He's our Lego maniac

OK, not really. But Tyler did have an awesome Lego party today.

Here's a recap -- of course, with pictures.

We set the stage with simple colors and decor:

And then nine boys showed up.
The first activity: coloring Lego pictures and playing with Legos.

Then, everyone guessed how many Legos were in the half-pint jar. (Answer: 29.)

Next, we played pin-the-party-hat-on-the-Lego-man, had a tower-building contest, sorted Legos by color, ran through a relay, and played another game where kids dropped Legos from their chins into drinking glasses. Tons of fun!

And there were presents, of course.

We sang to the birthday boy and he blew out the candles.
By the way, Tyler is responsible for the colorful cake --
he wasn't content with a monochromatic brick.

Good times were had by all!

Happy birthday, Tyler!

Six

Six years ago today, Tyler James joined our family. What a special little boy! I have been reminiscing about the day he was born, and even started to write down his birth story, but then I remembered I already had! You can find it here, in our newsletter archive from 2004.

Here is Tyler on his original birthday:



Tyler was a wonderful baby, a good sleeper, an infrequent pooper, and our earliest walker.


And at age 1:



That year we had a quiet celebration at home. Tyler had an ear infection and Zachary assumed ownership of all of his presents.


Age 2:



This was a fun birthday. Tyler got a scooter and rode it all around the house. He had a joint birthday party with his best little buddy, Isaac. The party had an animal theme. Tyler and I are on the right in the picture above.


Age 3:



We celebrated Tyler's third birthday a day early due to the arrival of our friend's special baby, Candace, on the 13th. I'm glad that Tyler shares his birthday with an angel, and that Garry and I got to meet her. Happy birthday, Candace!


Age 4:



When Tyler turned four, our house in Beaverton was on the market, but we still gave him a party at home. We canceled showings for the morning, had a rockin' space-themed extravaganza (complete with a spaceship crafted from cardboard boxes), cleaned up, and had an open house that afternoon. The house didn't sell for two more months.


Age 5:



Our family "rule" is that kids get birthday parties for even ages, but Tyler desperately needed Colorado friends when he turned five, so he got an extra party. It was pretty super...hero-ish. Tyler was quite {extremely} disappointed when he realized that turning five wasn't his ticket into kindergarten. Waiting six more months was torture.


And today -- age 6:

When Tyler woke up this morning, he declared, "I'm king for the day!"




Tyler opened his many presents at 7:00 a.m. His out-of-town relatives spoiled him silly, much to his delight. Then Garry fixed a huge, yummy breakfast of pancakes, bacon, hash browns, and orange juice. The big boys went to a Primary activity. Then, in the afternoon, Tyler had a birthday party with 10 of his closest friends. Stay tuned for pictures of that amazing event!

"When in doubt, take a bath." {Mae West}

It's been a hard day in these parts. I keep looking for the parenting handbook that will tell me how to handle a belligerent two-year-old, a bullying eight-year-old, an emotional five-year-old, and a teething eight-month-old. No one in this house ever gets enough sleep, and no one makes it through the day without breakdowns. I just don't know what to do with all of us.

At 4:00 p.m., with the three hardest hours of the day still left on the clock, I parked the littlest ones in the tub. They had a long, warm bath with kitchen implements to keep them entertained. They splashed and laughed and played, and for a few moments, some of the day's burdens were lifted from my shoulders.











Maybe I can learn a thing or two from my carefree babies!

First grade, where art thou?

Today, Miss Lexi took a good morning nap. She went down just before 9:30 and slept and slept. Teething and earaches and crawling and standing have just ruined her sleep patterns, so I was completely thrilled for some daytime rest for that girl!

But as 11:00 approached, I started to worry. I could see that her nap would encroach on kindergarten pick-up time, so I started calling friends, hoping to find a ride home for Tyler.

I was not successful.

So at 11:15, five minutes before school ended, I woke the sleeping babe.


At 11:25, when Tyler climbed into the car, Lexi was wide awake and Gavin was asleep.


Gavin survived the transfer to bed but woke up after an hour because he was hungry for lunch. It's days like today when I need a backyard jungle so I can climb to the top of a tree and scream my lungs out.

I am not a fan of half-day kindergarten.

Our life lately

So I haven't blogged in a while. Today I'm feeling inspired, so I'll catch up with the few photos I've taken in the last 10 days.

I am really trying to enjoy Gavin more. He can be quite charming when I am in the mood to be charmed. His remarkable speaking ability blows me away on a regular basis. He loves it when people sing to him, so I have started singing familiar songs and allowing him to fill in the blanks. I'm so impressed that he can do this. Gavin knows "I Love to See the Temple," "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," the ABC song, and many others. Gavin is still obsessed with "Yo Gabba Gabba" on TV. I freely admit to feeding this obsession because the time he spends watching that show is the ONLY time during the day that I can get anything done (and the only time he is not destroying the house like the Tasmanian Devil). Sadly, Gavin has a new ear infection that has made him miserable. We didn't catch it very early; I attributed his increased orneriness to being two. Oops.




On Saturday, Zachary constructed this birdhouse with Garry. The project fulfilled a scouting requirement for Zach's den. At his last scout meeting, Zachary apparently refused all leader assistance, which is why the entire project came home with him. It turned out to be a fun bonding project with Dad anyway. Zach plans to paint the birdhouse soon and fill it with bird seed when we get to Mesa.




The other morning Garry fixed waffles for breakfast. The boys were thrilled, since this Mama never cooks in the morning. Throughout the meal, however, we couldn't stop laughing. Gavin kept calling his food "awful" -- or so we thought. Really, he was saying "waffle" without the "w."





