Singing, Singing All the Day

Tanner has been in a singing mood lately, loving especially to listen to The Little Drummer Boy. Whenever he hears it he says, "That's my favorite song! Turn it up!" We often have a radio station from back in Idaho turned on through the computer, because they are playing Christmas songs all day until Christmas. If you are interested, go to www.klce.com and hit the "listen online" button. We have also been singing a song for Family Home Evening called "The Shepherd's Carol." The words are as follows:

"Mary, Mary, hush see the child.
Joseph, Joseph, look! see how mild.
This is Jesus, this is our King.
This is our Savior, His praises we sing."

Well, Tanner has learned this song and sings it all the time, although the wording is a little slurred. Here is his rendition.


Of course, Parker can't be left out. Everything his siblings do, he wants to do, too. So here is him singing something.



Here are also some pictures of Tanner in the tub, because seeing them on the computer would "make me SO happy!" His favorite thing to do in the tub is to take up all the room and spit water on his brother.

Holy Frostbite, Batman!!!

As I sit here typing, I can hear the wind howling outside. Yesterday was beautiful; sunshine, warm (for December)weather, no wind. We cleaned the garage yesterday and Shane was in shirt sleeves. Of course, he's tougher than me and I had to wear a sweatshirt, but it's halfway through December for Pete's sake. Well, Pete got even last night and the wind started to blow. Right now it is 0 degrees, and the wind chill puts the temperature at -26. Brrrrr!!! There is a chance of snow tonight, and that could make driving really fun tomorrow, if we can get the cars started. My car is in the garage, sheltered from the wind, thank you Shane, but his is not and that could be awfully cold tomorrow. I think the high is only supposed to be 7 degrees, so we're going to try and stay inside. Except that I have very little food in the house and need to go grocery shopping, so me and the little boys will probably have to face the wind tomorrow and risk being turned into popsicles so that we can eat. Oh well, adversity is good for you, right? Makes you appreciate what you have, like a warm house, heat, money to pay the electric bill. I will not complain because we are blessed with so many things.

We had a church Christmas party on Friday night, complete with a talent show of sorts. Kaitlin sang and played her trumpet with a friend, which sounded pretty good. Her trumpet is the one you can hear playing the melody. We are impressed with how far she's come since the moose was dying when she started. After the show, we had a jolly visitor, and all of the kids but Parker got to sit on Santa's lap and account for their behavior for the year. Tanner was the first in line, no fear at all. He's just started figuring out what Christmas is about, and boy was he excited. We tried to get Parker to sit, at least for a picture, but as soon as we got about 3 feet away, he sensed what was going on and started to cry like we were trying to give him away, and he started to climb my head to get behind me. Needles to say, Parker didn't sit on Santa's lap, so no picture. He wouldn't even let Kaitlin hold him close to Santa for a picture.

December Nights, December Lights

Tonight was Joshua's third grade Christmas program and boy, was he cute!! He is the one in the middle front row with the red hat. It was so fun to watch him do the motions and sing. The lights were a little bright, and a lot of the kids could hardly look up, Josh included. He warned me before the program, "Mom, if I don't look up it's because the lights are too bright. They make my eyes water." I took Kaitlin and Luke, because Parker was sick and Shane kept him and Tanner home. I love that he likes to sing, and hope that he doesn't ever lose that. It would be neat to have a son that sings. He didn't necessarily like the dancing parts, though, because on the way home, Kaitlin was talking with him about the bouncing part in the last video. She was kind of teasing him about that move and he said, "I'm too old to be doing this kind of stuff!"

Our First Nebraska Snowfall

We got our first snowfall of the year Monday night. The kids were very excited, and couldn't wait to go out and play in it. It started while we were out looking at Christmas lights for Family Home Evening, and even got pretty hairy for a while. The wind was driving the snow, and the flakes were big, so in some places it was almost white-out conditions. All the next day, Tanner kept asking me if I would come out and "have a snowball fight with gloves" with him. He had learned the night before how cold the snow was with bare hands. He and Parker were trying to hard to get themselves dressed to go out and play in the snow. Now I have slick roads to traverse everyday taking kids to school. I have been worried about not having a white Christmas here, so I'm hoping that this bodes well for having snow on Christmas day.

