Preschool Christmas Program

I'm sorry, Emily. I know you reminded me to take video of this cute little production, but the batteries weren't charged. It's a valid excuse, but talk about a disappointment. We're stuck with dumb camera phone pictures.

Evan didn't want to wear the Santa hat or shake the bells, but he sang his heart out. "Who's got a beard that's long and white? Santa's got a beard that's long a white!..." You know the song. Too bad no video:I'm really glad our school has mostly ignored the Winter Party theme that I guess is PC now and has kept the Christmas Party. One more reason I love our school, we get to celebrate Christmas!

Edie and Kendall (her BFF) wanted in on the photo shoot. Evan was ready for cookies by this time.

Grandpa took us bowling

on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
We discovered Uncle Bryan is a pretty good bowler, but Aunt Karin can bowl while holding a baby.

Disneyland!

We hadn't been to Disneyland since Dean was a toddler. But we still weren't going to go during our Thanksgiving trip because it takes lots of dollars to get my little family in the gates. My SoCal family has annual passes and go all the time. (As in, "Hmmm, what should we do for FHE tonight? I know, lets go ride Small World and Buzz.") And then my gorgeous sister Karin said, or was it texted?, "Would you go if we could get you some free tickets?" Yes, please! Turns out their landlord works at Disneyland and could get 3 of us in for free. And Evan was free as long as we went before his 3rd birthday on the 29th. So that meant we had to buy 2 kids tickets for Dean and Edie and we were in. Not bad at all!

We decided to make it a surprise for the kids. I think we could have made it all the way into the park without them picking up on it, but there was a little bit of traffic and they wanted to know why we were stopped on this random side street of Aneheim. "That sign says Disney Way. Is that by Disneyland? Are all those people going to Disneyland? ARE WE GOING TO DISNEYLAND??" :)

After a short sprint through Downtown Disney to meet Bill the Landlord at the gates before he had to get back to work, we were ready to roll. I really enjoyed introducing Edie and Evan to Disneyland, and Drew and Dean to the big kid rides.
Evan was thrilled to be driving a real car!

My mom was driven around by Dean.

Pie's attempt at making the photo an action shot.

Evan was totally mesmerized by the Small World puppets.

Edie loves the horses on the huge carousel.

Evan was just barely tall enough, so we all got to ride the Matterhorn together.

I'm so glad we got to go to Disneyland with Karin's family, Jill and mom. I know it'll be a few more years before we go again.

October 2009

So I just wrote the title and now I'm thinking to myself, October was so stinkin busy! How am I going to fit it all into one short (?) blog post?

We begin at the beginning. Pie had the first weekend of October off of school. Rather than spend time together as a family (who does that anymore?? jk!) We decided to divide and conquer. Pie took the blondies somewhere, I don't remember where because it was a whole month ago and no pictures to remind me. Maybe to Fairy Tale Town? And I took the brownies to Six Flags. Highlights of the trip included Dean's first experience on an upside down coaster, which he rode 4 times, the last one by himself because both Drew and I were sick of it:We also got to see an elephant poop up close and Drew won a T-shirt during the pre-Shouka Show quiz show.

The next weekend was a Webelos field trip to the KCRA3 news station. We went on a tour of the studio with Dirk Verdorn the weather guy, watched a taping of the 6:00 news, met Del Rogers the sports guy (who let the boys try on his Super Bowl ring!), and then played with the green screen. I liked it as much as the boys did!


Evan is still our adorable stinker. Here he is after trying to slice a non-boiled egg:A little update from the last post. He is doing great with sleeping. YAY! Leaving him with babysitters, aunts, dad and nursery leaders has also greatly improved. For one week I took him everywhere with me. If I couldn't take him, I didn't go. After that week, it was Sunday and time to go to Nursery class. Pie took him aside as he was beginning his routine tantrum and offered the most successful bribe I've ever heard, "If you don't cry during Nursery today, you and I will play Punch Out when we get home." Punch Out is Evan's favorite Wii game that he doesn't get to play all that much because we only play the Wii on Fridays and Saturdays and then he has to share with everyone. So a Sunday game of Punch Out with no sharing was perfect. I married a brilliant man.

