December

December brought the usual amount of pure joy, excitement and craziness. The smiles on the kids faces as they were off in dreamland wondering what Santa would bring them. Making wish lists so long that we had to try and pare them down to three-five items which they thought was pure torture. The fresh smell of pine as you walk into the house ( we have yet to cave to the artificial tree). Trying to get all the school reports and projects done before the end of the term. Attending choir and orchestra concerts. Enjoying the myriad plates of goodies that were dropped off at the door.... the list goes on and on for all of us. The whirlwind of activities is part of the excitement of the month and the season, but sometimes even when trying to cut back and enjoy the real reason of the celebration, it still gets a little blurred.

Matthew had his eighth birthdy a week before Christmas. And as the calendar fell this year, his baptism was the following day. Our stake does baptisms on the third Saturday. As many of you know in our church children are baptized when they are eight, not at birth. At first when I realized we would be doing birthday celebrations, baptism and Christmas with Grandparents coming to visit it would be absolutely nuts. As I look back it was one of the most special Christmas' we could have had. There was a peace and a calm in our home. We were able to witness Matthew's baptism and reflect on our own testimonies of the gospel, realizing the great gift we have been given through the birth of our Savior and his atoning sacrifice. Also, as I read many Christmas cards and looked at our own family I was struck again at the tender mercies the Lord has blessed us with. I was again grateful for the hand of the Lord in our lives, as well as our family and friends. Even though we are all faced with different trials, the Savior states his hand will always be outstretched and how thankful I am for that. The real meaning of Christmas was felt in our home and was not lost- that was a real gift for me.

Of course, we enjoyed Christmas morning. Matthew said he woke up at 4 am and couldn't go back to sleep, oh the magic of Christmas morning! My parents stayed for Christmas so we enjoyed having them with us

A few of the other highlights of the month:

- Visiting the Air and Space Musuem in Tucson and seeing a Blackbird, B-29 and B-52 and, then on the way home driving through a dust storm that forced us to pull over to the side of the road and wait for half an hour. This experience is worthy of its own post- let's just say this was a real life application of listening to the spirit and in the end everyone is safe.

- Eating pizza while listening to a Wurlitzer Organ- glossy jet black wth gilded gold- quite a sight and played by a masterful organist!

- taking the kids skiing- the only thing we have found that makes our kids sleep in past the sunrise!

This is Matthew trying to snowboard on the sled.

Brandon and Matthew

Zach fell asleep

Andrew cruising down the mountain

Zach finally decides snow isn't so bad and spends the entire time trying to eat it!

I had to put these next two pictures in because they were so funny ( plus I forgot to put the Halloween one in an earlier post)

Andrew decided I was taking way too long to put up the Christmas decorations, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.... Although I was a bit displeased he did this himself, I am impressed he got all the houses up, plugged in and working.

This is for all of you who wonder what life is like having boys... you try and put up some sort of holiday decoration (or any decoration for that matter)and it just turns into a new play place for legos and army men and it makes you say Why??? :) I love my boys!!!

November

Saturday's thruought the fall found us at the Soccer Complex. We have a standing rule in the house that the kids can't play organized sports until they are in Kindergarten... which means this year Andrew got to play as well. Some Saturday's were v.e.r.y. l.o.n.g. and some v.e.r.y.h.o.t. but by November the temps were perfect and we enjoyed watching the boys. Andrew had played enough backyard ball with Brandon and Matthew to be quite a dominating little player. Brian coached Matthew's team, which ended up having quite a few kids from church and the boys school on the team which made it fun. Brandon had one of those "character building"season's as his team won a total of two games all season.

The boys begged Brian to allow them to take apart the old printer. Hmmmmm..... this is yet another instance where I see the Teuscher gene coming out in them.

Brandon just finished a unit on the Anazasi people in History so we took a day trip to visit Casa Grande. It is one of the largest prehistoric structures ever built in North America, and its purpose remains a mystery. There is something about being able to visually see things that you learn about in school. As I side note-- I wish schools would take more field trips! I know, I know... it all boils down to money.

A number of Brandon's games this year were played on Friday night. They really enjoyed playing "under the lights" We were just glad that some Saturday's weren't as long.

We went to San Diego for Thanksgiving. Eric and Emily came out to do Blake's blessing there insead of in NY. Zachary was glued to him. He was absolutly captivated by him. All we heard was "Baby Bake" the entire weekend. There was a house full- Eric and Emily, Jamie and Heather, Nathan and Karen Ryan and Cassidy, Dawn, Laurel and all of us... We got the dining room for our sleeping quarters. Brian commented that you've got to be pregnant, have a new baby, or be the first ones at mom and dad's house to get a bed- none of which we qualified for. The dining room table got moved, lest you think we had a fort under the table for our bed. Which come to think of the boys would have thought it quite the sleeping arrangement. All in all we had a wonderful time. Karen has some good pictures on her blog of all the boys and the various types of turkeys we ate. (She always has the best action/candid shots out of all of us!)

