Tyson - February 2014

Well, like in Logan's letter there really hasn't been a whole lot of excitement at our house lately.  You've taken a bit of a shine to Tessa's dress-ups, which have led to some fun blackmail pictures that you were more than happy to pose for.

At least in this one you are Tinkerbell riding a camo fourwheeler.

You also get your kicks by riding the vacuum...

and running around the house naked refusing to get dressed...

taking selfies with mom....

and chasing everyone around with the spray bottle we use for Tessa's hair.

We finally got you and Logan's bunkbeds done and moved in.  We didn't build a ladder because we didn't want you to be able to get up on the top bunk.  Well as you can imagine that plan failed because about the third day the beds were in your room you figured out how to climb up the sides and up to the top.  Sure enough you fell off, but that didn't keep you from doing it over and over again, so now your nice newly built beds are covered with a piece of cardboard and duct tape to keep you from sticking your pudgy little toes in between the slats to climb up.

 You were MAD.

We spent the night at grandma and grandpa Hillier's house one night, and you went straight to grandma's puzzle when we got there.  The next time we went over you decided to "help" by breaking up the pieces she already had put together so she could do it again.  You're always so thoughtful.

We still get to enjoy having Kyler come play in the mornings, and you just happened to be twins in your orange shirts watching Mickey Mouse or Bubble Guppies this particular morning.

A couple days before Valentine's day you and I made the cookie dough for our sugar cookies while the big kids were at school.  You were cranky (shocking), so I let you have the beater and a cookie after they came out of the oven.

You went to town on that beater, and I laughed at the cookie dough on your face in the shape and size of the beater.

We've been lucky to have such a warm winter where we have been able to get outside quite often.  You and I walked to the park one afternoon while the big kids were at school and played for a while, and I pretended like that counted as exercise.

And we've gone to the big park with the big kids after school quite a bit too.  You and Logan keep looking longingly at the pool and telling me you want to go swim.  I'm pretty excited for summer too.

The Saturday before my birthday you and Tessa stayed in Panguitch with grandma and Tinsley while me, dad, grandpa, Uncle Dusty, Quade, Bosten, Uncle Boo, and Coby went fishing.  At lunch time grandma brought you all up to have lunch with us on the shore, and we had a fun time.

You kept saying you wanted to go fishing, so dad walked you out to one of the closer holes on the ice.  Then he took you and Tess on the sled and then on the fourwheeler while he spun donuts on the ice.  You didn't like that much and came back crying.  He took me a few minutes later and I didn't fare much better than you did.

For my birthday I wanted to have a picnic and hang out outdoors for the afternoon, so after my breakfast in bed and hanging out watching Downton Abbey and just all around chilling we got some Subway and headed up to the Ponderosa Grove campground by the sand dunes to eat.

We walked around out there and then drove down the road a bit to find some sand to play in.  I took a poor picture of you holding my finger because I know that my days of this are numbered.

You totally dug the sand and had a blast throwing it up in the air as long as it landed on your brother and sister and not yourself.  We had a really fun afternoon, and I'm so glad the weather cooperated.

Because on rainy/cold days when we are stuck inside this happens:

You are such a goof and even though the thought of going out in public with you makes me want to cry, we love you so.

Love you bud,
Mom

Logan - February 2014

Well after the excitement of the holidays and the January of basketball games the rest of January and the first part of February was pretty unexciting.  I do have a picture of you flipping a coin that you asked me to take.  It's a big step in a kid's life, learning how to flip a coin.

And I took a picture of you sitting at the table with your butt-naked brother?

Then apparently we went to Junction and you guys drove me crazy playing on the arcade games and begging me for quarters for the quarter machines.

For Valentine's day I stayed up past my bedtime cutting out hearts and writing what few things I could think of on them and then sticking them to your doors.  I did this in the dark so cut me a little slack on the random placement.  As I was finishing up in the front room I could hear them falling off the door one by one, so I ran and turned on the light and took a picture so of what it looked like because I was pretty sure that they'd all be on the ground before morning.  A few stayed though, and you guys thought it was pretty fun.

