Hodge Podge

While Gary is in Florida, I told him I would post stuff here that he can check out so this is a hodge podge of pictures off my new digital camera (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE by the way) from the past day or two.


Here is the line up at Tom's basketball game. They are the Lakers (purple) and Tom is the second from the left.


Logan looks like he's catching this pass. Not really but it looks good!

Tom did Ethan and Dylan's hair while Logan and I were at his game. I'm not sure HOW he got Ethan's hair down and Dylan's up but they've been that way all day now. Can you hear Dylan saying, "Cheese!" in the last picture?

This was Logan at Wingers on his birthday. When the pie came, he looked at it with HUGE eyes and asked, "What are all the spoons for?" He wasn't going to share for anything but eventually, all his brothers helped him finish it off.

He wanted a Star Wars cake and the only thing I could come up with this year was the Death Star. I had a yellow m&m in the laser beam opening until after school when Logan informed me it looked really good except the laser beam was suppose to be green. The kid knows Star Wars inside and out.

A Family of Insomniacs

It usually takes a day or so after Gary leaves for a fire assignment for the family to get into a routine and start sleeping normal hours again. Unfortunately, with the dog being sick, it seems to be taking longer than normal. This is how it went last night.

10:00 - put the dogs in their kennels. Kyssa immediately started barking to get out but after having him back and forth from the back yard and the house the night before all night, I didn't have it in me to spend another night like that. I thought I'd give him 20 minutes and see if he stopped barking - kind of like letting your baby cry for a few minutes in the crib to see if they can calm themselves down. Apparently he got the message because after about 15 minutes, sorry neighbors, he stopped and didn't make another peep. He is feeling so much better now that he is on some other medication so I knew he wasn't cold, hungry, thirsty, or needing to go to the bathroom again!

11:00 - Logan appears from the basement saying he just needed a drink and bathroom break. He gets in bed with me and we finally fall asleep a half an hour later.

3:00 - Ethan comes in complaining his legs hurt and he wants to sleep in my bed. I have Logan slide into the middle of the bed and Ethan gets in too.

3:30 - I wake up again with Logan's elbow in my chest. I reposition it and fall back asleep.

3:45 - I wake up AGAIN. This time Logan has his feet digging into my stomach. OUCH! I wake him enough to tell him he needs to maintain his own space or he's going back to his room.

4:00 - Up again. This time to Logan complaining Ethan is touching him and he needs to slide over. Really? Someone is touching you? YOU'VE BEEN KICKING, PUSHING, AND TOUCHING ME ALL NIGHT!!!!! By now my patience is out and I send Logan back to bed. He doesn't leave without a fight though. He starts crying and saying he isn't tired anymore and doesn't want to go to bed. Last straw............

4:10 - Logan is back downstairs and I look over to see Ethan with a satisfied grin on his face because he is still in my bed and Logan has been kicked out. Honestly.

6:15 - I wake up to the alarm that has been going off for the last 15 minutes but I didn't hear it.

Another sleepless night and one step closer to Gary being home. Tonight is the night that we ALL are going to sleep through the night. I can just feel it!

Resolutions

I have never been very good about New Year's resolutions. I usually think about making them but never really get around to it, much less keeping the ones I think about. This year has been a bit different. I decided I needed to take my spirituality a bit more seriously. I think I've been taking my testimony a bit for granted and decided to do something about it.

I started by trying to read the scriptures every day. I hate to say this has been harder than I thought and I'm about 50% so far. When I do read though, I seem to pick out things that I've never noticed before. Little things but things that make the scriptures more personal to me and more alive. I also decided to read the lessons for Sunday School and Relief Society before church. Last week I didn't do so well during the week but I spent Sunday morning working on it and accomplished that goal for one more week. It's amazing how much more interesting church is when I am prepared. I also seem to really look forward to being there and listening to the teachers give their lessons. Last week I had some receipts to hand in and a few questions for our Bishop and ended up missing Sunday School and it was disappointing. I did spend the last ten minutes in the hall talking to a couple of sisters in the ward so technically I could have gone in for the end but I hate walking in so late! Excuses, excuses I know.

I hope all your resolutions are going better than mine but, if not, don't be afraid to start over or pick up where you left off. President Hinckley once said, "Try a little harder to be a little better." Sometimes I find myself giving up because I wasn't perfect at whatever but I'm trying to just do a bit better every day. Each day I can recommit to reading and studying and doing my visiting teaching and family prayer and family home evening and and and......

Melancholy

I usually like to be upbeat in the posts about our crazy hectic life but today is just a melancholy day. The snow is heading our way - again, it's FREEZING, Gary left for Florida for a month, and our sweet dog, Kyssa, isn't going to be with us much longer. The whole thing makes me a bit melancholy. So, in order to shake myself out of this, I thought I'd list some things that we can be grateful for here in the Bishop household.

I'm grateful that Gary has a job, even if it does take him away from home occasionally and that he is in a location that he will be able to call home almost every day.

