Beaver Mountain

For Kaiden's 13th birthday, Robb and I decided to take our boys skiing for the first time. We went and stayed in my parents' condo in Bear Lake overnight and got up the next day to go skiing at Beaver Mountain. The night before skiing, my twins were VERY worried. They kept asking a lot of questions concerning injuries and accidents (my children are very cautious). At one point, Cooper said, "What if we hit into a tree with our heads and die or become paralyzed?" I couldn't believe it. My children are What About Bob. I reassured them that everything was going to be fine. A tree was the LAST thing they needed to worry about. So...we got up and headed to Beaver Mountain.

Here we are with all our gear....ready to go. Robb and I decided the best idea would be to pay a couple of ski instructors to spend the first part of the day with the boys teaching them the fundamentals of skiing. Can I just say that was the best money we have ever spent? Here's Kaiden, Cooper and Connor with their ski instructor. He's teaching them the basics....pizza (snowplow) and french fries (parallel). I don't know about you, but I was hungry just listening to him talk.

And Cannon got an AWESOME ski instructor all to himself. At the end of the lesson, he was going down the slope with no problem. It was so fun to watch. After the lessons were over, Robb and I looked at each other because we couldn't believe how PERFECT the day was going. The weather was nice, the boys were picking it up, and they were loving it! We couldn't get them in to eat lunch. Finally, after some coaxing, they inhaled their sandwiches an wanted to go on one more run. So, for the last run of the day, Cooper, Connor and I went together. As we were making our way down the trail, there was a grove of trees of to the right. Before I knew what what happening, Connor said, "Watch Mom," and he disappeared into the trees. I screamed, "Don't go down there," but it was too late. Next thing I knew, Connor had lost all control and ran head first HARD right into a tree. I COULDN'T FREAKING BELIEVE IT!

Cooper automatically started crying hysterically and I rushed to Connor. When I got to him, he was in total shock. He kept saying, "I feel so weird, Mom. I can't feel my body." I thought for sure that he was paralyzed. I turned to Cooper (who was sobbing) and told him to ride down to the lodge and get Dad. I put my body on top of Connor so he wouldn't move because I didn't know if he had broken his neck. He was in total shock and was freaking out. Luckily, the accident happened close to a lift and several people started screaming for ski patrol, so I just laid there on top of Connor till they got there.

Ski patrol was awesome. After they pried me off of him, they checked him out. As they were examining him, I couldn't believe that he actually hit into a tree. It was the LAST thing I thought would ever happen. I know it's sick and twisted, but I had to take a picture of him, so here's Connor as ski patrol was examining him:

And here's ski patrol getting the tabbogan ready to take him to the medic place. (I have always been fascinated with the tabbogan and always wondered who had to actually had to ride in those things. Well, I can now check that off my list....MY SON HAS!)

Once they got him to the medic room, they determined that he had not hit his head, but his chest showed some trauma, so they put him in our car and we drove right to the ER. A few hours and X-Rays later, we found out that Connor kissed that tree hard enough to break his collarbone right where it connects to the sternum. I guess that is one of the worst places to break a collarbone. He was quite a bit of pain and had to sleep sitting up for a week, but I have been amazed at how quickly he has healed. I am also SO VERY VERY THANKFUL that his injuries weren't more serious.

Connor has been awesome about it as well. He never really complained and is already asking to go skiing again. I have to end this incredibly long post with the awesome bruise that came with the break. We tell him how awesome he is because his bruise looks like the symbol on Batman's chest. Pretty freaking sweet.

Kaiden's 13th Birthday

For Kaiden's 13th birthday, we took everyone to my parent's cabin in Bear Lake. The boys had a great time playing checkers and hanging out. The next morning we got up and went skiing at Beaver Mountain. Kaiden has officially entered the "teenage years". I'm a little bit nervous about it, but I'm having a great time watching Kaid grow up and become a man! Here's a little tribute to my oldest son:

K ind. One of the greatest things about Kaid. He truly is nice to everyone. No wonder he has lots of friends.

A ttentive. Kaiden is very observant and is aware of what is going on around him. He is courteous to others and tries to be respectful to everyone.

I ntelligent. Kaiden is very smart kid and does well in school. For the last two semesters, he has received a 3.7 on his report card. Way to go, Kaid!

D etermined. When Kaiden sets his mind to something, he's usually always successful. He knows how to get the job done.

E arnest. Kaiden has always been a sensitive person and intently cares about people and their feelings.

N eat. I appreciate the fact that Kaiden is good about taking care of himself. He always looks and smells good. That's a great thing...especially now that he's a teenager!