Thanksgiving morning soccer game.

We toured the USS Midway while we were in San Diego. I was amazed as we walked through with the amount of wire/cabling that was strung overhead. I don't know how people who are stationed on aircraft carriers don't get claustrophobic. The hallways are so narrow and the ceilings low. The first picture is taken in the room where the "nerve center" of the Navy's operations in the first Desert Storm took place.

October....

Halloween brought the following characters to our house:

Brandon The Vampire

Matthew The FBI Agent

Andrew The Vampire

And Zach the black haired Yoda... we could not get him to dress up as anything for most of the evening. Somehow Dawn convinced him to finally hold a light saber and put on a costume. The recurring theme of all the boys was the hair. They all wanted black hair...even Zach. He refused to put something on, but wanted his hair done like the others.Typical.

During Fall Break the boys made this table. We couldn't find enough work goggles so Matthew just put on his swim goggles. It was a few days project which was nice.

We headed to the corn maze- once again the camera on the phone and display screen on the camera saved us. They can only handle so long and once it gets dark we are done for! Brian is a great naviagtor and can figure our way out of most of the loops- we are always glad he is with us.

Zach turned two. Enough said. We can end all posts here and can sum up our last three months
with those three words. Zachary turned two. I really have never had a child like him. I am literally and soundly beat by the end of the day. Everyday. I think his temperment paired with the other three have really given me a run for my money. I know I am strong, I can do hard things, but the last three months I feel I am slowly being hammered into the ground. I know everything has its season, but I wish I knew where we were in this season- beginning, middle ( I know we aren't at the end- so I won't even mention it!) We love him dearly- he is vivacious, inquisitive, loves to snuggle, and has the most charming eyes, but he is a rascal!

A two-year old is kind of like having a blender, but you don't have a top for it. - Seinfeld


I was never a huge Seinfeld follower, but do admit he had some great one-liners.

September

Cinammon Rolls are a tradition for Birthday breakfast's. And of course they must be home-made. Generally I make them the evening before, but for some reason we needed to make Zachary's the morning before. He must be involved in every little aspect, of everything I do every waking minute of the day. Here he is trying to roll out the dough AFTER all the butter and cinammon have been put on. I really like my cinammon rolls to look perfect...but these ones were all over the place. And he was a sugary butter mess to top it off. Patience and deep breathing. I seem to do that a lot these days. Another little lesson to Steph: Presentation is not everything. They still tasted delicious- and once the frosting went on- no one really noticed.


Have you ever had the privilege of getting meat stickers from the butcher? If you haven't , let me tell you, you are missing out! You only get them if your child throws a massive tantrum in the grocery store, and everyone is trying to get your child to stop, as you CALMLY try to make your way unnoticed to the exit. This was the butchers peace offering. Sorry to say the butchers stickers didn't make the cut. But it made for a funny dinner story.



Content and Focused for twenty minutes. Yes, I know it isn't the traditional place to let your child play. But the key words here are content and focused. The ability to get something done for twenty minutes uninterrupted is worth the waterfall and ensuing lake that appeared on the floor. The phone is just to the left of the sink- so I happily made phone calls and he happily played. The two minute clean up was worth it- and I even got a clean floor out of it. Even better.

We had fondue for Dawn's birthday. It's easy, everyone loves it- chocolate is everywhere and you can't help but lick the plate clean!

The scouts have to arm wrestle the Bear (their dad) in order to get their Bear Badge. Brian gave it a good try, but Brandon's ten year old strength was no match for him, and Brandon emerged victorious. Love those feel good moments for kids. It's all the rest of the kids could talk about- did you see Brandon beat dad.....

The times I get to talk to my mom are few and far between because the kids just HAVE to tell Grandma this and that.... One morning we did have the opportunity to talk and when I walked downstairs after finishing the conversation, Andrew says, " Aren't you glad I kept Zachary occupied while you talked to Grandma??" I really couldn't say anything. So I didn't. I just took a deep breath, and another. And another.

Joe..this one is for you

I want to know which gene that was suppressed in me; however, quite prevelent in my brother, and now manifest in my children, is the gene responsible for -always- putting- the empty -juice -pitcher -back -in- the- fridge. Thanks Joe!!

Finally... it's finished

We have been working on putting up crown and chair rail all downstairs for the last six months. (Will someone please remind us to not take on such an ambitious project on our first attempt at something??!!!) The boys helped measure and cut the nail strips for the crown, which was a good project for them. Brian did the cutting and installing and did a great job. I got the finish work-caulk, spackle, paint. This is one of those projects that never ends.....paint...paint again....measure...cut...measure... cut just a hair more off... nail.. spackle...caulk...clean....final coat of paint. And that is just on the pieces you manage to cut right the first two times!!!

Brandon must have been taking pictures, since I can't find any of him!

Zachary's favorite new jungle gym.

Matthew cutting.

Zach the wood carrier

Bringing dad more boards

Now onto something else.... it just can't involve a ladder. (I'm tired of ladders!:-))