Elf Disco!

Andrew's Big Day

Andrew was BAPTIZED yesterday!

We are so grateful that he chose to take this important step in his life.

We rounded everyone up for a quick photo after. It wasn't easy!

(Note Brandon's improvement from his beard.)

Here are also a few pictures from some recent events in Andrew's life:

He had a rock-climbing birthday party last month, and scrambled up the walls over and over just like a spider!

I also made him a Pokemon birthday cake. Anyone who knows him right now knows he is what we call, "Pokemon loco!"

(I was quite pleased with the cake. Makes me feel like a regular Martha Stewart--anyone who knows me can just say ha ha!)

On November 23 he lost a front tooth. The other one is now very loose, so he will soon be singing, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"

Our kids lose teeth really late. Yes, he is 8, and he's only lost 3 teeth.

He had me pull his tooth out, which was the first time I'd done that for one of my kids.

Mountain Man

Last month Brandon grew a beard. There was a beard-growing contest at work to raise money for Toys for Tots, and Brandon put the razor down for 4 weeks. Now we know what his beard looks like:

Kids Are Hard On Things!

In one day recently:

We Survived!

Actually, we more than just survived. I really enjoyed the no TV, no video game thing. When the TV did come back on (oh, there was no hope that it wouldn't!), it was quite a shock to my senses. I had gotten used to the (relative) quiet in our home. The first week was the hardest, with Aidan in particular. He would request to watch a show all the time, and sometimes I really wanted him to!! But he got much better at entertaining himself with toys and books, and I played with him a lot more. I am limiting his TV watching much more than I did before, but I must say it is very nice to put on a show for him while I'm getting Logan down for a nap. We are also limiting video game time and TV for the older boys more, and so far, so good.

Computer time was much harder for me. My laptop is on the kitchen desk, and I found myself wanting to just "check" things all the time! I mostly resisted, and mostly limited myself to being online once a day for e-mail and finances. Mostly. I did realize, however, that computer usage is a serious time-management issue for me, and I need to work on it.

My reader said I missed 296 entries from friends & family during my blogging absence. Yikes! And I'm thinking to myself, "How on earth did I ever think I'd have time to blog?!" But I shall continue to try and carve some time out!

Media Fast

I haven't posted anything for quite awhile! We took a trip to Disneyland (so much fun, and needs its own post), then I had a horrendous bout with allergies and got a bad cold (not so much fun, it won't get its own post). With recovering from the trip and cold, I haven't been much of a blogger lately, though I've looked forward to starting up again. And then...

Sunday in Sacrament meeting, our Bishop challenged the families in the ward to go on a "media fast" for a month. This means no TV, video games, texting, computers, etc. I'm still going to check e-mail and do my finances on the computer, but will try to limit that to once a day. Several people from the ward council had been asked to do this for the month of August, and they spoke and gave their experiences. In some ways, I'm sure it will be very difficult, but in others I'm very much looking forward to it. I won't be blogging this month, but I'll be back!

p.s. I wrote this on Oct 1, then realized I never posted it, so I'm doing it today, Oct. 8.

Out on a Limb...

Not a limb exactly, but my neighbor's roof. The other day Colin came running to me after playing with his friend Adam and excitedly said, "Mom, we were up on Adam's roof!!!" I'm not sure what kind of response he was expecting, but he certainly didn't get a "Good job, son!" for that. You can go here to read more about this adventure.

LOTOJA Classic 2008

1 DAY

3 STATES

206 MILES

1000 CYCLISTS

SEPTEMBER 6

This past Saturday, Brandon rode the LOTOJA Classic. It began in Logan, Utah and ended in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (thus the name: LOgan TO JAckson). Brandon had a ride time of just over 11 hrs, and was in the top third of his class. This was the pinnacle of the season for him, and he trained pretty rigorously for it. It must have paid off, because he said he was still feeling strong at the end, though a bit sore in spots. On top of it all, it was on his birthday!! Happy birthday, and congratulations, honey!

Hopefully we'll be able to get some good pictures to post later.

Thoughts on Parenting

Logan's not crawling yet, but he's sure trying hard!

Today I took Logan in for his 6-month checkup. He's doing great, coming in at 14 lb 4 oz, 26" long, and his head is in the 25th percentile (very small for our family--we're usually in the 90s!). He had gone from 25th to 5th % for weight, which is the norm for my kids. As long as he's a good eater, the pediatrician says it is just a sign of how active he is. I couldn't help but compare both my attitude and the doctor's to my experience with Liam as a baby. He also dropped in his growth curve significantly over the first year, but by the time he was 1 yr old the (different) doctor had him on a high-fat, high-calorie diet, he was going in for weight checks every week, and they were running all sorts of blood tests to see what was wrong. They didn't turn up anything. Eventually, Brandon's mom found his baby records, which turned out to be almost identical to Liam's. Now we know that "travel-size kids" just run in our family. I love being a mom for the 5th time around instead of the 1st!