We love you, Kaiden. Happy Birthday!

Tagged...

Tagged.
I've been Tagged...Here are the rules:
1) Post rules on blog
2) Answer the six 8 items
3) Let each person know by leaving them a comment

8 Favorite TV Shows (I don't watch a lot of TV, so these will be occasional favorites)
1. Intervention
2. Biggest Loser
3. 60 Minutes
4. Barefoot Contessa (FoodNetwork)
5. Everyday Italian (Food Network) Yes...I like to cook, but I like to eat more.
6. Seinfield (they never get old)
7. Dateline
8. American Idol

8 Things I did Yesterday
1. Ran my kids to school (I can't bear to see them freeze)
2. Cleaned my freaking house (Can I just say that I'm getting tired of this?)
3. Went to lunch at Red Lobster (NOT my favorite restaurant)
4. Went to Sam's Club (Needed some more Diet Pepsi)
5. Picked up Cannon from pre-school
6. Went to the gym (I could have stayed there all night with as many calories as I consumed this weekend.)
7. Fixed dinner
8. Finished the laundry (3 more piles magically appeared when I was on my last batch)
Dont' be jealous of my life....

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Summertime
2. Running outside
3. Vegas in a couple of weeks
4. My 14th anniversary on Feb. 3 (Don't ask me why I got married in February. Horrible month.)
5. Mowing the lawn (I would work outside anyday rather than inside)
6. Getting my BRACES OFF!!!
7. My kids' Ballroom competition on Saturday. HILARIOUS!
8. The weekend

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Tepanyaki
2. Paradise Bakery
3. Pei Wei
4. Cafe Rio
5. Outback
6. Mikado's
7. Rooster's
8. The Mandarin
When did Bountiful become the coolest place to eat???

8 Things I Wish For
1. Happiness
2. No stretch marks (Hot...I know)
3. Uninterrupted Sleep
4. No teenage years
5. For my house to stay clean for 72 hours
6. To grow old gracefully
7. Good Health
8. An M&M blizzard (This is genius Nicole!!! But I would have to make it a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup)

8 People I Tagged
1. Natalie Niederhauser
2. Tara Curtis
3. Shannon Bankhead
4. Kamie Barrus
5. Michelle Noel
6. Samantha Kelly
7. Brooke Woodward (welcome to the Blog world...)
8. Melissa Pettingill

If You Care...

Have you ever had a ton of things in your brain that you have to get down on paper? No? What? Well, I do. Maybe that's the English teaching side of me. Maybe it's the chronic nerd side as well. Whatever it is, I think a blog is a perfect forum for me to post my rants and raves. I won't mix them in with my family stuff. I'll keep my dysfunction away from my family, so I created a website dedicated solely to my perceptions of life, food, relationships, the world...basically whatever! Check it out if you care. I would love to hear what you have to say about the things that get me going, so read and respond. I promise I won't grade you on your grammar, spelling, or response. I just like discussions. The website it http://agirls2sense.blogspot.com. Hope to see you there.

White Boots

Can I just say that my kids say the most HILARIOUS stuff! Today as Connor was getting ready for school, I told him that he looked really handsome. (Cooper and Connor just started going to Ballroom Dance in the mornings. They have been SO excited. I don't think they care about the dancing...I hear them tee-heeing about holding girls' hands. Needless to say, on Ballroom days, they're dressed to the hilt.)

Connor's response: "Thanks, but I think I would look so much better if I had some white jeans to go with this shirt."

My response: (I had to pause because I can't remember the last time I saw a guy in white jeans and thought it was HOT.) "Well, Connor, I think your blue jeans look way better than white jeans."

Connor's response: "Fine, then I think some white boots would look really good."

I had to look to see if he was joking. He was DEAD serious.

My response: "Connor. Sweetie. Why in the world would you want WHITE boots? I haven't ever seen a guy wear white boots."

Connor's response: "Uh huh...Nacho Libre. And they looked really good on him."

HILARIOUS! Maybe we can get him some of Cannon's sweatpants and they can be his "stretchy pants". Why are kids so DANG funny?

