The Carpenter Clan

Pioneer Celebrations 2012

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 05:23:00 +0000

We were able to celebrate the Mormon Pioneers in several ways this year. Our stake has an annual childrens' parade and pancake breakfast that Alden, Roland, and I attended. Aaron had gone to Utah for a family wedding and took Emmett with him. Emmett almost decided not to go on the trip, just because he didn't want to miss our 15 minute little parade, but we convinced him and he had a great time with his Dad and Papa. Our fun in Mesa included the parade, the breakfast, and some pioneer games and activities afterwards. The bow and arrows and slingshots were the bigest favorite of the boys. We even broke out the crepe paper to decorate bikes, although our pioneer outfits were pretty sad & consisted of plaid shirts.

Also while Aaron was gone I gave a talk in sacrament morning about pioneers. I talked a lot about other pioneers, rather than just the early Mormon Saints: Lehi's family, the Jaredites, and the Children of Israel. I was helped out during the talk by Roland, who snuck up to the front of the chapel and stood in front of the podium during the second half. I think he even kicked the podium a few times. He mostly scowled at me, which made me smile and made me much less nervous. Guess he was mad I wasn't sitting with him.

We had pack meeting the night of the 24th, which went well. I managed to coordinate 6 peach cobblers and 3 batches of homemade vanilla ice cream. (I am the cub committee chair.) One of my den leaders texted me that they were the best refreshments yet!

We left for Pinetop the morning after pack meeting, to stay until right before school starts. I can't tell you how much we love it here. Today we went to the Pioneer Day celebrations in Snowflake. We watched the parade with my brother and sister-in-law and the cousins. Thanks to Missy and her family, we got a great parking spot and good seats too. The boys collected a ton of candy so they were pleased enough. We caught a BBQ lunch at the church, which I loved but the boys didn't. Then we went to the fair for a while, but the weather was a factor - the rain and wind, along with lightning made them deflate all the bouncy houses, which is all the boys really wanted to do. I loved the weather though, as long as it wasn't raining too hard. It was cool, but not cold. So nice in the midst of our hot AZ summers. We watched some kids ride a mechanical bull, walked through the booths, bought some snowcones, and headed home. I was anxious to get home to watch some Olympics! And the boys were anxious to get home to do this:

Alden has been desparate to make our own bows and arrows since the stake pioneer activity. He looked up directions on Google, and this week we finally bought supplies and got them started. The arrows have foam on them, so I'm hoping we have no injuries. Wish us luck! All in all, we wrung all we could out of Pioneer Day this year. Those people were amazing!

To Swim or Not to Swim

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 00:16:00 +0000

Swim team for Alden and Emmett started the day after Memorial Day, and all three boys and I were at Skyline Pool bright and early. I wasn't worried about Alden at all, he did fine last year and has been swimming for months with Aaron at the YMCA pool. And I wasn't too worried about Emmett either, since Aaron has been working with him and the requirements for swim team are only to swim across the pool. He could totally do that.

So the 5 and 6 years old lined up - Emmett was in good company with almost a dozen friends from the ward. He jumped to the front of his line and when they said go, he jumped in without hesitation and swam all the way across the pool without stopping or holding onto the lane lines. I was so proud! But when they lined up on the other side... he kept pushing other people in front of him and ended up at the end of the line. He didn't want to jump in again. The water was cold! Quite a few kids were crying at this point. I finally coaxed him in, but he kept stopping, crying to me that he wasn't going to make it, and hanging on the lines. And things really didn't get better from there.

It was a big struggle the entire 1st week for Emmett - he didn't ever want to go in, then wouldn't swim like I know he can. Yet I was still surprised at the end of the week when the head coach talked to me and said that Emmett needed another year before he joins the swim team, and then they asked us to pull him out and get a refund. I was really disappointed and went through a range of emotions over the weekend: anger, sadness, sympathy for Emmett, who seemed most upset that now he couldn't earn the prize we promised him for going to swim team every day all summer. If we had been at another pool I don't think this would have happened. Skyline seems to be the most competitive, they had a long waiting list, and cut a bunch of people from the team. We knew 6 or 7 other kids whose parents pulled them out or the coach talked to them too. Here's a few pictures of that first week though.

