"NO HO-HO!"

Those were the words Tyson cried as we neared Santa the Santa at Scott's work last week. We didn't know quite what to expect because he likes Santa in books and on TV and can Ho-Ho-Ho with the best of them, but as we got close, his grip tightened on me and I knew it wasn't going to be good! He did enjoy the candy cane and had it gone within 10 minutes. Maybe next year Santa, but keep those candy canes coming!

Fun with Scott and Tyson

See Scott...See Scott shovel the mounds of snow off our driveway. See Tyson...See Tyson watching Scott shovel mounds of snow off our driveway. See Scott's neighbors shoveling mounds of Snow off their driveways.

Shovel Scott Shovel!

Thanksgiving time..a little late

We traveled to Denver for this past Thanksgiving to spend it with my sister and her family. It nice to have family live a short (8 hours) driving distance away. She was much more diligent at taking pictures than I was sadly, but that doesn't mean we didn't have a really great time. Between the delicious meal we had (which we were mocked for) and the gobs of shopping we did, it was an overall successful trip!

Here's Scott contributing his part to the meal, making the mashed potatoes!. Yes...we have to get pictures when the men cook :) They did turn out really good though. No pictures of Kristin and I making the turkey, pies, jello, and vegetables, but they were there too! Sitting down right before dinner trying to help Tyson be patient. He wanted nothing to do with his bib so he was stripped down, which turned out to be a good thing! We hit the Black Friday deals as best we could hitting 5 stores starting at 4:45 and getting done by 9:30. This is me scoring my dual portable DVD player at Target that came in handy on the trip home. Besides shopping and eating, we did spend some time at the park. Tyson loved this snow business and would stop and eat some whenever he had the chance. He left the swing set to come over to this snow area and sat there for 15 minutes before his hands became cold and he started to cry. Saying Cheese...

We had such a great time...thanks for putting us up Sis!

One of a Kind!

Note: This post was written a little while ago, but I couldn't download pictures to go with it until now.
Scott and I joke about who Tyson takes after more (or whose random quirks he got). Between Scott's logical side and my quirky side, I think Tyson is a good mix. First, Tyson loves numbers (ahem...Scott). He knows 2 and 6 and 8 (don't ask me why those stand out to him) but whenever he sees one on a wall or sign, he'll shout it out. He loves to count things out even though he's not saying all the numbers..it's just jibberish (well, except the 2 and 6) but he has the intonation down.

Tyson loves puzzles, coloring and his new favorite thing, singing songs. Most mornings when I go to get him out of his crib, the first thing he says is, "E-i-e-i-o!" from Old McDonald.

He's also big into organizing things in lines and rows. We spent a good half hour lining up these toy milk cartons in front of the tv on the stand and then moving them to the side of the tv and then back again. Over and over.

We've done this with sharpie markers, lining them in one spot and moving to another to line them up again.

Everyday I find his cars sitting like this on the piano. Today we reached an all time low. We lined up mom's "stuff."(Please excuse his outfit. He was half dressed for the day.)

He saying more and more. Some of my favorite phrases are "Aww Man!" (similar to what Swiper the Fox says on Dora). He says, "Cute" all the time. He says it in this high voice and draws the word out. He'll say it about a soft blanket or a fuzzy animal and he'll come up to me and rub my hair and say it. Makes me laugh.

He's definitely a child that keeps us entertained.

Hopefully I'll get a Thanksgiving post up soon, but I hardly have any pictures. My sister took most of them:)

October Happenings

I never posted pictures of our pumpkin carving, or our trick-or-treating so here is the leftover pictures of October activites before our November events officially start.

Pumpkin Carving: He didn't really want to touch the goo inside but thought it funny when I did. Yes it is marker on his face. He saw me marking the pattern on my pumpkin and wanted to do it on his smaller one.

Trick-or-Treating: On more houses than not, Tyson would have rather gone inside to play in each one then to get the candy. We only went to a few houses before Tyson wanted to chill and eat the goods, hence these following pictures. We got out the camping chair to pass out candy and he was content to sit there for a while and eat. This next goody is at dinner one night. He loves jello and kept smearing it on his head. It was too funny not to stop, plus he was going to the bath anyway, but I thought this stage ended when they first learn how eat people food.

