Man Night

Grandpa Brent volunteered to have the boys sleep over last night.

He called it "Man Night".

Kyler called it "Fat Man Night".

Kacin called it "Man Date".

Whatever it was called,

Grandma was not invited (well, until they wanted her to make Rice Krispy treats and the biggest breakfast you've ever had).

They did a lot of manly things.

They wrestled, had a water gun fight, watched Peter Pan, read scriptures and looked at pictures of spears that may have been thrown at Samuel the Lamanite, and slept in the tent they set up in the living room.

Grandpa Brent ran out of time to glue fake hair on the boys chest.

I guess that will have to wait for the next manly adventure.

Livin' it Up

Motorcycle rides and flips. These are some good times.

Tooth Fairy Sighting!

Kyler and Kacin explained to me this morning that Kyler slept all night with his eyes half open (he demonstrated with a little squinty face). Kyler went on to tell us that he saw her in the middle of the night! Ky described her as "glowing white, no wait, yellow. Like Tinkerbell." I'm kind of disappointed that in all my tooth losing years I never saw her myself. Sounds magical to me.

He also spent quite a while washing the quarters the Tooth Fairy left for him. He said they were dirty.

Lost a Tooth

Kyler lost his first tooth! Literally. He couldn't find it anywhere after he bit down on his apple and it fell out. His letter in his own words:

Dear Tooth Fairy,

I lost my tooth in the cafeteria. I was eating my apple and then I heard something drop on the floor and I felt it was a lost tooth. I looked everywhere and then I couldn't find it. So I asked my friend, and he couldn't find it. So I asked my teacher, and she couldn't find it either. And then lunch was over. Can I please have money anyways?

Love, Kyler

P.S. How do you get inside our house?

The note he worked so hard on and slipped under his pillow:

Top: "Here is how to get my tooth. Love Kyler Love"

Bottom: a map of his school cafeteria

What We Do

When the boys fall asleep, the cards come out . . .Loser: Wash a big ol' pan by hand

Winner: Glory and laughter because you don't have to wash the yucky pan by handTonight's Score: Eric 2, Laura 2

Memories Recorded

My sister, Jacqui, gave me my birthday present yesterday.

It was a book of my first few blogs--all of 2008!

What an awesome gift! Especially since this was the reason I began blogging in the first place, to have a scrapbook of sorts (without the actual scrapbooking part) of all of the mundane and not-so-mundane adventures and moments of our lives.

I read it to the boys last night as our bedtime story. By far, there was more laughing out loud than you can imagine. (I need to get a recording of Kyler's laugh, so contagious). When I got to the part about Kyler talking about boogers at the court adoption, Kyler could not stop laughing. He exclaimed, "I was only 4 and that's why I said that." I guess a 5 year old is much more mature and would not be saying such things. (Don't tell Kyler, he was 5 at the adoption).

At my moms house, I pulled out a home video to watch with Kyler.

He thought I was funny and I just enjoyed and relived all of the time my sisters and I spent playing and dancing and doing gymnastics in the front room with the green carpet. I remembered thinking how big that room was . . .

Last night, I pulled out my (I think #15!) journal to record more personal thoughts and experiences--things like my trials, testimony, frustrations, hopes, and blessings.

Blogs, videos, journals . . . all special records of our lives . . . we remember, relive, reflect . . . and grow . . . a source of inspiration for years to come.

Eric keeps telling me to write a children's book.

I'm so not ready for that right now. (He should probably stop telling me that because at this point in my life, I get terrified at the very thought. I have much to learn still).

For now, I am satisfied with writing and recording things for me and my family to go back and read at bedtime and laugh our heads off.

Bathtime with a Twist

The perks to bathing with your clothes on:

1. Saving money (less clothes to wash in the washing machine)!

2. You can take cute pictures of playing in the bathtub without being too revealing.

3. A dull evening at home turns FUN!

First Days

Off to Pre-K. . .

How excited can you get? Yesterday, he did his own hair and packed up his backpack and begged and begged to go to preschool. He jumped right in at the "Grocery store" in the dramatic play area when I dropped him off and was good to go for the rest of the afternoon.

It was amazing, when he came home we munched on a snickerdoodle and he told me all about his day--the books he read, what he played with, the teacher put another kid in timeout . . . Kacin doesn't usually share things with us--he always left that to Kyler and just told us he didn't remember so I'm so glad that he opened up . . . Ahh, the power of snickerdoodles!!

While Kacin was at school, I went on a date with a cute boy. We walked around the mall, studied the paintings in the Thomas Kinkade store (Kyler scored a free postcard), bought a few gummy candies from the candy store, and pretended to ride the bull. The rest of the afternoon we spent getting his backpack and lunchbox ready, reading, and coloring. It was so nice to spend some one-on-one time.