Emmett's friend Benson Radcliffe did not get cut. I think Emmett is as good (or better) than him but Benson had a completely different attitude. He was happy, jumped in every time it was his turn, and did his best. If Emmett had done that then maybe he would have stayed too.

Alden with one of his many friends on the team: Reece Anderson. Reece is such a great kid and I love that Alden is friends with him. They are in ALP together and I spent an hour every week with the 4 ALP boys all this last year of 2nd grade. Their teacher, Mrs. McDaniel, was fabulous!

And of course, (as I'm writing this post much later), Emmett has been a stellar swimmer this summer. He swims lap after lap at the YMCA, and can breathe to the side better than Alden. All three boys did one session of lessons at Brimhall and it helped everyone a lot. Roley is still too impetuous and doesn't follow directions well. Alden had two teachers and only three kids in his class so he got a lot of individual stroke instruction. Emmett's class was a little too easy for him, but he did learn the backstroke. Next year I will put Alden and Emmett on Brimhall Swim Team, both in the 7-8 group. I usually push Alden up a year to play sports with his friends, but I want him to swim with Emmett. At the end of swim team this year, I found that Alden really only socialized with his friends a little anyway. We do love swimming though!

Long Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Wed, 30 May 2012 18:29:00 +0000

I wish the entire summer could be like this first long weekend. From the time the boys got out of school on Thursday, all the way through Monday, things were heavenly. We had completely beautiful, amazing, unusually cool weather on Saturday and Sunday, and it was only about 100 on the other days. Here's the rundown on our fun weekend.

Friday I took the boys to visit my grandmother, then to the dinosaur museum. I love having a season pass because we can enjoy our favorite things but not feel like we have to see everything in one visit. Then we stopped at Tia Rosa's for lunch. I don't think the boys had ever been there and I was gratified to see them enjoy it as much as I do. Although they don't appreciate the chips & salsa yet. After a little quiet time when we got home, Alden & Emmett ran off to play with friends and I was able to get things ready for a dinner with guests. My friend, Jeanna, was visiting here with her family from San Fransisco and we were lucky to snag them for a couple of hours. Her two boys are super cute & we always love catching up with Jeanna & Jason. I wish we could see them more often.

Saturday was so gorgeous and Aaron went golfing early, played 18 holes, and then had me drop Alden off for 9 holes of Daddy & Son golf. I work for hours in the backyard, getting it a little more presentable, especially the porch. All three boys went to a birthday party for Alden's buddies, John & Dylan. And then Alden & Emmett went to the park to play slip 'n' slide, sprinklers, and water balloons with Alden's friend, Joshua. We finished off the day with a BBQ at our good friends' house. We love hanging out with the Pearces, and were happy to see them in Mesa since we often get together at their cabin in Pinedale. Alden & Ryland play so well together. We were excited to find out their kids were doing swim team at Skyline this year too! It will be a fun summer.

Sunday was full of church, including attending sacrament meeting in our old ward so we could hear Dot & Boyd Williams speak. They are reporting this week to their family history mission at temple square. They both gave wonderful talks on repentance. The boys were pretty good so we were able to listen & it was fun to see some of our old friends. Sunday evening we had our friends, the Bowens, over to BBQ hamburgers and visit. Even though we see them a lot (they are in our ward), we don't often get the chance to visit for more than 5 minutes at a time so it was great to spent time with them. Their two oldest & our two oldest always play together well, their two girls occupied themselves, and Roland holed up with my iTouch somewhere. So everyone was happy!

Monday morning I took the boys to the weekly summer movie at Harkins. We used the rest of the day to do a few jobs, plan some activities for the rest of the summer, and stock up on groceries for the week. I am hoping for a fun, peaceful summer full of swimming, time up North, and some schoolwork and fieldtrips thrown in too. Wish up luck!

Welcome to Summer!