Luke's Birthday

My little Luke turned 7 on Tuesday, and was so excited. He has been telling anyone and everyone who will listen when his birthday was. He got to take treats to school, got a "pocketful of wishes" from the kids in his class (which was a small card from each one in his class), and had a movie day. Then at home we did presents and cake. He even had his friend, also named Luke, come over for the evening. (Now tell me how fun that gets to have two Luke's in the house!) Anyway, I think he had a fun day and is one year older now. He has gotten so much better at expressing himself lately, and is trying harder to share with Tanner. He is a great lego maker, and we just love having him in our family. Happy birthday cutie!!

Projects

Shane and I have been busy planning some projects around the house, trying to make things work better for our family. The biggest problem has been that our kitchen is too little to hold our table, so the table has to go in one end of our living room. The problem with that is that the living room is carpeted, and we have 5 children who spill at least one glass of milk at each meal, not to mention all the food that gets dropped, thrown, spit, flung with a fork, etc... all the time. And to make matters worse, the carpet is very light colored. So, since we moved in, we've had a piece of plastic under the table, trying to keep food off the floor. It's worked well, but it was starting to get torn and tripping everyone, so Shane and I decided it was time to put new flooring in. Our local home improvement store, called Menard's, had a super sale on laminate floor the day after Thanksgiving, so we stocked up and got ready to have a normal floor. After a couple of minor problems, we got a great looking floor. Shane did really well at planning it out and cutting all the pieces just right, and it only took us about 3 hours to put in. I think it would have taken us less time, but we were both suffering from big head colds, and we were pretty fuzzy the whole time. Anyway, here are some photos of the transformation:






Now the only problem is that the floor is really slippery, and if the kids aren't careful and run onto it wearing only socks, someone goes flying. Well, I take that back, there are two problems. The other is that as loud as my children are, now they sound louder because the room echoes now at that end of the room. Tanner figured out how well cars drive on it, and spent one morning send cars soaring across the floor. Parker likes to lay on it, on his stomach, and push himself backward. It has been a great change.

I have also been working on painting a couple of rooms, namely the bathrooms. One was gray, and the other was deep purple and light mint green stripes. They were driving me crazy, so I finally did something about it. Here are the photos:

"Hello, My Name is Tanner, and I Love to Dance!!"

Those were Tanner's words to me last night as he ran past me holding stolen legos. He loves the boys' legos, but Luke doesn't like Tanner to play with them. Josh and Luke both have several "ships" that they have put together on a shelf in their room. Tanner discovered that he can open their door and reach their shelf, and no ship has been safe since. He loves to hold them, and play with them, and sometimes that leads to the ships breaking, which of course drives Luke crazy. I'm thinking that it's time to invest in some little sets for Tanner, or have the boys build 2 or 3 ships that are just for Tanner to have.

Anyway, back to Tanner's funny saying. That got me thinking about all the dancing he and Parker have been doing lately. Parker asks all the time for music to be turned on, and then he and Tanner dance away. We have several videos of this, since all the kids think it is so funny to watch. Here is one of the latest.



We also put up the tree and my children, and cat, have discovered a great hiding place. The tree is right in front of our front window, and one of the heater vents. I put curtains up over the window, and if you pull them in to the sides of the tree, there is a wonderful, covered, warm hiding place. This picture is of Luke and Tanner taking advantage of this wonderful space. The only time they get along lately is when they are hiding together, waiting for me to find them.

"This is the Best Christmas EVER!!"

Those were the words said over and over again by Tanner last night as we decorated our tree for Family Home Evening. We decided to get out the lights and ornaments and let the kids go to it. The tree is a little lopsidedly decorated, lots of loaded spots and lots of bare spots, but the kids did it mostly themselves. Every time Tanner would come and get a new ornament to put up on the tree, he would say, "This is the best Christmas ever!!" He had a ball. Even Parker liked putting things on the tree. Of course, I don't think that Tanner has realized that presents will eventually be under that tree, will which make it even better, but he loves looking at the tree and trying to move ornaments around on it. I would post pictures, but I have misplaced my camera, so as soon as I find it, pictures will be posted.

Potty training is going pretty well. Tanner can tell us when he needs to go, and hasn't had an accident for days now. Now if we could just get him to pull up and down his own britches, we'd be making more progress. He keeps telling me, "I can't do it, Mom!" The problem is, I know that he can, he just chooses not to. Parker watches him all day, and he wants to sit on the toilet as well, so I'm hoping something clicks inside his head soon as to what is really going on and will want to potty train, too. I know, wishful thinking, but I can hope, right? I have been changing diapers for 8 years now, lots of those years with 2 in diapers, and I am ready to be diaper free.