Our high school marching band at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade last year

But at the same time, I'm still hitting all the firsts with Liam. This week he had the opportunity to sign up for 5th grade band as an after-school program. He wasn't interested at all, even after our fabulous high school marching band came and played for their school and he thought it was very cool. I would love to provide him with the chance to belong to a group like that. I think his reticence is mainly because he doesn't like the unknown, but how far do I push him? He did sign up for chorus instead, which is also great. And, of course, he's taking piano from a fabulous teacher (hee hee), in Cub Scouts, and playing soccer. Maybe Andrew will want to be in band in a few years...(oh no, am I just trying to live through my children?!).

And my last thought for today: 2-yr olds will be 2-yr olds, especially when all their entertaining brothers are away at school. I heard, "See my rainbow!" several times before I went to see it, and it was a beautiful pink one, indeed.

Luckily it washed off without any problems, and he got to draw circles on paper afterwards.

My First Tag! "46 Different Questions Answered"

I've seen all those fun tags out there, and didn't last a week as a blogger without getting one. Thanks for thinking of me, Zippy, and sorry it took me so long to get around to it!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No. Annalise (the e at the end is pronounced, like Annalisa) is a Danish name. Both of my parents served LDS missions to Denmark, and heard it there.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Probably watching the Olympics. Happy tears.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Not particularly.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Honey-smoked Turkey Breast

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? 5 boys!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I would hope so!

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Never! Well, maybe occasionally. I just have to be careful around my kids!

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yep.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No, because as a mom I wouldn't take a chance like that.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Lucky Charms (I have to fight my boys for them)

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? I hardly ever wear any that tie, but yes when I do.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I'm still stronger than my oldest son (probably not for much longer, though)

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Any!

14. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Whether they are kind and sincere, or not.

15. RED OR PINK? Definitely red (5 boys, remember?)

16.WHAT DON'T YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF? What to choose? I'm terrible at managing my time.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Good friends who now live far away.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Nope. I just like reading your blog entries and comments on mine (hint, hint).

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Khaki shorts and bare feet.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? My boys' leftover pizza.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The most beautiful sound in the world: A silent baby monitor.

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? I've never been able to pick a favorite color!

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Cool rain, newly mown grass, freshly bathed babies.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My husband.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Very much!

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Whatever my own kids are playing. And the Olympics (slight difference in skill level there).

27. HAIR COLOR? Brown

28. EYE COLOR? Hazel

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes

30. FAVORITE FOOD? Anything I don't have to make.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings--I really dislike scary movies.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? The "Sound of Music."

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Light blue.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? I love both seasons, and am glad neither of them last forever (am I just indecisive?!)

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Both!

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Anything with chocolate!

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I'll have to wait and see.

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? See #37

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? "Sarah's Quilt" (sequel to my all-time favorite "These is My Words") by Nancy Turner.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Don't have one.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Didn't watch.

42. FAVORITE SOUND? My kids laughing (once on an airplane a fellow passenger said my kids sounded like cartoon characters)

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? London, England

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I love to play and teach the piano.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Salt Lake City

It Never Fails...

At 8:45 tonight (already late bedtime for a school night) I went upstairs to help boys finish getting their teeth brushed, and found the beds all looking like this:

Aargh! I do this every single time! I had the boys all throw their sheets in the washer this morning, and got them all washed and dried. But did I remember the all-critical step of actually putting the sheets back on the bed?! No, of course not! That would break my streak of never remembering to do this until bedtime.

If I was smart I would break down and buy enough sheets so that I could put clean ones on as soon as the old ones are taken off.

(But hey, check out those cool bunk beds. Those were once rough pieces of lumber in our garage that were amazingly transformed by Brandon. And his tools . . . lots of tools.)

First Day of Kindergarten!

After waiting a whole week after his brothers started school, Colin had his first day of kindergarten today. As far as I could tell, it was a success. He had two recesses and got to dance the Hokey Pokey. And, of course, that's what it's all about.

First Day of School!

Liam and Andrew started school today. I can't believe how fast the summer went by. I'm not totally ready to say good bye to them every morning! We've actually had a great summer together, and I know for certain that Aidan especially will be missing them a lot. Poor kid, once Colin starts kindergarten next week, Aidan's going to have to rely on mommy for entertainment, at least until Logan's ready to play.

We made slushies after school, so Liam and Andrew could cool down after their hot walk home (Colin had some friends over):

I can't believe that Liam is already in 5th grade, and Andrew is in 2nd. You always hear that kids grow up so fast, and I guess it must be because it is true!