Basketball Star

If any of you know my twins, you know how badly they have HATED sports through the years. When the twins turned 6, we started signing them up for any city rec. sport that came available. We signed them up for baseball, basketball, football, tennis....everything! They're Robb's kids...they should like sports, right? WRONG! I couldn't have been more wrong, and I couldn't have wasted more money through the years. It was my twins that went all Bobby Knight at a couple of basketball games because no one passed the ball to them. It was my twins, while in the outfield on second base, sat on the ground and played with grass. It was my twins, right in the middle of a game, took off up a hill. When I asked them where they were going, he screamed, "To the bathroom. Is that alright?" I can't even begin to tell you how many tears have been shared and how many, "I hate sports. Why don't you get it?" with me through the years. Finally, about $500 dollars later and hours of running to practice, I resigned as the sport signer-upper about 2 years ago. We had a family council and I informed the twins that they were NEVER going to set foot on another field or on another court unless they came to me and asked me to sign them up. Needless to say, the tears stopped and they were relieved that their sports-playing days were over.

Right when I started getting used to the idea of no sports, Coop came home and begged me to sign him up for city basketball. I paused. I contemplated. I hesitated, and reluctantly decided to give it a shot. He has gone to the practices, and I am so proud of him because he makes it the entire time without one single breakdown.

Last Saturday was his first game. He started talking about how nervous he was a couple of days before. When I asked him why he was so nervous, he said, "Because everyone will be there looking at me." I had to remind him that was part of the game. He got up on Saturday and I could tell it was killing him. I kept reassuring him that all was going to be fine. We got in the car, and as we pulled into Central Davis, I heard Cooper say, "Oh no. Here we are. Oh no. Oh no. Okay....I can do this.....I just gotta believe in myself."

This is one of those moments as a mother when you want time to stop because you realize that your child has semi figured something out. In a matter of two years, Cooper went from being the WORST sport to being a very motivational sports player. I turned around and told him that was EXACTLY what he needed to do! And then Connor quickly ruined the moment by turning to Cooper and saying, "Guys, that was the cheesiest thing you have ever said."

I was so PROUD. Maybe a two year hiatus was exactly what Cooper needed. Maybe some of the pros could learn from Coop.

Eating Contest

I fixed dinner a couple of Sunday's ago. I fixed baked potatoes, carrots, corn, and steak. The steaks I bought were HUGE. I put a big steak on Robb's plate, and BIG steak on Kaid's. I didn't expect him to eat even a fourth of the steak. I figured he would give it a good shot and then I would save the rest. Robb took one look at his plate and called Kaiden to a challenge. He told Kaiden that if he ate EVERYTHING on his plate (and when I say EVERYTHING, I mean the skin of the potato and EVERYTHING), he wouldn't have to do any of the dishes. Kaiden agreed to the challenge. I was a little concerned about the entire thing because honestly, the steak was HUGE and he had to get everything else down as well. I thought for sure he was gonna BARF! A couple of times, I was so worried, I told him to stop and I would do the dishes. That only made Robb mad so I had to stay out of it. This is a picture right after he took his last bite. I think the last bite was pretty painful. You can kinda see it on his face. He did it though, and Robb had to do the dishes!!

A Weekend in Arizona

I haven't been down to see my sister Tara in Arizona for years. When I got done teaching fall semester, I knew it was time to go visit. So, I booked Cannon and me a ticket and we were off for a weekend. I take turns taking a kid every time and this time was Cannon's. I'm glad it was his turn too because he had a great time playing with his cousin Sophie. Tara's husband, Kirk, has a bird named Spot and one morning, Cannon let Kirk put him on his arm. It was hilarious. I could tell that he was scared to death but he tried so hard to be brave. You're probably wondering what the nasty thing is coming out of his nose. Well, he can thank Robb for that. He gets nasty cold sores, and this lovely thing came out of his nose. It was funny because Tara said he looked like Hitler. I have to agree.

I need to make an effort to go visit my sister Tara and her family more often. Her little girl Sophie actually likes me and wanted me to hold her. You know I love that! Tara and I had a great time making yummy things in her new Bosch, and you know that we went out to eat every chance that we could. I am a lucky girl to have 4 sisters that I love to spend time with. As much as I hate having Tara live so far away, it's nice being able to escape the cold and go see her where it's always warm.

Never a Good Sign

In my previous post when I talk about silence, this is one time where the outcome wasn't so great. It's never a good thing when you come into the bathroom and find the clippers and tufts of white hair. Needless to say, that afternoon we had to get a haircut.

Artistic....

I was doing the laundry one day and Cannon was being particulary quiet. That is either FANTASTIC or very SCARY. So, I turned the corner, and this is what I found! He has found two necklaces (don't ask me where he found them in our house full of boys...and I haven't worn beads like these since the 7th grade) and created this masterpiece. When I turned the corner, he said, "Wook mom...a snail." I was so proud, I snapped a pic. It's amazing what a mother can be proud of.