Speaking of Parker, he has been talking up a storm lately. We are understanding more and more words. He asks "I see" when I'm cooking, he asks for music in the car and right now his song of choice is "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts," he says "nigh, nigh dada" when its time for bed, he asks for his shoes, and to ride his bike, and so much more. Of course, a lot of it is gobbly-gook still, although he knows what he's saying, but we hear more and more each day and it is so fun to hear. He loves to play with cars, and carries them around everywhere he goes. He loves to turn on the Shrek CD and dance in the living room, and it has to be a certain song, "I'm a Believer" or it's the wrong one. He is so fun to have around.

Kaitlin got her haircut - added some bangs, and also got contacts, so she is looking like a new woman lately. I need to find my camera and I will post some pictures. The eye doctor said that putting her in contacts would help to slow the decline of her eyes, so in order to help her avoid the coke-bottle glasses that I have to wear, we decided to do it. She has done very well with getting them in and out, and has adjusted pretty well. She is doing very well in school, and has started drama club (which those of you who know her will realize how well that fits her personality.) She has been asked to babysit by another lady, a teacher at her school, so she is in heaven. I can't believe how fast she is growing up.

Well, I need to blog about Josh and Shane's trip to a cool museum, but because Shane went with him, I will get him to do the telling. Hopefully that will come soon. They got to spend the night at the Strategic Air Museum for a scouting trip, and from what I hear it was pretty cool.

A Tale of Two Pot(ty) Boys

This has been a fun day. Last Saturday, Tanner, out of the blue, said "I have to go potty!" Well, I ran him into the bathroom, took off his diaper, and put him on the potty. I didn't think anything would happen, but he actually went. Well, he did this again twice on Sunday, so I thought, "Well, let's give potty training a try." He only had two accidents today, and survived a trip to Walmart without incident. I am so excited, and he is so proud of himself. If I was not quick enough with the praise each time, he would say, "Way to go, Tanner!!" It was so cute. We took this picture as he ended his first, very successful day of potty training.



The other pot boy is Parker. He has found the drawer with my pots and pans, and he won't leave them alone. If I am working in the kitchen, he is with me and I am tripping over the pans right and left. If I go somewhere else in the house, he takes them into the living room and arranges them on the couches. It is very cute, but at the same time annoying because anytime I want to cook something, I have to find where he's taken the pot I want. It I am cooking in the kitchen, he very often says, "I see" and has to watch me stir. He is pretty good at figuring out which lids fit which pans, and he even gets a utensil to stir. Hence, this video:

Forgive Me - I am a Slacker

Well, as you know it has been almost a month since I wrote last. It's not that I've been super busy, I'm just a mother of 5 kids and when I get a moment to think about blogging, I get interrupted. And after I get the kids in bed, I'm either spending time with Shane or falling asleep. But a lot has happened, not big events, but cute and/or fun nonetheless, and I'll attempt to catch up now.

I guess we'll start with the latest thing, which was Halloween. One thing I have learned to like about my children, is that they get attached to a costume, and so we have had kids be the same thing for 3 years in a row now. Of course, this doesn't apply to Kaitlin, who changes her mind more often than her socks, but my boys have chosen to be the same thing again this year. We had a party at our church, and the kids had a great time. We didn't get out and trick or treat door to door this year, but I think they had fun just the same, and they got enough candy to induce sugar shock for several days. Tanner was about wiped out by the end of the night. We also had a great time carving pumpkins, except for Tanner, who thought the innards were disgusting.




Fall is here, and the colors are absolutely beautiful. Well, I should say were beautiful, because a cold spell hit, the wind blew, and the trees are now almost naked. I bought 2 more rakes, so my 3 oldest children could rake the leaves that are filling up the yard. But I raked leaves and filled 6 50-gallon garbage sacks, and there are only 6 because I ran out of sacks. The leaves were so deep that the kids could bury themselves in the leaves 2-3 deep, and we still couldn't see them. Tanner and Parker loved the leaves, as you can see from the pictures. Even Leo, our cat, got into the playing in the leaves fun. The fun ended a couple of days ago because a huge windstorm came up and blew most of the leaves away, which works for me because I would have had to rake them, and my hands were getting calloused. Poor baby, I know - I should have put the kids to work with the 3 rakes. It was so fun to see the wind whipping those leaves into someone else's yard. I cackled with glee, thinking of all the leaves I wouldn't have to rake. The picture of Parker looking into the pumpkins is him watching the ladybugs that decided to make a home inside. He was fascinated.