This girl is BUSY. She is a crawling machine, and, as you can see here, she is pulling herself up to things. She is quite delighted with her new skills, which she demonstrates at every possible opportunity. We are back to being vigilant with the stair gates and cupboard locks, but she still loves to be a little vacuum cleaner and raid the open dishwasher when no one is looking. Lexi's newfound mobility is wreaking havoc with her sleep pattern, as are the four teeth threatening to break through her top gum. There's never a dull moment with our eight-month-old!

A New York minute

I was sitting in Sunday School, watching Lexi play on the floor. Sister Townsend (the elder) asked if anyone was visiting the class before our teacher began his Old Testament lesson. On the front row, a couple stood up to introduce themselves. They were visiting from Long Island, New York on a house-hunting trip. They knew the brother of a guy in our ward.

In the hall after Sunday School, as I handed Lexi and the diaper bag to her daddy, I told Garry that he needed to talk to the visitors and see if they wanted to look at our house. Garry exchanged information with the husband, and after church, Garry emailed our house flier.

Later, around 2:00, I mused to Garry, "What if they want to come to see our house tomorrow? That would be crazy! The house is such a mess. The house isn't on the market yet -- it's hardly show-worthy!"

Five minutes later the phone rang. I answered and had a pleasant little conversation with the wife. I hung up in sheer panic.

They wanted to come at 5:00 -- in three hours.

I surveyed the house to see if it really was as bad as I thought. Actually, it was worse. There was clutter in every corner. Five loads of folded laundry were stacked by the washing machine. I hadn't really done the dishes for a couple of days, and none of the beds were made. I hadn't cleaned a bathroom for at least two weeks. Small fingerprints were all over the windows and appliances and piano. (Feel free to judge me here. Honestly, what do I do with my time?)

I texted Melanie while hyperventilating, then dropped off Gavin and Lexi at her house a few minutes later. Then Garry, Zachary, Tyler, and I dropped into a cleaning frenzy that had our hearts pumping for three solid hours. (Who needs the Superbowl for an adrenaline rush?) I had some guilt about working like this on the Sabbath Day, but also knew there was no other way. And if Heavenly Father had sent these people to buy our house, surely he'd forgive us!

We cleaned and scrubbed and polished and vacuumed. We organized and put away and hid. We shoveled snow from the driveway. We put piles of stuff in the van and filled grocery sacks with random papers and clutter. I changed out of pajamas at the last possible minute. When 5:00 arrived, we pulled the cars out of the garage and waited.

Of course they were 15 minutes late.

Surprisingly, the couple showed up without a real estate agent. They asked me to give them a tour of the house. So we spent 20 minutes walking around the house and snowy yard. I pointed out every possible positive thing and answered a few questions. They looked in cupboards and cabinets and closets and behind shower curtains. Their little boy played with Gavin's toys.

When we were finished, they asked for some time alone in the house. I drove to Melanie's to pick up Gavin and Lexi. Garry stayed behind and answered their questions when they emerged. They wanted to know about schools and the neighborhood and the ward.

They also wanted to come back.

So yesterday I cleaned up in the morning and waited by the phone. I expected them around 3:30, but figured they would call to confirm or to adjust the time. I finally called them around 2:45. I had a boy to pick up from school and wanted to make sure we could coordinate. They surprised me by saying they planned to arrive at 3:00. I quickly picked up the few toys we had out and gathered coats and shoes for myself and three kids.

At 2:50 the doorbell rang. The cheery couple and their agent stood on my doorstep. I was barefoot and coat-less with three kids on my heels. We weren't quite ready for company! I had the presence of mind to ask for the agent's business card and express my desire to keep in touch. Five minutes later, with shoes on and kids loaded in the van, we made our hasty retreat.

Half an hour later, when I returned from the school run, the house-hunters were gone.

Again I waited by the phone.

At 5:30, I called the agent and left a cheerful voice mail. She finally called back a few minutes ago with some very interesting feedback.

Yesterday's tour went very well. The agent had positive things to say. The couple is concerned about the two small bedrooms we have upstairs, and worries that our square footage (2785) isn't enough to acommodate them for the 5-10 years they plan to stay in the house. Our home is the smallest they are considering.

The couple is flying home tomorrow and doesn't plan to make an offer on a home here until the end of next week. Their home in New York is currently for sale, but they have had tons of traffic and expect to get an offer of their own any day. Their real estate agent will keep us posted on our standing.

So again we wait. What an adventure!

Snowy house

I find it ironic that just as we are making plans to leave Colorado, I have come to terms with the snow. In fact, I think it is quite lovely! Today the snow is shimmering in the sunshine, and I wonder how I will find beauty in a city without four seasons.


Here's to a gorgeous winter day!

A little light reading

There are lots of things in life in my life that never get done, so when I actually finish I project I feel accomplished. The only finished project in recent memory arrived via FedEx this morning.

May I present my 2009 blog book? It's the red one on the right, and I am thrilled. With 440 pages and 1140 images, it is quite the historical work. Just browsing its pages brought back tons of memories from the last year.


It makes a nice companion to my 2008 blog book (at left), which is the first of its kind. Before I started this blog two years ago, I published a family newsletter via email for six years. All of those issues are in binders in the closet. I'm glad for that record, too, but I LOVE these hardcover books with glossy pages, gorgeous pictures, and numbered pages.

Plus, the books have my name on the binding, so I feel officially published. This will likely be my only claim to literary fame.

I'm OK with that.