And somehow that brings us to Halloween. I'm sure there were other things in there, but they are lost in the foggy parts of my brain I guess.
Dean was Mario, from Mario Bros.Drew was Little Mack, from the afore mentioned Punch Out.Evan was the cutest Mickey Mouse ever.And Edie shocked us all when instead of a Big Cat, she chose to be a witch. (Actually, she first planned on a cheetah, but we couldn't find cheetah print fabric at the fabric store and leopard print was so wrong because leopards climb trees and cheetahs run fast and Edie runs fast so it had to be cheetah fabric. Did you follow that? I had a hard time, too.)
We trick or treated with our neighbors and then came back early to trick or treat some more with our cousins!Which reminds me...Did anyone get a picture of Uncle Mike in his TeleTubby costume?

Evan, our adorable stinker

Evan is giving me a run for my money. Why am I so completely clueless as how to handle him? He is my fourth toddler! I should be an old pro by now, but alas, Evan isn't like the others. Being honest, I guess none of them were the same and I had to learn with all of them. Still, I'm frustrated.

We are having two major battles, one I seem to be winning, one not:

#1 Will Evan sleep all night? Finally? After almost 3 years? The answer lately is Maybe. My current solution is nothing less than bribery. If he will sleep all night... no, correction: if he will let me sleep all night, then Evan gets to have 5 or 10 minutes first thing in the morning to play on my iphone. He loves the iphone and plays games or youtubes or music for as long as I will let him. But he doesn't get it if he wakes me up, so he is getting creative. Lately he will wake up, take a blanket and pillow into Edie's room and sleep the rest of the night on her floor. Which is fine by me. He doesn't wake her up, he feels better, everyone is happy in the morning. Battle #1, almost over.

#2 Will Evan let me leave the house without him? The answer is No way, not without a major fit. This also applies to going to Nursery at church without me. For the last couple of months whenever he thinks I'm walking towards the door he shouts, "Wait for me! Don't leave!" over and over. If I do have to go somewhere without him, he cries and cries, which is sad for Pie who is usually staying with him. He throws a HUGE tantrum whenever it's time for Nursery which I can't understand because he has loved it for a year and a half and loves his teacher. They can't keep him in there like that so Pie usually takes him because I have other responsibilities during church time. It seems the only time Pie gets to spend with him, Evan is screaming. What is going on?? Anyone have any ideas? Is it just regular seperation anxiety a little later than normal? Pie and I talked about it today and are going to try out some ideas this week. But I'd like to get more opinions, especially if you used them on a cranky toddler and the problem magically disappeared.

But, as long as he's not screaming his head off, Evan is just as adorable as ever. I share with you one example of his cuteness: Last week Evan was opening a fun size package of starburst, the kind with 2 candies in it. One of the candies was red. I said, "Oh, red starburst is my favorite!" He thought for a second and said, "Here Mom. Do you want it? Say no thank you." Love it!


(This is my first attempt at uploading a video using blogger. Hopefully it will work. It's Evan rocking out to his current fave song, Slow Ride by Fogart, on the iphone)

Researching the Gecko

Drew wants a gecko. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe because we've said no to every other pet. Maybe because his good friend at school has a menagerie of reptiles at his house and Drew thinks that is cool.

He approached Pie and I about a month ago with a proposition. He would save his money and buy everything, the tank, the heater, the fake rocks, the food and the gecko. He would take care of it completely. The tank would be in his room. I would never have to see it if I didn't want to. (He knows how I get the willies in the Reptile House at the zoo)

My first response was "Absolutely not!" But then Pie talked with me about it. He reminded me how there are so many things that we say no to. Things that we really don't want in our home. Not just other pets, but video games for teens and other technology for the kids that "all their friends have". And now I wanted to say no again, because I'm not a fan of reptiles. So I agreed, with conditions. While saving up all that money, he has to keep a pet fish alive in his room, with no help from us, and we have to really do our research, to make sure Drew wants all the responsibility that comes from being a pet owner.

Currently, Stanley Yelnats the Betta is swimming in a perfectly clean bowl on Drew's top shelf in his room. And Drew has almost half of the money he'll need for a gecko and all of its stuff. So let the researching begin...