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:40:00 +0000

Yesterday afternoon was our Welcome to Summer party. The boys got out of school at noon & I was waiting for them with signs, streamers, and ice cream bar for lunch, and a new Wii game from redbox. We started a little rough: I waited and waited, watching for them out the window when I finally received a call from the school saying I needed to go pick up Emmett because his tummy hurt. He was doubled over in pain & couldn't ride home. He even waddled out to the car all doubled over. Luckily after a little TLC & movies in Mom's bed he was able to join the fun an hour later.

Auntie Candice, Jaycee, and Rocco came over for the afternoon to join in the summer fun too. The kids all played pretty well & Candice & I were able to rest and visit a bit. Alden spent a couple of hours at Reece's end-of-the-year pool party, and then Dad took the boys swimming at the YMCA while I made everyone's favorite, orange chicken, for dinner. Summer is off to a great start!

Here are before & after shots of Alden & Emmett's new summer haircuts. Bring on swim team!

My Little Character

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Fri, 25 May 2012 05:30:00 +0000

Roland finished up the school year at Boulder Creek Elementary in the speech program preschool. Teacher Julie puts on a cute program at the end of the school year, complete with songs, awards, and even a buffet. I got some video of Roland in the program and will lodge it here, even if no one wants to watch it except his Dad. You better watch it, Aaron. We do love our Ro Ro!

Happy Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:11:00 +0000

This is for my sweetie, who is ever thoughtful and understanding, whom I love more than anything. I love you, Aaron - Happy Valentine's Day! Will you be mine forever?

Not Such a Baby Anymore!

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:41:00 +0000

My baby is 4. I don't know whether to be elated or cry over this. A little of both I guess. And despite my New Year's resolution to post more about our family here, it's the last day of January and I've done nothing. And we've had a fun month. I might as well start with a tribute to my big boy.

Despite big plans, Roland had a hard, grumpy birthday which started with tears in the morning (mine) and many, many tears the rest of the day (his). I think he's been losing too much sleep in the last week. But he's been planning a "new lego ninjago birthday" for months now, so we went ahead despite the grumpiness. He loves lego ninjago, which is why I was surprised when he hated the new t-shirt I gave him first thing in the morning. We are working on giving gracious thanks whenever you receive a gift from someone. (understatement of the year)

He did okay playing alone in the morning, which he does well every day. Roley is always an independent player and has a harder time interacting well with his brothers. And I sure hope he had a good day at preschool, but I didn't receive any negative feedback, so... The party was scheduled for after school and I want to thank my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for all their help in setting up and then helping at the party. They are awesome!

We had balloons and dancing, cupcakes and soda, bubbles and swings, games and favor bags. And Roland only had to be taken out three times in 1.5 hours for crying meltdowns. Let's just say it was a lot different than Alden's 4th birthday. Ro is definitely my baby. But I think the three guests from his preschool class had fun and Roley's first friend birthday party is history.

We made Ro's favorite orange chicken for dinner and he had visits from Auntie Candice's crew and Ma'am and Grampa before bedtime, which couldn't come soon enough. Apparently we are in the formidable fours now. The mood swings are amazing.

Here's some details about Roland's personality and life right now:

I can still convince him to snuggle with me for a few minutes at a time. Especially if I rub his back or his skin somewhere. He likes it when I touch him really light and give him goosebumps. He holds so still. We call him Master of Snuggles, which comes from Lego Ninjago where each ninja is the master of an element.
He loves preschool, where he now has the same teacher and school as last year. He started the year at a new school and despite how wonderful his new teacher was, I just didn't feel good about it and he is back with Teacher Julie now - he's a Boulder Creek Bulldog! I even got him a school t-shirt for Christmas. He rides the bus (which he enjoys too) and is gone from 11-3 Mon-Thur. Roley's speech is still hard to understand sometimes, but he is making great strides with the therapist at school, Miss Cindy.
Roland loves to dance, do ninja fighting (pretty much the same as his dancing), and play Lego Hero Factory, Lego Ninjago, Kung Zhu ninja hamsters, and Star Wars light saber fighting. And he loves sticks. Are you sensing a theme here? His choice of toys & television is much older than it should be because of his older brothers - it's pretty hard to separate these things. He is also generally athletic and good with balls, but hasn't shown a distinct preference to a sport. I'm thinking about soccer for the fall as his first team sport but we'll see.
Roley started as a sunbeam in primary this year - he is the oldest in his class and the tallest too. (he's above the 90th % for height) He is not terrible in primary, but he has a ways to go before we can stop asking his teachers how things went every Sunday.
He still sleeps every night with his Minky Moo. We have been reading the Book of Mormon (kids comic book-type) as a family every morning early and he loves to bring his Minky downstairs for this. Otherwise we try to keep it up in his bed.
When Roland gets hurt he cries huge tears that drop all over everything and he needs to hear this: "Oh, Roland! That's awful!" And then he says, "And terrible!" Or we say terrible first and then he says awful - it's hilarious. This is true for everything from imagined hurts from his brothers to serious injuries.
He loves to take pictures and I often find tons of random shots of the floor, walls, and his toys on my camera. He loves the self-portrait of his feet or legs too.
When Roland is concentrating on something, especially if he is having a hard time, he will yell at anyone in the room to "Be Twiet!" Even if you aren't talking to him. Even if you aren't talking at all. Mostly this is directed at Mommy, but others too. Today he even told me. "Don't even breathe, Mommy."
He's a super jumpy kid. He loves trampolines, bouncy houses, jumping on beds or couches, and just seems to hop along through life.
He has a big gap between his front teeth just like Emmett. I love it and worry it will be gone when his permanent teeth come in.
He has the cutest buns in the whole world!

FHE Hip Hop Style

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:34:00 +0000

Alden & Emmett took an after school karate class this fall, and then Alden had golf and a Lego class. And Emmett has been taking a hip hop class. (We love that we can use our school contribution money that is tax deductible to pay for these classes!)

So tonight for Family Home Evening Emmett showed us the routine he's been learning. I even bought the Justin Bieber song so he can practice. And as soon as his routine ran out the other boys joined in with their best moves. And Aaron & I sat back and enjoyed the show.

Afterwards we worked on putting up the Christmas tree. We're planning to have all our decorations up this week since we are hosting a Carpenter Christmas party on Saturday.

His First Book Report

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 23:52:00 +0000

When we were in Flagstaff in January we visited Bookman's, our fave used bookstore, and had Alden join their kids program. When he reads 10 books they let him choose a new book to keep! We are only choosing chapter books that he reads himself, and it's so fun to see him sitting somewhere reading for an hour on a Saturday. I gave him a new spiral notebook to write his book reports in and this is what he came up with for his first one. We are proud of the reader he has become! Not to mention his serious writing skillz.

Our Soccer Stars

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 06:33:00 +0000

Alden & Emmett both played soccer this winter. It was a bit much for Emmett, who had played in the fall too, but he learned a lot & we convinced a bunch of his friends from the ward to join our team for the 2nd session. We had Alden play with his old team, back in our old neighborhood, because we love his coach! But it got a bit old driving him out there for practice. But we did enjoy seeing some old friends every week. And we sometimes had dinner with my parents, which is always fun.

I love these pictures of Emmett, who is always good for some funny faces or interesting hand positions. That kid is awesome! He has been making so many new friends too. Between our ward and his soccer team, I think he'll know at least 18 new kindergartners at the elementary school next year.

I NOT TREE, I TWO

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:51:00 +0000

For about a month before his birthday we asked Roland daily how old he was. Which he knew. But when we would talk about his birthday coming up and how he would turn three, he was always angry and said, "I not tree, I two!" But by the time the big day rolled around, we had finally convinced him.

The day before, Papa Carpenter had a big birthday party, which he graciously shared with Roley. We took Spiderman cupcakes with bright blue frosting and Nana gave Roley his own Spiderman! Can you tell he's obsessed? His preschool teachers tell us he also talks of Spiderman constantly at school. At least he can pronounce it fairly well now, for the last six months it's been my-a-man.

He woke up the morning of his birthday in his Spidey jammies, holding his new Spiderman. I made him a cute pin to wear to church over his fancy corduroy suit. He's like a little man.