Random Kid Things

We woke up to rain this morning, and I started singing, "It's raining, it's pouring," when Tanner chimed in and sang, "The snowman is boring." It could have been "the snowman is pouring", too, but either way it was funny. He reminds me of Shane. I love it when Shane sings, because he seldoms sings the same words twice. I absolutely love it.

Parker is usually with me at the table when I'm helping the kids do homework after school. He has to have his pencil and paper, too, so that he can work along with the kids, or he writes on their homework. I watched him try for 30 seconds or so, to try and grab the pencil like the kids do. He tried several different combinations, until he finally got it right. Now he holds it like they do whenever he holds a pencil. Of course, by the time I thought, "this would be a great video moment," it was over.

I have really been working on trying to get Tanner to use nice words and a nice voice. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Usually he will at least say "please" and thus we have this conversation this morning:

Tanner (in a very cranky voice) - I want you drink , Mom.
Me - Say please in a nice voice.
Tanner - (still in a very cranky voice) - Please I have you drink!
Me - nicely, please
Tanner - I said please! (still cranky)
Me - say it nicely
Tanner - I said please! (even crankier)
Me - Say it in a nice voice
Tanner - I SAID PLEASE!!! (he's really mad now)
At this point I decided to drink the rest of the water and wait for him to ask nicely. When I put the cup down, he tried to take a drink, and then threw it across the room when he realized it was empty. I told him that if he wanted a drink, he needed to bring me the cup and ask me, please, in a very nice voice. For some reason what I said actually sunk in, and he did what I asked. Chalk one up for mom today: Mom 1, Tanner -so much more I lost count.

Shane has been working late, til 7 or later every night because harvest has begun. He is playing Zelda Twilight Princess, and the boys - Josh, Luke, Tanner - love to watch. They ask all day, "When is Dad coming home? Do you think he'll play Wheat tonight?" It's really the Wii, but they call it "wheat" because that's what Tanner calls it. They live for the moment they hear his car pulling up, and because the muffler may be gone, you can really hear him coming home. They run to the door and bombard him with, "Will you play "Wheat" tonight?" So he's playing right now, and trying to defeat a dragon, and Tanner keeps covering his head with a blanket and saying, "I can't watch!!" Of course, Josh and Luke keep shouting out what Shane should do, and Shane is doing all he can not to yell at them to be quiet, oops, I mean was trying, but lost that battle.

Luke found a hair comb today, I'm not sure where it came from. I mean, I know it's mine, but I haven't seen it for a looong time. So, he brings it to me and asks me if I will tape it to the back of his hand, Wolverine style, so that he can swoosh around with it and pretend to have claws coming out of the back of his hand. Mom is mean, of course, and says no, you'll claw someone. I could see him thinking, "How can I do this myself and thus avoid mom altogether?"

Parker watches the boys all day, as babies do, and the boys have discovered that several bugs have been gathering on the windows outside, trying to stay warm. (It's been a little colder here lately - fall is in the air!) Anyway, he kept pointing to the window and saying, "skush." I held him up to the window, not sure what he wanted, where he proceded to find bugs on the outside and would try to "squish" them by smacking the window where he saw them. He is all boy, that little one. He also loves to carry toy cars around all day, and drive them on the couches, tables, chairs, me, stairs, wherever he can drive one. He reminds me of Luke that way.

Well, I think that's probably all the fun moments from today. The not so fun ones I'll store away in my "I hope I forget this soon" file. You other moms will know what I mean, and probably you dads, too. I have been struggling with feelings of frustration as a mother, because with Shane gone so much, and more of the care and discipline falling to me to take care of, I felt like all I was doing every day was having to put out fires, yell at kids, and try to stay until Shane got home (which wasn't working very well.) I found a quote on Sunday, and was reminded by a friend, that I need to find the fun, and make things fun for the kids while we wait for Dad to get home. The quote was from President Hinckley, who was the president of our church until he passed away last spring. It says, "In all of living have much fun and laughter. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not just endured!" It puts things in perspective for me just now, and is something I'm trying to more of each day.