Yesterday we went to the Reptile Expo that came to Sacramento. We saw all kinds of animals, the gecko breeder was very informative and then Drew saw the Baby Bearded Dragons:Apparently, bearded dragons grow to be 2 feet long! Drew now thinks that he can continue with his plan in getting a gecko and prove to me how wonderful it is to be reptile owners and then add a bearded dragon to his collection.

"Absolutely not!"


The other pictures are thanks to Evan. I enjoyed seeing the expo from his perspective.

Random Stuff on a Sunday

Pie started school. Pay said I should have taken a "First Day of School" picture for him, too, and I should've. He is attending Sac State in their MBA for Executives program. In a nutshell, after giving them his Friday nights and Saturdays for 15 months, he'll have an MBA. He really enjoyed the first 2 days. And I'm glad he can do this. Pretty soon, I'm going to be asking him to stay home a little extra while I go back to school, so it will all work out nice and fair in the end.

Drew is LOVING 5th grade. His teacher keeps saying that it's her job to get them ready for middle school and he's totally getting it. There is a 5th Grade Band information assembly this week. Drew is interested in the trombone. We'll see how that goes.

Dean got stitches last Monday on his hand. He found my rotary cutter (like a pizza cutter, but for fabric) and didn't know what it was. Drew tried to take it from him, Dean held on, big slice right under his thumb. Ouch. It was our second trip to the ER in 2 months. We better stay away from there for a while or they might get suspicious!

Edie is the ideal kindergartener. She is totally surprising her Daddy and I. I think Pie said it best: "I thought Edie was going to be a cute little blonde with not a lot of brains, and I was fine with that. But I think she's going to be a little smarty!" Exactly. She's all about reading and writing and homework now. My one complaint(and, yes, I know it's a silly one): I can't get her to wear her hair in anything but a ponytail! I did these braids last week while she was watching TV before school, but she took them out immediately after the photo. Whatever.

We are working on Evan's sleeping troubles. For the last few days we have not made him nap hoping that bedtime will go better and the waking many times a night would finally end. I think it's getting better. He totally crashes at bedtime and waking up in the wee hours has really improved, but it's the late afternoon, early evening hours that make me want to give up. Cranky, cranky boy means a cranky, cranky mama!

Tomorrow is Baby Girl Monson's birthday! I'm excited to have Conrad and Gracie here while waiting for news of their baby sister. Just look how cute Big Sister is:
Pigtails! Baby girls are so much fun!

School and Other Changes Around Here

The kids are back in school. And while I understand the importance of school in their lives and am generally pro-education, I don't like it. I would really rather have my kids around. I like them. They are fun and funny. I know the obvious solution would be home school, but I am also lazy and would never actually teach them, so it's decided. Off to school they go.

Edie has started kindergarten. I was more worried about her starting school than the boys because she had a little trouble at the beginning of preschool and is quite shy in new situations. I really shouldn't have worried at all. She jumped in with both feet without looking back and tells me everyday when I pick her up how awesome kindergarten is. Her teacher says she is a great student already. That's my girl!

The boys are happy with their classes also. Dean was so excited to get Ms. K, Drew's 3rd grade teacher. We already know how fabulous she is. Drew didn't get the teacher he was hoping for at first, but came home the first day reporting that Ms. G is good too and he thinks it'll work out alright this year. Whew! And Evan is adjusting. It's not fun when all your best buddies suddenly have better things to do!

After school the first day we had to celebrate with a frozen yogurt at Big Spoon. Yum!

The "other changes around here" refers to our front yard. If you didn't see it before, this is already an improvement, believe me! This is the new brick and sidewalk. Soon new grass and low maintenance shrubs will appear and I will no longer feel sorry for my neighbors that they have to look at our place everyday!

Go Giants!

Pie, Pay, Drew, Dean, Tyler and Edie all went to a Giants game on Saturday:



Pie has a fear of heights and he said their seats made him pretty nervous if he stopped to think about it at all! They got stuck in traffic on the way to the game and didn't get there until the 5th inning, but that's ok. Edie and Tyler couldn't have lasted a whole game anyway. Maybe too much cotton candy?