We had the Blasnek family over for cake, ice cream & presents. Ma'am & Grampa got him a canopy for his new loft bed and we gave him some Toy Story Legos. Buzz & his Alien friend still get in a little playing time with Roley, especially since Spidey is too noisy to take to church.

The last year with Roland has been fabulous - he is a sweet and fun boy. He will give Mama loves and kisses anytime and runs bawling to me 10 times a day after "Emmett hurt me!" Yet he's the tough one who jumps his brothers constantly and loves to wrestle. He is more and more interested in book and reading stories and can sit still for a movie at the theater now. He is going to be a star soccer player next year, and wants to play golf too. We can't wait to see how he develops in the next year. We love our Ro Ro!

The Semi-Frozen North

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 01:03:00 +0000

My parents invited our family to share their timeshare in Flagstaff again this year and we were happy to take them up on it. It's been a few years since we've been and I'm a little glad we waited - I think things were much easier now that the boys are a little older.

We scrounged snow clothes for the boys and the boys played in the quickly-melting snow around the condo. When we arrived at 8pm, Roland wanted to go right out. We obligingly left him on the porch in his PJs, where he shivered for a minute and declared it too cold that night. But the next morning we suited the boys up and sent them out. While the sun wasn't great for the snow, it made it much more comfortable to be outside for more than few minutes.

I couldn't resist this picture of Roley crying with a face covered in snow. His brothers got a little rough.

We had a great few days, hitting McDonald's, Bookmans, church, redbox, etc. And on Monday we went sledding with the Rasmussens, who drove up just for the day. It was a beautiful, warm day, with lots of slushy hills. We left our camera in the car, but imagine Alden as the young daredevil, who would go off the tallest and steepest hills face down! He loved it so much and we're pretty sure he's going to become an Olympian in some winter sport. Emmett and Roland had fun too, going down the hills plenty of times. Roley constantly wanted to have a snowball fight and would throw handfuls of snow constantly while giggling - he's a cutie. Alden went off with the Rasmussens to build a snowman and have a real snowball fight. Kirk & Jody said that even when he had a faceful of snow, he was smiling wide and laughing. Here are a few shots from the car afterwards. We were all soaking wet because of the barely-there snow, and I loved Alden's face covered in dirt from going face first down the hills.

Thanks for inviting us, Ma'am and Grandpa - we want to go again next year!

My Baby Started School!

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:43:00 +0000

After a fairly quick and pain-free round of testing as soon as he turned the required 2 years and nine months old, Roland was accepted for the special needs preschool. His class is pretty much like a regular preschool, but extra focused on speech, which is the ONLY thing wrong with my perfect baby. (You get the sarcasm there, right?) This all means that on January 3rd Roland started preschool! He attends four days a week, for two and a half hours, but with the bus (which comes to our front door), he is gone from 8am until noon, Monday through Thursday. I have spent time in his class, which has about a dozen kids ages 3-5, a teacher, a full-time aide, and a speech therapist who is there one day a week. Roley LOVES it and also enjoys riding the bus every day. We are noticing small changes in his speech already, and anticipate big improvements in the next couple years. Barring unusually fast progress, we anticipate he will continue in this program until he starts kindergarten in two and a half years. I am so thankful for this free service from our school district.

A little shy posing for pictures on the 1st day

He is a Boulder Creek Bulldog and this is Teacher Julie

First day riding the bus all by himself

In far more important news - between Roland & Emmett's overlapping schedules, I now have a blissful 2.5 hours to myself, two days a week. One of those days I use for volunteering in Alden's classroom, but that other day... I can totally take a morning nap if I want!

The Amazing One

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 03:15:00 +0000

I am thankful for a fabulous husband who helps so much around the house. Often it seems like I'm the one helping out a bit while he does most of the work. Today he made a delicious pork roast dinner, with all the fixings, for our family and his parents & sisters. I didn't go into the kitchen the entire time. Then he served dinner to the boys & I; then cleaned up all the food. Isn't he amazing. And just now, while I was resting from my not-so-strenuous day, he was ironing the new shirts and pants that he recently picked out and bought for himself. He bought these because he also started a new job last month, where he works harder than ever and provides more than amply for our family. He's a keeper! And handsome!