Our tree had the prettiest fall colors on it, so when Tyson and I were outside, it was fun to play in the leaves. Too bad I couldn't get him to smile.
It's been a little cold lately, but today we are having 72 deg weather, so now that I hear Tyson waking from his nap, we'll be headed outside for more fun before we get snow!

My little Dragon

Is it ok that I'm a little biased and think this is the cutest little dragon you have ever seen? I just can't help but chuckle whenever I look at these or see him in his costume. Saturday was our church Halloween party where the kids also went trunk-or-treating. It took a little coaxing to get Tyson into his costume and then to get him from car to car, but after a few stops of getting treats in his bucket, he was good to go. He'd get the candy, put it in his bucket and then hurry and shove his hand back into the person's treat basket for more. We had to quickly usher him to the next car before he got upset that he couldn't have more. These are just some pics of him running around in his costume.We came inside to get warm and this is him scoping out the goods of someone else's bucket. I can't help but laugh at his tail!
He would then proceed to line the candy all up before putting them all back in. I don't think he even knew what they truly were because he would be asking me to open them if he did. But I do think he's a little bit of an organizer!

Showing off!

This next video is just something that he picked up when we were at our neighbor's house. He learned how to "jump" off the bottom step from his little friend, Lauren. Although since she is older, she actually jumps. Tyson...well, you'll see. He gets ready to jump...

and he is so proud of himself ! His face right before he goes is hilarious!

Pumpkin Patch Time!

We've been planning on going to our favorite pumpking patch this year and Scott had the brilliant idea of going during the Nebraska football game! Most everyone is a Cornhusker fan so I do most of my shopping during the football games because the stores are mostly empty. It was still pretty crowded but I think it was mostly due to the fact that it was the first time we've seen the sun all week! We went last year when Tyson was just 10 months old so it was a lot more entertaining when Tyson could actually run around. We took a picture by this sign last year...and of course had to do it again for another photo op. You can tell Tyson did not want to be held there with all these fun things around to do.

I love his faces in these two. The one below, you can really tell he's trying to pick up the pumpkin. He still tries to pick up the big pumpkin we brought home, but instead just rolls it around.

He loved the petting zoo. The goats kept sticking their heads out of these little squares when kids walk by because you can feed them. Tyson thought it was the funniest thing and loved to try and grab their faces.I caught him laughing at this goat. After playing with the the goats, he decided to become one.

We went to some pig races (you have to watch those at a pumpkin patch) and then I wanted to go on the hayride, but the line for it was super long. I tried to tell Scott to pretend it was a really popular ride at Disneyland...and everyone wants to go on it, but he didn't buy into it. I just wanted to get my money's worth while we were there. As a compromise, Scott found this next little ride nearby and graciously stepped aside so I could be the one to go :) It was a bunch of these small carts that were pulled by a John Deere tractor. The things we do for our kids! We 're kind of looking directly in the sun, but this was the only picture you could see Tyson's face. He was too busy scoping everything out.

Notice how my knees are nearly against my chest! Tyson just looks so cute and little in the cart. In this picture you can kind of see what the little train and all the adults looked like on it. At least I wasn't the only one!
Our last picture before we headed we picked out our pumpkins to take home. Scott lets me handle the pumpkin picking because he knows I can get a little particular. It will be fun to carve them and see what Tyson thinks of that new thing ! I'm sure another fun post awaits!

I love these cute pumpkin patches!

Princess??

We bought this movie from the 5 dollar bin at Walmart, thinking maybe Tyson would like it one day. He was going through his daily ritual of pulling out all our DVD's and came across this one. Scott and I are sitting on the couch when he brings it to me and points to Fiona and says, "Mama." Thanks Tyson. So I point to Shrek and ask Tyson if that's Dad, to which he quickly says, "No!" We laugh it off and I hide my hurt feelings :) and then I ask him, "Where's Mama?" He then points to Fiona...again. You know, it's really my fault. I should have been buying him movies, like Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast (although he probably would have pointed me out as the beast), or Sleeping Beauty and then maybe I would have been compared to those fine ladies. But for now, call me Fiona. Hey, at least she's a princess right?

I'm an old Ute!