I'm grateful for the ten great years Kyssa has given us and for his sweet temperament even with the four little people we have brought into his world. He has never been ornery with any of them.

I'm grateful for four sweet faces that are home with me that each have their unique personality and funny things they say each day. Today Dylan was shopping with me at the mall and when I was trying on some clothes, he was making faces at himself in the mirror and trying to reach his reflection to give that cute little boy knuckles!

I'm grateful for friends and neighbors that keep me busy and help me out so much every day.

I'm also grateful for the little things like chocolate! Come on, I am a girl after all!

The good news is I've DVR-ed several girl movies to watch in the coming weeks while he's out of town. Nothing like snuggling in on a cold winter night to watch Hallmark movies!

I'm also thinking I need to go to a movie while he's gone and see Australia. Has anyone been? How was it? Is it worth it? Does anyone want to join me for a yet-to-be-determined girls night out?

Happy Birthday Logan (and Grandpa Larson)!

Today is Logan and my Dad's birthday. Yep, Logan was born on my Dad's birthday. It's a special day around here. Logan has been counting down the days until his birthday since Christmas - really. Yesterday afternoon I asked Gary if he had mentioned it because I hadn't heard him say anything about it being is birthday-eve. Gary replied, "Not in the last 30 minutes at least."

His excitement for his birthday sums up Logan's personality. He lives life to the fullest every minute of every day. He plays hard, sleeps hard, fights hard. He is such a passionate little man. He is either on or off, hot or cold, mad or extremely happy. We love that passion in him - most of the time. He is the kindest, sweetest little boy ever, when he wants to be. I've loved watching him this past year learn to really read. He reads everything now. I'm constantly reminded what all the street signs say and what the speed limit is. He loves spending time with his friends and even his brothers most of the time but he isn't afraid of himself and enjoys his alone time. He says he's scared of the dark so he has more night lights than the airport runway but then he burrows himself under his covers until no light gets through. That's Logan. Those are just a few of the reasons I love him so much. He is amazing and I am excited to watch this next year's growth. I love you Logan!

Braces

Today was a big day for Tom. This morning we took him to the orthodontist for his first stage of braces. He was a bit nervous and way excited although he wouldn't admit to either. When we were in the car, I asked him how he was feeling and his response was, "I don't know. What do you want me to say? How am I suppose to feel?"

I think it was too much for his 9 year-old mind to wrap around. He was the first in our family to have braces so no one could really tell him what was going to happen. He was awesome though!


This is how he looked with all the gear in his mouth, just before the braces went on. I was so nervous for him this morning that I totally forgot my real camera and just had my phone so the pictures aren't the best but they are better than nothing! I think I worried more than he did.

If you look closely, you can see the glimmer of silver on his top and bottom teeth. When they asked him what color bands he wanted, his first choice was metallic bronze. I showed him the "glow" colors and he finally settled on glow blue on top and glow green on the bottom. I thought for sure he would want LA Lakers colors to go with his basketball jersey but then I have to remind myself that he is a boy, not a girl. Coordinating outfits never has been his thing.

I can't believe that my baby is now big enough for braces. I think it's been harder for me to see him in braces than it was to send him off to Kindergarten. Weird, I know. It's just that there is no going back. Before I know it, he won't want anything to do with me. He will go back to change bands by himself and I won't get to sit by him. He'll start asking to drive the car and I won't know exactly where he is. He will be dating and hanging out with friends and then - in a flash - he'll be off to college and on his mission. Sigh

Taking Down the Lights

A while ago, Gary decided it was time to take down the Christmas lights. The weather wasn't too miserable and he had a bit of time. Dylan is his shadow. All the boys have been Daddy's boys but Dyl seems to take it to the extreme. He puts up with me while Gary is gone but as soon as he's home, Dylan is like glue. Gary has to tell him what he's doing and where he's going if he has to leave Dylan's sight for even a few minutes. It's amazing to watch. So, needless to say, Dylan helped Gary with the lights.

Rough

It's been forever since I've posted. We got hit with the stomach flu that wouldn't leave and then there was the catch up from not feeling well enough to do anything and then and then and then. You all know how it goes.

Anyway, I've been meaning to post some pictures of Dylan from over Christmas. Gary made a very fitting remark when he was looking through the pictures. "He always looks ROUGH!" True. I guess that's the life of the youngest when you are doing your best to keep up with your older brothers. He never seems to sit still unless it's in the high chair while he's eating. He's so petite, you wouldn't know he spends as much time in "the chair" as he does but he can sit there for hours.

Snowboarding Anyone?

We are not skiers or snowboarders in this house. We don't own skis or, until Christmas break in Utah, snowboards. When we went to Utah for the Bishop Christmas party, Uncle Kevin gave Tom a snowboard he had picked up in one of his travels and Uncle Ray taught Tom to use it. Tom was awesome. He acted like he had always done it. Sure, he crashed - a lot - but he always got back up, undid his bindings and hiked back up the hill to try it again. I tried it and it was HARD! I think I may have made it three feet for my biggest run.