And what was I doing today? Reading a book, watching football, and putting together our Christmas cards. I put the kids to bed too, including individual stories for each. I think we know who got the better end of the deal today. But I can't say how much I love Aaron, and how thankful I am that he wants to share the load with me. Thank you, sweetheart!

A Little Late for Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 05:21:00 +0000

Alden was a vampire for Halloween this year. But it wasn't until tonight that he completed his fang look. This is what his mouth has been looking like lately:

Minus the pizza sauce, of course, that's only there a couple times a week. One of his front teeth has been moving more & more towards center, but not getting much looser over the past couple months. Obviously the permanent tooth was coming in and I was debating going to the dentist to get it pulled. But after getting knocked in the mouth at basketball on Saturday, the tooth bled a bit & then turned black the next day. Out it goes. Too bad we had family pictures in the meantime. And too bad he smiles such a huge smile, showing off his crazy teeth. Oh well.

But at FHE tonight, my mom came prepared (she's a hygienist). She brought numbing gel & used the kitchen table. Here's the process:

A few minutes later & we have this:

All he wants for Christmas is his two front teeth! He won't be this way for long though, you can already see the permanent tooth pushing through. Thanks, Maam!

Dressing Up

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:17:00 +0000

My trick or treaters this year:

While Mom & Dad attended a fancy dinner at the Biltmore for ASU Homecoming:

And then Sunday night the boys handed out candy at our house. They loved it! Their costumes? Old shirts of mine that I intended to make into a quilt (yeah right!) and now serve as darling nightshirts. My first t-ball team, my first year at girls camp, and my junior high softball shirt that has my nickname on the back (Bookworm). They let me be the manager since my skills weren't quite up to snuff.

Please vote!

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Thu, 27 May 2010 04:13:00 +0000

Somehow this is the most important thing I've voted for in a while. I know, I'm seriously deficient. Don't tell Aaron.

Easter on a Farm

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 18:47:00 +0000

We spent this morning at a local farm near our new house (we moved the end of Feb). Every Saturday Superstition Farm has tours, but today they also had an Easter brunch and an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Despite some long waits and a fairly grumpy two-year-old, we had a great time checking out the animals, learning about the dairy farm, and enjoying the products of the farm: buttermilk for the pancakes and eggs for our breakfast burritos.

We were sorry to miss conference, but are trying to make plans for the kids so we can enjoy as many words from the prophets as possible the rest of the weekend.

Happy Easter!

In the Blink of an Eye

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:12:00 +0000

Roland turned two years old on Saturday. I no longer have any babies, only toddlers and crazy boys. I find this both sad and exhilirating. Roley is the sweetheart of the family, although he has recently discovered the joys of screaming for no reason. He adores his older brothers and is completely infatuated with our dog, Bella. He is even sweet to Mom & Dad most of the time & will give kisses. Ro-Ro loves balls and cars and anything train related. I swear he could watch Thomas for hours. He's still pretty attached to his Minky-Moo blanket and holds it while he sucks his thumb. He's been a little bit slower on the talking that his brothers, but his vocabulary is increasing steadily and we're starting to understand what he's saying most of the time.

Here he is the morning of his birthday. The brothers often sit with their blankets, sucking their thumbs, and watching cartoons early in the morning. You can see his sippy cup of milk, which he calls "cars." He always asks for "cars" and could go through 8 cups a day if we let him. All the sippy cups we use for his milk have pictures from the Pixar Cars movie. So he never says milk, just "cars."

Saturday was also moving day for Roley's Autie Candice & family, so we had Jaycee over to play all morning. These two love & hate each other. Just like siblings. I think they will be very close growing up and it was fun to see them ride on the glider together - that's a new skill for Ro.

After an early nap - we started Roley's birthday party. We planned a fun-filled afternoon for our family of five to enjoy. We started with a late lunch at Chick-Fil-A, which is everyone's favorite. Roley followed the cow mascot around the restaurant, loved the play place, got balloons & cow presents, and ate tons of chicken & Oreo shake.