Then you came out to the kitchen to find your Valentines, a box of chocolate, a balloon, and a book.  Of course yours was a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book - the Do-It-Yourself one you saved up to buy.  It came earlier than we expected, so I decided to wrap it up for you and give you 3 of your hard-earned dollars back since that's how much I spent on Tessa's book.  You were pretty okay with that deal.

For your Valentine box you requested something, you guessed it, Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  I had NO clue what to do, so I paper mache'd some notebook paper to a box and then kind of gave you an outline of the face to draw, but when it came down to it you were the one who drew the face.  It may not have been spectacular with lights and moving parts, but you were pretty proud of it, and it did the job of holding all your Valentines from your friends.  Apparently your teacher has been calling you Mr. Awesome (like you need a bigger head), and some of your Valentines were even addressed to Mr. Awesome.

The Saturday of President's Day weekend we went fishing at Panguitch Lake with Grandpa Rob, Me, Dad, Uncle Dusty, Quade, Bosten, Uncle Boo, and Coby.  You and Quade had fun being drug out on the ice on the sled behind the fourwheeler.

As usual, you had more fun goofing off on the ice than you did fishing, and we got after you quite a bit to stick by your pole.  You couldn't figure out why everyone else was catching fish and you weren't, but you didn't stick around long enough to know if you had a bit.  You boys had fun though, and after we were done fishing Grandma, Tess, Ty, and Tinsley met us at the shore for a fun lunch.  Grandpa, Dad, and Uncle Boo decided to push their luck and took you out on the fourwheelers to spin donuts on the slick ice.  Talk about giving your mom a heart attack!  There was open water at the edge of the lake, and we got to see one of the fish cops dump his fourwheeler through it.

There's really not a whole lot else going on.  I finally put my foot down on our last trip to the library and said no more Wimpy Kid books.  It's all you talk about, and you've checked them each out of the library at least twice.  It's kept you from reading other books that you could test on at school to help meet your goal of 500% of your reading goal this year.  Plus I want you to see that there are more books out there that you will love.  It's hard right now though because they just tested you at school, and you're reading at a 5th grade 1st month reading level, and a lot of those books are a little more "heavy reading" than I'd like for you right now.

Other than that...yup, this is a pretty boring letter.  I'm even struggling to come up with some motherly advice today.  I will say, again, and maybe by the time you've read this you will have heard it enough that you believe it, but be nice to your brother and sister.  They'll be your best friends when you need them.

Love you bud,
Mom

Tessa - February 2014

Tessa Sue, Tessa Sue what am I going to do with you?  Not a whole lot has changed in the past month, and I was busy taking videos every day that I didn't get a whole lot of pictures.

We went up ice fishing on New Year's Day, and the fishing was crummy.  We all got skunked (except dad, he never gets skunked, but he only caught one), but you and I had a fun time chilling in the shack eating cookies and watching down the holes for fish to swim by.  I was getting pretty grumpy and frustrated (ice fishing isn't all that fun if you aren't catching fish), and at one point you sweetly asked, "Um, how long are we going to stay here?"  I said I didn't know and it depended on your dad, and you replied, "Oh.  So.... is this all we're going to do?"  Yep, pretty much!  Ice fishing when you aren't catching is pretty much just sitting on a frozen lake for a few hours!  You were a good sport though and never really complained.  Plus I know your dad loves it that you like to go do that kind of stuff.  He was gone for 2 weeks this month with a Saturday home in between, and when he asked what we should do on his only day at home with us you said, "I know!  Let's go shoot guns!"  Oh girl, it's so funny because you are sucking up to him without even knowing it.  Way to get him wrapped even tighter around his finger before you turn into a teenager.

At the beginning of this year we started watching Teresa Kabonic's little boy Kyler.  He and Tyson are only about 6 weeks apart, but this age isn't the best for sharing and playing together.  They get along okay, but I sure am glad to have you here when he is here to help me referee!  I always hear you playing the "mom" and trying to dissolve problems or drama and sometimes literally coming right between them to keep them on their best behavior.  You love to "mother" and will be such a great one someday.