Off to Kindergarten . . .

Yesterday, we saw a range of emotions about Kindergarten--tears, "I'm not going!!", "I'm excited"--back and forth. I am happy he woke up on the excited side. He was dressed and had brushed his teeth before I even got back from my early morning run. We got him to school with a few minutes to play on the playground. At the sound of the bell, he lined up with his class at their door. When they started walking in, he gave the cutest "Bye Mommy!" Then, he was gone. Until 2:30 pm. I held up ok. And happy little Kacin and I had a lot of fun at the park, the mall, and eating lunch with Eric. During Kyler's first-day-of-school treat, he told us all about his new friend who wore the Alvin and the Chipmunks shirt and who has the same backpack as him, his lunch, his projects he worked on, and all the fun he had.

I think we are off to a good start!

Busted!

Kyler: I heard you snoring last night, daddy!
Laura: Me too!!
Kacin: Daddy, you are so BUSTED! For 9 days. No ice cream for you.

(I'm glad Kacin hasn't busted me for anything yet. 9 days is a long time without ice cream.)

I Feel Robbed

I didn't get the first 4 years of his life. He came to us when he was 4 years and 5 months.
Now he is 5. Soon to be 6.

I didn't rock him to sleep when he was baby, feed him from a bottle, hear his first word, see him take his first steps, potty train him, or even teach him how to ride a bike.

I feel robbed. Gypped. Cheated.

And now this.

They want me to send him to Kindergarten FULL-DAY.

I know he is a smart kid and if you ask him he'll tell you you he wants to go to school all day so he can learn more and more.

But I'll miss him. Really badly.

I know, I know if you had asked me to send him to school all day a year ago, a big part of me would have said "A break from the tantrums, lies, outbursts, constantly being shadowed?! Sure!".

But I changed my mind.

I've been fighting back tears thinking about it all day.

I have grown to love this little boy more than I ever thought possible.

Adopting him may have brought a whole lot of challenges, but seeing what he is becoming is absolutely thrilling.

So, yes, Kyler. We will be sending you off to your first day of full-day Kindergarten next week. But you're not getting rid of me.

I will be there volunteering in your classroom, eating lunch with you as often as I can, walking with you to school, helping you with homework, and cherishing every moment I have with you.

Love you, Kyler!

Our House

It's lovely.

It was one of those things where we walked in and just knew this is our house. This is where we are supposed to be. We both felt it so strong.

We are happy with the location, happy with the space to grow into, happy with the big backyard, happy with the garden area, happy with the big pantry and lots of storage space, happy with the fireplace, and just happy that we found our new home so quickly.

We probably won't be closing until the end of September, but good things are worth waiting for.

Before I Die . . .

My friend posted her list of things she would like to do during her lifetime, which got me thinking about mine. I've always had a list of goals in my head, so I'm grateful for the idea to actually write it down and think about it again. It's neat to think that some of the goals I know had a few years ago, I've already done (adopt a child(ren), get my degree, etc.). So here goes . . . I'm sure this will probably be an ever-growing, ever-changing list . . . in no particular order . . .

1. Get a masters degree (probably in Educational Psychology)

2. Start a school

3. Serve a mission with Eric

4. Write a book

5. Learn how to play the piano

6. Be an angel dancer in the Easter Pageant

7. Learn how to do a ballroom dance

8. Be in a play

9. Learn a language


10. Visit all 50 states

11. Have a garden in which things grow and live

12. Maybe not attainable, but I think it would be the coolest thing to read (or at least skim) every book in a library . . .

Hello!

We are safely here in Arizona and really grateful to all the people who helped us out in the move!!

Hello to the SUN. Lots of it.

Hello to the townhouse that we can stay in until we find a place of our own (thanks so much Nancy and Wade!).

Hello swimming pools. Even though when I am in you, I am frightened by the fearlessness of my boys as they think they are the best swimmers in the world, BUT they are not. Kyler's flip off of the side and Kacin's happy little "backstroke" are enough to make any mom cringe.

Hello family! We have already loved having family home evening with you and playing Settlers with you.

Hello house hunting again. With Fatman (a.k.a. my dad) as realtor I'm sure it won't be long before we find our perfect home.

Hello air conditioning in my car. So glad you work so well.

Hello school where I did my student teaching at and preschool I taught at. Isn't it cool that Kyler will start Kindergarten at you and Kacin will be in Pre-K at you?

Hello Dairy Queen and Bahama Bucks. How did Utahans survive without you?
Hello great big city libraries with every book I could ask for! I missed your rows and rows of books and friendly staff.

Hello clear, endless skies. What beautiful sunsets!

Hello Lance, the yoga instructor. For a time, I thought I wanted to be a yoga instructor because of you . . . I'm so excited to go to your classes again.