From there we drove to McCormick Ranch Railroad Park, where Roland was in heaven and just ran around crazy saying, "choo choo! choo choo!" We rode the big train (Alden & Emmett rode in the cattle car!), and the carousel, and checked out the extensive playground for a while. All the boys really liked to room full of model trains too. Then we had Roley's birthday cupcakes and gave him his present - a new lawnmower! He was always running around the backyard with the old, garage-sale one we had, even though it had lost two wheels. We figured it was time to upgrade.

For a final treat, we took all three boys to the dollar theater to see Planet 51. It was Roland's first time in a theater and he did pretty well. We got home just in time for bed and to exclaim what a fun family day it was. I'm really glad we chose to do this rather than a more traditional birthday party for Roley. We love him so!

First First Day of School

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:44:00 +0000

Alden started kindergarten. Hooray! and sigh. but no cries. He's only four, and we did have him signed up for pre-K, but that program was cut with the budget crunch. So full day kindergarten, here we come. He loves it so much and can't stop talking about it when we pick him up every day. He goes to MacArthur, which is where I spent seven years of my childhood. He loves his teacher, Mrs. Harvey, and is making new friends in his class every day. He is always telling me about a new kid that he knows now. We were happy to have Hailey Bastian in his class, from Miss Peggy's preschool - so at least he had one friend on the first day. His buddy Kaleb Rasmussen is in the class next to him and they see each other often.

Movie-time Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 03:42:00 +0000

The old Superstition Springs dollar theater has been closed for a year or so but was bought out and refurbished. They re-opened today but had a special free pre-screening yesterday in conjunction with the kid's club at the mall. I took Alden & Emmett to see Tales of Despereaux. The boys were pretty good while we waited in line for 45 minutes. Emmett only pushed other kids twice. And they didn't even fall down. The theater even gave out free kids packs (popcorn/soda/candy) to everyone. Alden was perfect during the movie, but I think we need to wait another year for Emmett. He did okay, but left by himself twice. He wanted to play the video games in the lobby. It was fun though - even with Emmett's meltdown as we walked to the car about leaving his (empty) soda in the theater. That's what I get for thinking he can skip his naptime. (He fell asleep on the way home and napped for an hour when we got back.)

Emmy's a big boy

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:12:00 +0000

I'm just going to write this post and totally ignore the fact that I haven't posted to this blog in 2 1/2 months. More on that later.

This week Emmett and I are working on potty training. And it seems to be going pretty well. He finally started acting interested and ready in the last few weeks. He's been taking his diaper off when he's wet. And he even insisted he needed to go potty one night last week (after we put him to bed, of course). And he actually did. Miracle.

I worry that things have gone so well because he's been a bit sick and not drinking nearly as much as usual. So while we go sit on the potty 20 times a day, he only goes 3 or 4. Not many accidents though. He's learned that when the kitchen timer goes off - it's time to head into the bathroom.

Yesterday was good and Emmett filled up the rest of his potty chart. It has 15 circles on it and he gets to choose a sticker every time he goes. He's filled up 2 charts now and somehow he decided he was getting gum for this one. We've never really let the boys have gum, so it's the mystery of the thing I guess. All three boys and I were dressed and at the store before 8am this morning. Emmett picked out some watermelon Hubba Bubba and I let Alden get something sugar free. Here is our big boy showing off his accomplishments.

Our Little Bob the Builders

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:43:00 +0000

My friend, Jody, gave out the cutest gifts this year. They were gingerbread house kits. There were foil covered boards, graham crackers, royal icing in ready-to-squeeze bags, and plenty of candies for decorating. And it was all wrapped up in plastic and tied with a gorgous bow. Such a great idea!

We had Jody's son, Kaleb, over to play a few days after Christmas and decided to occupy the boys with a little building. We built the houses and started out like this:

Poor Emmett's house quickly deteriorated to this:

And then this:

And finally this:

But Alden and Kaleb were very meticulous and did a bang up job on their houses. Thanks for the kits, Jody. And thanks for letting Kaleb come to play and show us how to decorate.