You have this habit of sitting or perching or laying on the couches in ANY way that is not normal.  Whether it is laying across the very top of the couch, sitting on the arms, or hanging upside down over the arms.  We've told you a hundred times to just sit, but it still hasn't clicked, and you've fallen off more than once!  One day you and Ty were arguing about who was there in that particular spot first, and he just pushed you right off the edge of the couch where you hit the box that holds all his wood blocks.  I was in the kitchen and about to tell you to stop crying when I saw blood coming from your mouth.  It freaked me out and I thought for sure we'd be headed to the ER, but it turns out it wasn't too bad of a cut.  Poor girl though.  I know it had to hurt pretty bad, but you were a trooper and let me doctor it up.  Even after you caught me trying to put some alcohol on it after you'd fallen asleep you told me it didn't sting too much and let me finish up.  Lucky for us you made a full recovery within a couple days, and the scar isn't too bad.  Whenever Tyson meets someone new the first thing he says, still, is "I pushed Tessa off the COUCH!"  I'm not sure what we're going to do with that kid.

Between the time you get out of school and the time Logan gets out we have about 20 minutes to sit and wait, so we drive to the school and get a good parking spot and hang out in the car.  This is when I get to hear all about your day - who you played with, what your snack was, and the newest gossip with the 3-5-year-old set.  From what I can tell you play with just about everybody in your class and have a lot of fun with them.  One day as I was picking you up one of the boys in your class who is in your primary class at church yelled from the fence, "I love you, Tessa!"  I got a pretty good laugh out of that until you told me that another boy had told you the same thing earlier that day!  Your teachers love you too and continue to tell me what a sweet girl you are.  Between all that love and praise and taking selfies in the car while waiting for Logan and asking me if I think you are pretty, I think we better make sure your head doesn't get too big!

You love to eat waffles or pancakes morning, noon, and night.  The last couple nights you've actually eaten what I've made for dinner and proclaimed, "This is my favorite dinner ever!"  When I asked you if it was better than pancakes or cereal though you quickly changed your mind!  It's a good thing you guys like the easy stuff for dinner because that's usually what you get when dad's out of town.  You love to play "kitties," pet shops, horses, and color.  You love to go to school but don't care so much for homework (I know, writing the letter "h" 10 times can be exhausting).  You love the idea of earning money by helping me clean but not so much the actual cleaning.  You are just an overall silly, goofy, sweet girl who makes our family awesome.

I don't know what we were talking about, but the other night dad said, "I never did want a girl, but I'm sure glad we have one.  I can't imagine our family without her."  I couldn't have said it better myself.

Love you sis,
Mom

Tyson - January 2014

Well Ty, another month has come and gone, and not a whole lot has changed.  You're getting to the point now where things are starting to slow down as far as new things you can do and are doing.  That's okay with me though.  I'm okay with you slowing down a bit because you definitely aren't slow in everyday life.  I don't know how many times lately I have had to chase you, whether it's in the grocery store, at the park, in the house, or down the street.  You are FAST and think you are super funny when you make me chase you.

One night after the bath instead of a sweet, easygoing baby that lets his mom get him dressed I got this - a naked dragon cowboy superhero - complete with cape.  You ran around and around the kitchen riding the dragon.

You are such a ham, and when you know someone is taking a picture you turn up the charm as high as it goes.  You were more than happy to have your picture taken being a cowboy on our horse instead of a dragon, but I think maybe the pink cowboy hat will turn this into a good blackmail picture at some point in your life.

You and dad are still getting along a bit better.  You still prefer me to him, and i have to write that because at this point you are the only one.  I better do some sucking up to Tessa though because I'm sure eventually you will feel like Logan does and I will only be an afterthought.  The day of the NFL semi-finals dad finished up with dinner and then let me know he was headed into our room to watch the game.  I started cleaning up only to hear the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song coming out of our room.  When I opened the door to see what was up I found this:

That guy sure loves you bud.  You eventually got tired of snuggling and headed out, but it was pretty sweet to see him trade a good football game for some snuggles and Mickey Mouse.

