine's to invite us to a Valentine's Day dinner at 7:00 in the dining room. A few days later she emailed us a menu and asked us to choose a few of our favorites, and she would then choose from our choices what she would make -- that way it would still be a surprise.

Valentine's Day arrived, and she and her friend went to work. They fed the kids and had them in the basement busy with other activities. Ted and I were banished to the upstairs while they busily prepared the dining room. When we came down the table was set for two with the chargers, china, and goblets along with candlelight and soft music playing in the background. The meal began with homemade rolls, then a Caesar salad. (The salad was presented with her offering to put fresh ground pepper on it - where did she learn that?) Following the salad she brought out our dinner of chicken cordon bleu, mashed potatoes, and green beans with candied almonds. Can you believe it? We couldn't. They had also made a no-bake cheesecake which they brought out for dessert.

As if all of this wasn't enough to completely make the meal special, Emma had printed out a few Valentine's Day poems for our reading enjoyment, and then at the end of the meal she played one last song and said she would keep all of the kids away so we could dance. It was so sweet the way she was making sure that our night was full of romance.

Of course, Tessa couldn't resist trying to run in and blow out the candles, and the boys wanted to see what all of the hullabaloo was about so they tried to sneak in several times, and with Emma and her friend working so hard in the kitchen to try and make our evening special -- who wouldn't feel the love?

Thanks for a great Valentine's Day, Emma, and a special thanks to her friend, Sarah, who helped with the food preparation and serving! It was wonderful!

Tessa turns two!!

2009-02-12T10:27:00.000-08:00

The only thing that makes me believe that she is already two is that she is acting like a two year old. Lots of the time that just means a bit more independence, sometimes it means an outright tantrum, but most of the time it means extra kisses, her vocabulary growing exponentially, and a contagious excitement about everything. This isn't her best picture ever, but she insisted on wearing her new dress, had Dora icing all over her and her hair, and she wouldn't relinquish the Dora toy from the cake. Did I mention her independent streak?

This year she celebrated a day early since Ted and I were going to Cancun, and we had a Dora The Explorer cake - she LOVED it. It is fun to see how excited she will get over little things!

Ten great things about Tessa:

1. Have I mentioned Dora? She loves Dora the Explorer. I love hearing her yell "backpack!" from the other room in the morning!

2. Tessa loves to shower. She will get in the shower all by herself (with us nearby of course) and will wash her doll and play in there every chance she gets.

3. Tessa loves to color. I had almost forgotten what it was like to have a child who would sit and color - the boys HATED it. Even now when they are asked to draw something it is a stick figure and just the minimum required to complete the assignment. Not Tessa: she loves to color. We have even seen a few of her masterpieces on our walls, our computer monitor, and her arms and legs. We are now working on using paper as the preferred medium for her creativity!

4. Tessa is our only child who does not have red hair. We love her long brown hair!

5. Tessa's name combines "Ted" and "Les" into one and her name actually means "fourth child." The fact that we discovered all of this after we chose her name doesn't really matter does it?

6. Tessa loves her siblings, and they love her right back. I was worried that Ted and I would spoil her since she is our last, but I think we need to worry more about the kids spoiling her!

7. Tessa loves to dance. If there is music playing then she is dancing.

8. Tessa loves shoes. If there are shoes out, she is trying them on. This only becomes a problem when she tries shoes on at the top of the stairs.

9. Tessa has a knack for knowing where all the candy is hidden. She has even forced Ted to relocate his stash a couple of times.

10. Tessa loves to be outside. She will stay outside in any temperature, any sort of weather, for as long as we will let her. Again, usually this is a great thing, but we have had to train all of the older kids (and neighbors) to leave our backyard gates closed at all times!

Happy Birthday sweet 2-year-old!!!

Sammy turns six!

2009-02-11T08:02:00.000-08:00

I know that I say this all the time, but where did the last year go? I can't believe that sweet Sammy is six! He was so excited asking how many more days until his birthday beginning the day after Christmas! He had a special day going skiing alone with his dad, and when he came home he had his favorite dinner of white fish (Tilapia) and pasta-roni, and then he went on a treasure hunt to find his presents. All of the excitement was capped off when he blew out all six of the candles (on his first try) on his cake. His cake was decorated with our best attempts to make it look like Wall-e. It may not be perfect, but he knew who it was! Here are 10 things about Sammy:

1. Sam loves everything and anything Star Wars. Wall-e and Ben 10 may be a close second, but it is Star Wars first. Those are the first things he learned how to spell!