300 Warriors

Yesterday Brandon participated in the "300 Warriors" road race, which is part of the Tour of Utah. This is the description from the website:

On the fourth and most demanding day in "America's toughest stage race," 300 citizen warriors will precede the professional teams by 4 hours. Their goal: ride 98 miles and scale 14,778 vertical feet, a feat representing over 28% of the horizontal distance and almost half the climbing in the five-day Tour of Utah stage race. Finishing this ride is the equivalent to riding the Tour de France’s Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Télégraphe, Col du Galibier and Alpe d’Huez.

The race started in Park City, went through Kamas, Francis, and Midway, came down Provo Canyon, up past Sundance and over the Alpine Loop, down American Fork Canyon, up and over Suncrest, and finished up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Check out those huge climbs. Yikes!

The boys and I went to cheer him on at the top of Suncrest. They were great at encouraging all the riders who passed! Here we are waiting for him:

And here Brandon is nearing the summit of Suncrest:

Brandon had said his goals were 1) to finish and 2) to finish ahead of the pro racers, which he did by about 1 1/2 hours (his total time was around 6 1/2 hours). A motivating factor at the very end (of course on a very steep section!), was that Liam was waiting at the finish line. He had ridden all day with my sister Jenni, who drove the support vehicle for Brandon's group (thanks again, Jenni!). Shouts of, "Go, Daddy!" kept Brandon muscling on to the grueling end. Way to go Brandon!

Swimming and the Olympics

8:45 am rolls around on the early side of things at my home (I just can't seem to make myself become a morning person), but I signed up the three oldest boys for swimming lessons at that time, nonetheless. Mostly because that was just about the only time when all three lessons could be at the same time, and the daycare would be open for Aidan. We did one session in June at a lovely 11:30 time, but I wanted them to have one more session this summer to really have it sink in, and just to give them something to do.

I am proud to report that the first week of lessons went swimmingly--we were on time to each one. And then the Olympics started, and the boys have stayed up a little too late, and I have stayed up a lot too late. I let Andrew & Colin skip lessons on Tuesday because they were too tired (Liam still went), and we all ended up ditching today, the last day (Liam would have gone, but he was coughing all night long, and I didn't think swimming would help that any).

It's a little ironic that we missed swimming lessons because we were watching Olympic swimming. But really, watching Michael Phelps make history is just too cool to miss! I also love the gymnastics, and end up getting sucked into any other event that is on. Normally Brandon and I don't watch much TV, let alone sports, but the Tour de France for Brandon and the Olympics for us both are an exception. My boys were shocked when they saw me turning the TV on to watch the first day. "Mom, I thought only Dad liked stuff like this." It's nice to know I can still surprise them now and then.

King of Dessert

Liam eating an ice cream cone in 2005

Liam eating an ice cream cone in 2008: I think he's gotten messier!

Grandpa Dave reminded me of a story about Liam when we were at a restaurant. The waitress asked if anyone would like dessert, and Liam's hand shot up in the air, "I do!" He's still like that today: ruled by his sweet tooth. I have to say, he comes by it naturally.

Fence Finished!

For the past 6 weeks, I've been waiting for our fence to be finished. Today it finally happened! I now feel like I can send 2-yr old Aidan out into the backyard and not have to worry about him hightailing it out of there down the street, or into the church parking lot, or into a neighbor's house (all of which he has done in the past, of course). Since the sliding door into the backyard is the only one that Aidan can currently unlock by himself, I'm hoping his escaping escapades are at an end. Well, as long as the older boys remember to keep the doors and gates closed/locked!

Ha, he can't escape!

(Yes, we know that tree has to go--it's entirely too close to the gate)

Several factors made up the 6 week wait from the time the posts were installed. First, we wanted to put in a cement mow strip so we don't have to weed whack against the fence all the time. Brandon did the first 70' in the back, and was doing a beautiful job, but it was just taking up a ton of time. Since we ended up being out of town the first 3 weekends in July, we decided to hire out the remaining 150 ft. Let's just say that the guy I hired to do it was a little less than quick about it (and difficult to understand!). After that was done, the scheduling guy at the fence company goofed things up a couple of times (like not scheduling us when he told us he had, oops).

The boys were very excited to get their names in concrete!

The lawn took a beating throughout the process, since sprinkler lines were damaged when the posts were installed (and the phone line--we had to have an entirely new one buried because they hadn't marked where it was correctly! Luckily we didn't have to pay for it) and then we had to leave some sprinklers off a bit for the concrete to cure. It's on its way to recovery, though!

We put a shorter section in the front with plans to landscape against it and disguise the very attractive grate there.

Conniving Colin

What, me?