After our little builders finished we met up with the Rasmussens & the Eggers at the park for a little picnic and playfest. We were happy to get a little time to spend with Jeanna & Jason, who were visiting from California. We miss them!

Visiting the House of the Lord

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 06:38:00 +0000

Aaron and wanted to attend the temple during his time off work and finally harangued someone into babysitting the morning after Christmas. (Thanks, Candice!) We have been out of the habit a bit and are really enjoying the temple again, especially together.

As I sat in the session, I paid strict attention to every word, wanting to learn and grow. I know the temple is full of symbolism and I was racking my brain, trying to gain more insights and figure out all the pieces of the puzzle. Then I realized that gospel answers don't come that way, through the brain. Although studying is a big part of learning, I remembered that all understanding comes through the Spirit and that I needed to sit back and listen with different ears.

As I realized this and began to soak up the words with all my senses, I did gain a little understanding. I was very touched to see an elderly woman in a wheelchair helped by her companion and a sweet temple worker. This woman could not physically do the things required of her in the temple and these other two women did everything for her. I was suddenly overcome with the realization that that's a huge part of what the temple is about. Doing something for others who can not physically do it for themselves. This little thought made my day and left me feeling refreshed and anxious to go to The House of the Lord again soon.

Who wants to babysit in January?

A Long & Lovely Christmas Day

noreply@blogger.com (tarable) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 05:54:00 +0000

Our Christmas was wonderful and jam-packed with family and fun. Santa Claus found our house and apparently the boys had been good this year. (Who am I to argue with Santa?) Here are a few pre-shots. Roley got new bath toys. Don't look too closely at the year on his My First Christmas stocking. He will have his own by next year. Luckily I finished Emmett's last week so Santa could fill it with lots of goodies. His is the burgandy one next to the cool new pirate ship. Alden Bear got a cool new Disney video game from Santa.

And here are some after shots of everyone playing with their new toys. We had lots of fun just being together as a family and enjoying the gifts. I know my boys are growing up and I'm trying to treasure this time together while they are small. Roley is 11 months and could sense the excitement but will really be getting in on the fun next year.

We had a big, yummy breakfast planned, but decided to save it for later and just grazed on whatever we could find to prolong the fun of Christmas morning. Suddenly it was time to get dressed and head to Ma'am and Grandpa's for some time with the Blasneks.

We loved spending a few hours with my parents and Tami's family. The cousins always get along so well. My Gramma Blasnek was there too - she is content to sit in the corner and quietly watch all the action. My mom made all our favorites - crepes (really blintzes), blueberry muffins, and a breakfast casserole. Everyone took turns opening the mountain of presents, with Grandpa handing them out as usual. Here he is with all of his grandkids. Some look happier than others to be with him.

My Dad always saves his own, small stack of presents until the end. I had spent a lot of time making him a special book and we all enjoyed watching him open it - then cry a bit as he read it. It was all about why his children and grandchildren love him, complete with pictures of him and all of us over the years. I was so thankful to my Mom and Tami for helping me complete it.

I love this picture of our family, despite the blurriness. I am not loving my new camera, a Sony Cybershot. There is a distinct possibility that I am an idiot and just don't know how to use it, but my pictures are just not turning out well & I miss my Cannon PowerShot.

We returned home in time to get Emmett and Roland down for naps and tried to get a little rest ourselves. Aaron made a delicious pork roast in the crock pot and we enjoyed the aroma all day. We watched a little football and had a fabulous dinner. Then Nana & Papa (Carpenter) came to visit and exchange a few presents. They got Aaron and I a digital thermostat, which I am eager to install. Candice and Jaycee made it over right after that and more gifts changed hands. Candice made the cutest wooden blocks for the boys - she Mod Podged pictures of the boys on the fronts. Even Roley loves playing with them.

We are blessed to have so much family around us during the holidays. We were happy to see many of them on Christmas day, and still save some time for just the five of us. I hope everyone else had as lovely a day as we did.