After the game they picked up Grandpa Fardanesh at the airport. He's here visiting for a while and he told me that his goal is to spoil the kids as much as he can until school starts in 2 weeks! Sounds like fun!

Last week with the Stewarts

We went to San Bernardino last week for 2 reasons. The first was to pick up Dean. He went home with Grandma and Grandpa a month ago and we missed him! The second was for Matt's misssion farewell, although we're not allowed to call it a farewell anymore.

We had a great time. No big outings or theme parks this time, just hanging out with cousins, Guitar Hero, Carcassonne/Catan and a whole lotta swimming. Swimming, swimming swimming. Many times a day. Edie had crazy pool skillz by the end of the week. She can save herself now, no matter that she looks like she's drowning!

We got a little wild on Saturday. With the uncles in the pool, the games got extra fun. Like a 4 man totem pole:
(That's Ryan's head there at the bottom. I caught them just as they were falling!)

And the toothpick game:
If you haven't played, you should. Throw a toothpick into the pool when everyone is looking the other way, then the one to retrieve it is the winner. No rules. Except don't jump on the kids in floaties, I guess.

Evan likes to get thrown into the pool, the higher, the better. That kid has no fear.


Saturday evening we got all dressed up for a Stewart Family Picture. The last before Matt leaves, but it will already be outdated in September when Little Girl Monson is born. Here are a couple of candid shots in between the professional ones:

Our favorite missionary!

A Little Bit of Heaven on Tuesday

This is all it takes to make me a happy camper. I feel quite successful when I take a tired, cranky baby and get him to sleep. And then of course, I can't put him down. Gotta hold that cute little chubby as long as I can.

Talk about a Lazy Blogger

It doesn't get any lazier than this. Go here to read about the Utah trip we had in June. Elizabeth is just so good at writing, and I was there and did all that (except I didn't start in Bear Lake, that was just the Monsons). So I'll just add a "ditto" to hers, and called it blogged.

PS:
I know you're all dying to know about my 3rd sewing project, so here's an update: it's done. And I'm never going to wear it, or even take a picture of it. I don't want to talk about it. It's headed to DI the first chance I get.

Drew's 10th Birthday, Part 1

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREW!
Today started out fun for Drew with some long-time buddies over for a couple hours this morning. He was released from his daily manual labor session and played boy stuff instead. Drew and Adam have known each other since they were 2 and the only talkers in Nursery. Today they built a giant fort in the backyard and then cleaned it up when I asked them to! What?? If this is what 10 is like, I'll take it!

After Adam and his brothers went home, Drew and Pie took off to a new golf course, only to find out all the tee times were gone due to a holiday of some sort this weekend. They went bowling instead and Drew came home reporting a strike!

Drew wanted his birthday dinner at Lucille's for some ribs. I love how big the ribs are compared to Drew. He still is a little boy, isn't he?
Edie was a crack-up, as always.
Evan was a stinker most of the meal, but when the hot washcloths came to clean all the sauce away, he calmed right down.It looks like he's in love with the hot washcloth. Kinda silly.

Part 2 of Drew's birthday comes on Sunday, with a special dinner for Drew and Katherine with all the NorCal Cousins, and Part 3 comes in a couple of weeks (after his stitches are removed from some minor oral surgery happening Tues) when we go to Six Flags with a friend.

Three celebrations for one birthday? Not bad!

Happy Birthday Dean and Edie!

Dean and Edie had their 8th and 5th birthdays on Thursday. We had a little get together with our cousins that night where they decided we would have breakfast for dinner. Everyone enjoyed waffles, fruit salad and a hash brown & egg casserole. Then presents and cake and ice cream!




They both opted out of parties in favor of an outing. Edie chose ice skating, probably thinking of the fun she had on her field trip, and we went this morning. We all had lots of fun. Evan, who was the most excited one before we got there, was very nervous for the first hour and a half. Of course he started having a great time just as it was time to go! We will definently go again soon.




Dean has decided on SunSplash again for his birthday outing, but that will have to wait until we get back from our short trip to Utah next week.

Happy Birthday Dean and Edie!