The other morning, Colin asked for milk on his cereal--again. This is highly unusual behavior for him, since he generally prefers it dry (don't ask me why). After several mornings of this, I commented that he must have decided he now likes milk. He said, "Mom, do you know why I've been asking for milk?" "Why?" I ask, somewhat suspicious now. "If I have milk on my cereal, we'll run out of milk faster, and then we'll have to go to the store, where we can buy more Pokemon cards."

Aha! It all makes sense now. The problem for me is that things like this are fairly routine for him. He just thinks things through and then connives to get his way. I don't even want to imagine what this could mean for the teen years. (We did buy more milk, but his milk sacrifice was in vain: he was out of money for more cards).

Ahhh, Sweet Sleep!

Logan slept for an 8-hr stretch last night. Hurray! That's the best he's ever done, and I felt so refreshed this morning. I was starting to feel like I'd never get some decent shut-eye, since for the previous week he'd been getting up not once, not twice, but THREE times a night, positively screaming each time. I'm sorry, but at 5 months old that's just not acceptable (I know it could be teething or something, but still . . . my grumpiness threshold with my older kids was getting a bit on the low side). Oh, how I hope last night wasn't just a fluke.

Over the past week I've also switched from swaddling him and putting him in the swing during his naps to just laying him in his crib. He rolls all over the place and fusses a little bit, but goes to sleep fairly quickly. I'm liking this, too!

Nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby! (Logan in June)

Summer Adventures So Far

I had grandiose plans for our summer. Every week we were going to go on at least one outing and explore the rich natural and cultural heritage our area has to offer. To date we have made it on zero of those local outings, and 8 of our 11 weeks of summer break are gone. I feel rather pathetic, but at least the boys don't seem to mind. I learned long ago not to tell them of any potential plans unless it is practically time to load up the van!

We haven't just stayed home, however. We took several trips up to Idaho, the first at the beginning of June, and then again over the 4th of July. My grandma passed away while we were up there (she was 94 and had had a massive stroke a few months before, so in many ways it was really a blessing), so we were up again one week later for her funeral.

The view from my parents' driveway...ahhh, so nice!

Grandpa giving cousins Nikoli, Andrew, and Colin a ride

We also spent a night in Park City, with the idea that Brandon was going to get up early in the morning and go on a huge bike ride as training for some events later this summer. But, taking the family kiboshed the big plans; we played on the Alpine Slide and kiddie rides instead, and Brandon rode a smaller, but still substantial ride that day. (He did get in the originally planned 100 mile route yesterday, which had 3 major mountain climbs in it!)

Liam at the end of a wild ride down the Alpine Slide!

A few weeks ago we had a great time at the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City with all of Brandon's family. I got to see all 6 plays this year (loved them!), Brandon saw three of them and got in some golfing and a bike ride, and the kids swam and played hard with their cousins. I left Logan either with Brandon or at the daycare during the plays, and he never once would take a bottle. Darn! Luckily, they said he was really good even without it, though a few times he was very glad to see me.

Last weekend we had a reunion with my mom's family at the Heber Valley Camp, and we had a lot of fun. Marshmallow gun kits were provided for the kids, which of course my boys were all over. They went on some hikes, and went boating at the end of the day.

Colin planning his next marshmallow attack

Out on the lake with Dad (Logan was sleeping with me on shore)

There has also been a lot of jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler under it, a session of swimming lessons, teaching my piano students, a neighborhood craft class, trips to the library, and plenty of downtime. Oh good, now I don't feel as pathetic as I did when I was only thinking of the things we didn't do!

Entering the Blogging World

Peer pressure! That's why I've started this blog. One person even published a dare on her own blog a while ago for me to start one (it took me a while though, Christy), and I've been absolutely hounded by certain family members (you know who you are). Okay, it really hasn't been that bad. But as I've read and admired everyone else's blogs, I have found myself writing little blog entries in my head. I have also really enjoyed keeping up with people through their blogs, so I'm going to take the plunge. I'm looking forward to journaling our lives and staying in touch or reconnecting with friends and family.

Favorite Blog Links

I stole this idea from my friend Zippy so I don't have such a cluttered sidebar.

Family Bloggers

• Chad and Shauna (log-in required)
• Johanna and Matt
• Jason & Mandy
• Melyssa & Carlos
• Sue & John
• Patrice & Allen
• Amy & Zach
• Cassie's Mission
• Jane & Holly
• Addy
• Betsy & Clint

Friends We Live By Now

• Baby Gracie
• Larna
• JoDell
• Holly & Travis
• Rob & Kristina

Friends We Met in California (but don't necessarily live there now!)

• Christy & Eric
• Alicia & Matt
• Marianne & Clint
• Marisa & Eric
• Amber & Brent
• Maureen & Randy
• Heidi & Brad

Friends from College

• Amy & Jason
• Zippy & J-rod
• Jenna