2. Sammy wakes up happy every morning. I love hearinghis sweet "good morning, mom" everyday.

3. Sammy loves to spy - which means he loves trying to be sneaky and move throughout the house without being seen.

4. Sam has invented a game which is now a favorite among his friends: Laser baby. They all let Tessa follow them and then if she gets too close to them she is like a laser. Fortunately Tessa still thinks this is great so she doesn't mind when they don't let her get to close to them - she thinks it is great fun too!

5. Sam is willing to try anything, and has a good attitude about it. Even when his older brother and sister are complaining about the cold or are tired from skiing, Sam will keep on going, and will be happy about it!

6. Sam loves beating his brother to the bus stop each morning. There is a silent uspoken race each morning, but if you watch you can see who wins each day.

7. Sam has just discovered Lincoln's secret for not having to make his bed each day -- sleep on top of the covers with one blanket over you. This is now his preferred method of sleep. I guess it is easier to fold one blanket rather than make your bed.

8. Sam had a hard time speaking clearly and hearing for a while, but now he has worked so hard and will self-correct when he makes an error. We are so proud of him because this has taken a lot of hard work and consistent effort - and it shows!

9. Sam loves Caesar salad. He won't even touch a salad with Ranch dressing.

10. Sam loves sports. Last year he was too young to play baseball so he was the bat boy for Lincoln's team. He took his job very seriously and would carefully line up each helmet and bat neatly for the team. He was watching the game closely so that he could get out there and pick up the bat as soon as it was dropped. At the end of the season several parents and the coach pulled me aside to make sure he got a trophy because they had noticed how seriously he took his job and they said he was the best bat-boy they had ever seen! Also, when he played soccer he mastered the move of putting your foot on the ball and pushing it backwards to stop it from going towards the other team's goals. All the kids thought this was great and they dubbed it "the Sammy move."

Happy Birthday Sammy!!

Christmas

2009-02-10T11:55:00.001-08:00

Okay, so now that it is a few days from Valentine's Day, I guess I better put up a few pictures about Christmas! We had a great year and loved that it was a white Christmas too!

The kids favorites this year?

Emma - a new cell phone; Lincoln - Mario Kart Wii game; Samuel - his clone trooper helmet; Tessa - her doll and stroller.

Ted and I - knowing that we were going to Cancun in a month!

It really was a great day!

Linc is Nine!!

2008-12-10T18:41:00.000-08:00

Linc's birthday was on Sunday, and on Monday morning he said he pinched himself to make sure he wasn't just dreaming about the day before - so I guess he had a pretty good day. He was a little bummed at first that he had to go to church on his birthday (this is, after all, the kid who when he heard about home schooling was wondering if"home churching" was an option), but when he realized he would be getting a treat from primary, he was okay. When he got home we had his favorite dinner: Salmon, pasta-roni, and peas. Then he had a lemon cake decorated like a basketball.

As a part of a newly established tradition, I'll fill you in on a few random facts you may not know about Lincoln:

1. He LOVES to read. He is currently working on the third book in the Eragon series.

2. He hates sleeping under covers. Over the past six months I think he has slept under his covers once, and that was because he was sick.

3. Linc has a great voice - but you have to catch him singing when he doesn't know you are listening or you will miss it.

4. Lincoln has an incredible knack for listening without you knowing it. On several occasions we have been trying to read scriptures only to find him goofing off or not paying attention. When we try to call him on it and ask him to tell us what we just read, he will do it - verbatim. It can be a bit frustrating when we are trying to make a point and it falls flat. :)

5. Lincoln loves to stay up late and get up early - sleep just seems to be a waste of time in his mind! Maybe when he is a teenager he will change his mind about this one.

6. Linc loves listening to his dad's 80's music. One of his favorites? "Eye of the Tiger" from Rocky.

7. He is quite a swimmer - last year he tackled the Butterfly stroke. It may not be perfect, but when I asked him if he was ready he replied in classic Lincoln fashion, "yeah...it's good to try new things, right mom?"

8. He and Tessa have a special bond. It is funny to watch them together. Tessa is protective of Sam, adores Emma as another caregiver, but it is Lincoln who she plays with. They are buddies.

9. Lincoln has the most tender heart. He will bound down the stairs each morning to make sure he hugs dad before he leaves for work, will hug and kiss his mom every morning before leaving for school (even if she has had to nag him to get him going in the morning), and will never say a harsh word to Tessa. He is a normal kid who has normal sibling interactions with his older sister and younger brother, but that's another story!

10. Finally, he says he is going to be an engineer when he grows up because he loves to build things, and he really has a knack for math. He loves lengthy building projects and will sometimes spend hours at a time working on Lego or Kinex projects.

You are an amazing kid, and we love you Lincoln! Happy ninth birthday!