One Saturday last month dad, Logan, and Tessa all headed up fishing.  I love when we get to go or when I do fun things with the entire family, but I have to admit I kind of enjoy our one-on-one time too.  I figured dad would take Logan and Tessa to lunch in Panguitch, so we headed to Junction for our own little lunch date.

We had a pretty good time eating ice cream and fries, even if you do double dip!

One of the most favorite toys in this house is the laundry basket I've had since I was in college.  On laundry day when it is being used to haul clothes around you and your brother and sister always seem to find it and turn it into a rocket ship or a cave or a car or something.  One day while the big kids were at school and I was folding clothes you just decided to hang out in it to watch your show.  It didn't look super comfortable to me, but the mysterious draw of a laundry basket and nobody to have to share it with was just too much to leave it sitting empty.

No new teeth this month, but you've started to get better at letting me brush them instead of just biting the toothbrush and licking off the toothpaste.  You love peda butta sanwiches, apples, chicken nuggets, and a very occasional bite or 2 of whatever I make for dinner.  One of your favorite things to do is "wash da dishes!" by pulling the stool up to the sink and playing in the water until the size of the mess you've made outweighs the fact that you're out of my hair.  When I try to get you to fall asleep I have to tickle your back, stomach, hand, and face with the corner of one of your blankies while you make this ridiculous snoring sound.  I tried to get it on video last night, but you caught me and the phone distracted you and I lost all the progress I had made with the tickling.  You've officially moved out of your crib (and couch) and into the bottom bunk of the bunkbeds you share with Logan.  You usually last there until about 2 or 3 a.m. before making your way to our room.   Right now it is early morning (5 a.m.) and I can hear you in there moaning and groaning and probably sleeping right next to your dad on that king-sized bed.

You touched the hot stove last month right after I'd told you not to and HOWLED for over an hour - even after we'd loaded up in the car to go to Grandma and Grandpa Hillier's house.  I had to stop at the reservation convenience store to get you a cup of ice to stick your finger in before you fell asleep.  Then the next week you stepped on a poky and limped for 5 days.  FIVE!  I think you get your pain tolerance from someone other than your mama.  Now that I've seen just how dramatic you can be I'm going to have to be more careful about making sure you don't get hurt!

You may be a wild child who gives me a run for my money every day, but we couldn't imagine this family without Ty-Ty.

Love you bud,
Mom

Logan - January 2014

Well I'm late with your letter and the reason why is that I like your siblings more than you.  Obviously that's not true, but if you knew that I was writing you letters every month and knew that yours was X number of days late and Tessa's was less than that number you would surely accuse me of favoritism.  You've been kind of a pill lately to be completely honest.  Your absolute FAVORITE thing to do in the world is to argue with anyone you come in contact with (usually me), and you still feel like it is your job to raise Tessa and Tyson.  I've got to admit it's been a little rough around here lately, but we are learning and figuring things out and finally realizing that it takes 2 to argue. :)  Lots of times lately you find yourself mumbling to yourself instead of having someone to fight back.  I really do need to write down some of my favorite arguments you've given me lately.  I have gotten more smiles from hearing you defend yourself out of an impossible argument than anything else lately.

And then there are moments when you are so sweet and helpful.  This was one day before school where you stopped what you were doing and got down on the floor to play with Tyson.  I had to take a picture mostly because I was shocked Tyson was playing with toys instead of throwing them at someone's head, but I also thought it was a pretty sweet picture showing just how much you like that little troublemaker.

Christmas finally came, thanks to you for counting down the days, and the Saturday before we headed up to Panguitch for the Pollock Christmas party.  We had talked about if the Santa that came to the party was the real Santa (because Quade told you it wasn't), and I said that some years Santa needs help getting to all the Christmas parties and stores but that I thought the real one was coming this year.  Well you were the first one to catch a glimpse of him through the window that night and then the first one to have your finger scanned on Santa's Naughty or Nice app (Santa's got to keep up with technology apparently.).  When you ended up scanning naughty you weren't too thrilled, and complained later that it wasn't a real thing because all the 6-year-old boys were naughty.  Dad and I know that wasn't a coincidence though!