Outer Space

I've seen the fun things my mother and sister can do with a little bit of paint and a lot of talent. I, on the other hand, have a lot of paint and questionable talent, but I decided to try my hand at giving the boys a room in outer space. I found some fun quilts online at JCPenny's, and then tried to match the colors and the theme by painting the planets on their wall. They really wanted me to paint their walls black, but they are already afraid of the dark, and I was afraid that would push them over the line, so we kept the walls blue. I painted the planets, and a rocketship, and will put up glow-in-the-dark stars on the part of the ceiling that drops down a little. Most of the ceiling is that sound panel stuff, so I don't think they would stick there very well.

Before:


After:


I think it turned out pretty good, but I'm not sure if I like Jupiter and Saturn as well as the others. I may have to do a little touch up, but overall I really like how it turned out. You probably noticed the hanging bar on their wall that serves as their closet. The project this winter, when my husband is home on the weekends, it to go out one of their walls and add a closet in. I think this will make their room seem a little bigger, and almost finish up the changes we wanted to make to their room. For now, I'm feeling kind proud of myself, seeing how this turned out, and has gotten me thinking about what to do in the little boys room. I'm thinking sports....

The Losing Battle

My poor little Parker has quite a losing battle this week with head wounds. Two weeks ago, he was sitting outside with my one the front steps, which are concrete. He leaned over to watch an ant that was crawling on them, lost his balance, and hit his forehead on the next step, leaving quite a scrape. (You can see what's left of that mark on the picture right in the middle of his forehead.) Last Friday, he was pushing on the window bubble that we have covering our outside basement window, trying to see inside it, when the bubble broke and he fell into the window well. Hence this wound:


He cut one side of his head, and bruised the other. It didn't seem to shake him much, he only cried a little bit. Then last night, about 8:30 he got this one, which had to be super-glued at the ER. He took the cushion off the couch downstairs, and then tripped on it, causing his head to hit the board in the couch frame. He cried for a minute or two then, too, and then seemed to be fine. The Dr. said it didn't need stitches because the edges of the wound were close enough together, but he did close it up with super-glue to prevent him from having a great big ugly scar there. He hated the Dr. and nurses trying to touch him, and cried more from them being close than any pain he was in.


This morning the kids all "oohd" and "awwd" over him, and he kept pointing to his head as if to say, "Yeah, I got an owie. Give me more attention." But when they tried to hug him, he pushed them away as if to say, "Yeah, I got an owie, but I'm tough. Leave me alone!" He's been fine all day. He just looks like he has one angry eyebrow until the glue wears off. I'm just hoping that we're to the end of the head injuries to this poor little guy. He's tough, but I'm sure people somewhere in this town will think I'm abusing him. (That goes to another story that I may tell another day.) For now, I'm just thinking about making him wear a bike helmet wherever he goes. I just don't think he'll go for it.

"Mom Paul Clayson"

We thought we were doing a good thing the other day, teaching Tanner his full name: Tanner Paul Clayson. However, I'm starting to regret it because every time he's mad at me, I get this face:


and this name - Mom Paul Clayson! - said in a very angry voice. I guess that's what comes of trying to teach him his name, and perhaps from calling it out, in full, every time I get upset with the little monkey. Maybe I to teach him that his full name is "You're the Best Mom Ever Clayson." Then when he gets mad at me, I still win.

This is What Happens When the Kids gets the Camera

I went to download the pictures from my camera, and found these pictures, and a whole lot of video, that weren't taken by me. I thought I'd share some.






The wig was a purchase by Kaitlin for spirit week. She has been having a ball dressing up this week. The wig was for dress like a famous person day. She had to try it on everyone who would let her. Luke and Parker refused, and Tanner thought this:



I also thought I'd share what some of the kids have been up to this last little bit. Kaitlin was dressing up for spirit week, and she was Shadow Girl for villan day.



Also, the little boys love to ride their bikes in the driveway. The love even more to try and ride on the sidewalk, which I've tried to forbid them to do. It's close to the road, and if you give a kid an inch, they'll ride out into the road and get hit by a car, or ride the incline down the road to the bottom. I'm sure that's not far away, but I'm trying to keep them as safe as I can. You can see Parker riding on the sidewalk, where he shouldn't be. His favorite thing is to start driving toward the sidewalk, stop every few feet, and say, "Bye!" as he waves. He's just waiting for you to stop him, because as soon as I see he's leaving the driveway, and I tell him to come back, he smiles and runs back to where he should be.

Tanner has also learned to flip on the trampoline. Here are a couple of videos taken less than a week apart.