A Dad and His Girl

A couple of weeks ago Woo had a Daddy/Daughter Girl Scout dance and her dad was more than happy to be her date. She was just the cutest and was so excited for a night of dancing with her dad. The evening did not disappoint for they had a great time and danced their hearts out.

A FHE performance

Who needs to learn how to play the piano when there is a recorder around?

A future Buck Commander?

Tiger has been a bit focused on hunting lately. Our love of walking through Cabela's has not helped this much nor has our love for Duck Dynasty. The funny thing is that Tiger really doesn't like to watch Duck Dynasty, but it must still be seeping in a little bit because Tiger has requested to go hunting on several occasions. Last Sunday, while we were enjoying the beauty of nature on a little family walk together Tiger asked once again.

Tiger: Mama, I just want to go hunting!
Me: You do? What do you want to hunt?
Tiger: Deer
Me: Do you know what you do when you hunt?
Tiger: What?
Me: You kill an animal.
Tiger: OK
Me: So, you want to go and kill a deer?
Tiger: Yes.
Me: Do you want to know what you do after you kill a deer?
Tiger: Yes.
Me: First, you kill the deer. Then you have to split it open and scrape out all of the guts and everything. Then you have to drain all of the blood. Then you have to pull the skin off, and then you cut it up and cook it and eat it. Is that what you want to do?
Tiger: Yes!

He is definitely his own person.

Mustaches are fun

Today is my bro-in-law's birthday and to celebrate we all gathered for a festive family birthday lunch.  The best part was that my sister hooked us all up with these sweet mustaches, because nothing says Happy Birthday like a mustache. Plus, they are oh so flattering.

A breath of fresh air

Last weekend I had a little painting party at my house. My room and the boys' room desperately needed to be painted and I had been putting it off because I knew how long it would take me to paint them by myself and I just didn't have it in me. My mom suggested that I invite my beloved family members to help me with this task and I happily took her up on the offer. So, on Saturday my dad, sister, and brother-in-law showed up decked out in painting clothes with a box full of painting supplies and we got to work. My mom was kind enough to entertain the children for the day which was just as helpful as if she were here painting, probably more so because the kids weren't sitting around bored and being ignored. We pounded out the rooms in no time and now every time I walk into the freshly painted rooms I just smile. They are so fresh and bright and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. I didn't realize how much the previous colors were bringing me down, especially my own room. I despised the last color I chose from the moment it went up, but at the time I was hugely pregnant and didn't want to bother getting another color and so for the past 7 years I have been living in a khaki colored cave of sadness. No more, however. Now my room is fresh and open and bright and I feel like I can breathe again. It's a good thing.

Busy

Life has suddenly taken a very busy turn and I find myself trying to figure out how to fit it all in. Apparently I have been living a very carefree and easy going life because I am realizing that I have completely forgotten how to organize myself or how to handle stress and anxiety. Fortunately, life is teaching me how right now and really, that's a good thing. Life is supposed to be crazy and unpredictable and the only way we truly grow is through change, which is usually uncomfortable. So, knowing that I need to grow and that changes need to be made, I welcome the chaos that has now become my life. At least that's what I'm telling myself. But let me just say that this isn't helping me catch up on all of the shows on my DVR at all.

I know the quality on this video is bad, but it brings me so much happiness. This is possibly the only video we have of Sparky as a little baby. He's never been like other kids and as you can see, his method of "crawling" was truly unique. In fact, he didn't start crawling normally until he was a year old.

She kills me

Yesterday my one and only precious little dream boat of a girl turned 10 years old! Which means that she has gone from this:

 To this:

 To this!

Sheesh, she kills me. Yesterday the birthday girl skipped school and did all kinds of things that she wanted to do and tonight we have her birthday party. So far I think she has had a pretty good birthday.

The influence of advertising

A conversation with Tiger this morning:

Tiger: Mom, when you grow up you can be whatever you want to be.

Me: That's true. Work hard and you can be whatever you want to be. What do you want to be?

Tiger: An Applebee's guy.

Me: Huh? An Applebee's guy? What does an Applebee's guy do?

Tiger: Cooks deliciousness.

Weird kid.

He has to be cute, it's the only thing that saves him

To say that Tiger is not a fan of church is a bit of an understatement. I totally get it. It's hard for an active little boy to sit quietly for so very long when he is just bursting out of his skin the whole time. Some Sundays are definitely better than others, but this past Sunday was not one of them. He actually did really well during the first hour, but when it came time for him to go to Primary, he took a stand. He was done, and he let me know. As you can see he leaned back in the pew, put his hands behind his head and declared that he was all done with church and that he was ready to go home. I felt for him, but if the rest of us had to stay for the next two hours, then he was going to have to stay as well. It took awhile, but in the end he came around and agreed to go to class. After church he claimed that his class was a lot of fun and he was happy to stay. Whew. One more victory.

I wasn't sitting by him during Sacrament meeting and so I wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing. I just knew that he was quietly and nicely drawing in his "journal". Well, after I finally convinced him to go to class I got a little peek at his hands. It turns out that his "journal" wasn't the only thing on which he was drawing. Behold, Bob is on his left hand and Bob Jr. is on his right hand. What a goof.

Speaking of goofy, yesterday as Tiger was getting ready for school I looked over to find him hugging the refrigerator. "Look mom, you can't see me because I'm gray and white, the same colors as the fridge."

He's a big kid now

The other day I was talking to Tiger about what a big boy he is now, and how tall he has gotten, and that he isn't a little kid anymore. I also asked him, now that he is a big boy, what do big boys do?

His responses:

I know things now so I can teach people who know nothing.

They tell the truth.

I can learn about Oceanology.

They work on their writing.

Now I'm officially a teacher, a pirate teacher. I can teach anyone how to be a pirate.