You must have forgiven Santa enough, and he you, because you sat on his lap to get your present and tell him that you wanted a basketball hoop for Christmas.  Earlier that day we opened presents with the Veater family, and you got a transformer and a puzzle from Quade and some nice clothes and a fishing pole from Grandma and Grandpa Veater.

On Christmas Eve we had our tradition of going out to look at lights and then coming home to watch a movie together.  Before the movie I let you guys open up your presents from me and dad.  They'd been under the tree for a couple weeks and had been thoroughly shaken, and you were pretty stumped about what it could be.

A new pair of Christmas pajamas of course, along with some popcorn and some movie theater candy (that's what stumped you - the shaking of the candy).  We got a picture...

and then snuggled down to watch The Polar Express before sending you guys off to bed.

The next morning you were the first one up (not bad at 6:45!) and headed straight for the goods under the tree.  I caught you and told you we had to get everyone else up first, and you wasted no time making sure Tess got out of bed while I got your dad and Ty.

You got a basketball, the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, a basketball pump (which ended up being the most popular "gift," go figure), an electric pencil sharpener (still makes me laugh), and a few other smallish things.  You didn't see your basketball hoop though.  You were definitely disappointed, but you were trying really hard not to be.  You decided you'd better look outside, so you checked there.  Then you checked in the basement and the garage.  You were just telling us that Santa must not have gotten you one when you turned around and saw it hiding in the kitchen.  You were pretty dang excited that Santa had listened.

Tess got you and Ty both a little something, and you guys gave her something as well. It was pretty sweet to see your hugs and my favorite part of Christmas morning.

Later that morning we headed to Hurricane and spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa Hillier and Aunt Lisa and Uncle Joe.  You got spoiled there as well with a bunch of fun stuff in your stocking and some Legos.  We won't mention the fit you threw that night on the way home because the rest of the day had been a pretty great Christmas.

A few days after Christmas Tess and I took all the decorations off the tree, but I left it up in the front room.  The night before New Year's Eve I redecorated it with streamers and hats and balloons filled with jokes and noisemakers for a New Year's Eve tree.  The look on your face the next morning when you saw the tree transformed was pretty fun, and you guys had a blast popping the balloons to find out what was inside.  Who needs to stay up until midnight to have fun on New Year's?

We signed you up for basketball this year, and I have been a little nervous as to how you were going to do.  When I first told you that you could sign up this year you were so excited, so when registration opened up I didn't even ask you, I just did it.  When I told you that I'd signed you up you Fah-reaked out on me big time saying you didn't want to do it and I needed to get my money back and take you off the list.  Well a couple days later you switched back to being so excited you could hardly stand it, so I breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn't wasted my $25!  First and second grade basketball is... tough.  I wish they had done the program a little differently, but what amazed me and your dad was the way you handled everything.  You've never been a super aggressive kid when it comes to sports, and basketball was no different, but you went out there and played and enjoyed it every single time.  You were nervous and unsure of yourself, no doubt about that, but you DID IT, and that tells us so much about you.  The first game you had your hands in your mouth a lot so I put the nail-biting nail stuff on your fingers for the next game only to have you discover your pockets.  I sewed your pockets shut for the next game, but you picked them open!  You only had the ball on a couple short (very short) occasions during the games, but your attitude was awesome and you were just happy to be playing.  I was VERY impressed.

It's not too hard to see where your love of arguing comes from, I think your dad and I have got that pretty well covered, but it is so good to see that sometimes you are just happy to be where you are doing what you are doing.  Content.  Normally that's not a word I would use to describe you, but it's in there.  I think life is easier and better if we choose to see the good in whatever situation we are in, and you did that with basketball.  Hopefully we can grow that trait so that it takes over the argumentative trait?  I don't know, but I do know that you are my favorite oldest child, and that your dad and I and your grandparents are so, so proud of how you did in basketball this year.

Love you bud,
Mom