This past weekend, Utah volleyball had a big reunion. They were celebrating 35 years of Utah volleyball and my coach's 20 year mark. So we drove out half way on Wednesday and got there Thursday afternoon. On Friday night, they played BYU. It was so fun to be a part of and to see old friends. During the 2nd and 3rd game, all the alumni came out on the floor and lined up by the decade they played in. Utah won the game in 5 and afterwards, we went to a reception where we had food, told stories, and laughed a lot. I do miss my old teammates a lot! We also got this really cool jacket which of course, you can never have too many Utah jackets!

Some of the girls I played with! I played and lived with Jackie all 4 years (on my right) and it was so fun to see each other and our boys and catch up!! Lots of memories!

All these pictures are taken by Harold, the man in the middle...a super fan! He emails them all out which I'm glad because sadly, I didn't get any pictures. (And Kat, if you are reading this...you are such a dork..but I have to admit, so funny!)

A picture of the family. They gave us little bags of popcorn which kept Tyson still and in his seat for a little while. He did really well considering how loud and late it was. Scott did run around with him in the halls for a couple games so that I could enjoy myself!

On Saturday we had a sand volleyball tournament and it just reminded me again not only how long I've been away from volleyball but how out of shape I am. It was fun and I got a little sun as well! We squeezed in as many visits in our trip as possible, seeing my grandparents, aunts and uncle and my brother and wife. It was non stop trip of things planned and our little man was super! We drove all the way home on Sunday which was long but pretty easy with Tyson. Although I don't think we gotten in the car since we've been home!

Pros/Cons of Motherhood!

(I was originally going to name this post 'Poo and BYU', but I didn't want to be too offensive!)

Don't let this cute boy fool you...

This little munchkin pooped in my tub in 3 different bath nights in one week! I can't tell you how sick I am of scooping it out of the tub and bleaching all his little bath toys that had the unfortunate experience of being in the water with him. N0 one ever tells you about these more glamorous parts of motherhood!

He did make it up to me though. This is something we've been working on and that I'm quite pleased with. :)

**Note: This may be disturbing to some BYU fans. Feel free to turn away now and/or plug your ears. haha :)

During the last BYU football game, Scott was teaching Tyson to say 'Cougar.' So while Scott's been at work, I've been trying to undo the damage. Instead of Tyson saying cougar, when asked, he says "Yuck!" I personally find it hilarious. Scott on the other hand...not so much! (Sorry about the camera work, he likes to climb all over me)

Party weekend = Picture overload!

For Labor Day weekend, my sister and family came out to visit from Denver. It's been a long time since we've lived less than 10 hours away from each other, so we made sure to enjoy ourselves! Our first morning, the boys wanted to play out back. Great! Problem is, Tyson doesn't like to do the norm, or stay with the group. Since we're in the midwest and don't have fences the first thing Tyson does is bolt around to the front of the house and takes off down the sidewalk. Luke and the boys were kind enough to bring him back for me.

We also headed over to the Omaha Zoo (a must if you are a visitor) and spent lots of time there! I loved the gorillas as it was one of the very few times, Tyson would pause for a moment long enough to get a picture.
He's checking out the life size monkey wall, trying to figure out which one he's taller than.My sister has a similar shot on her blog, one of the few pics we could get them together. Her boy will sit for a picture, mine will not. Loved this guy!Ha! Caught him sitting down for a minute throughout the gorilla exhibit.First time on a carousel and he didn't know what to think of it. By the very end, he sort of cracked a smile! He loved the chicked we were riding though.My sister, Krisin, and her husband Luke, and the kids, Tanner, Austin, and Lukey! I loved spending time with these kids and their very fun and unique personalities!This peacock was our biggest fan during our lunch break. Luke thought it was really funny to throw pieces of bread right next to us so the bird would get up close and personal. Tanner was being very brave:)We finally exhausted Tyson in the aquarium where it was darker, but only lasted about 45 minutes. Yes he blanket is in the mouth.

Day 2 took us to the splash park near our home. The boys loved it and Tyson loved drinking the water out of these water shooting animals.
Here he is showing a little thigh for the ladies.We tuckered him out once again, this time during a meal (which surprisingly he didn't finish) and sitting straight up. Funny kid. He plays hard! The BYU game ended out our evening in which Kristin and I were instructed to take the two littlest ones out shopping so they didn't distract the men. But before we went, we took a picture with the flag Scott put up and all the boys. Yes, my kid is the chubby one without the shirt. I guess I'd rather have him shirtless, than wearing a BYU shirt! We went to Hobby Lobby and found some cute baby girl fabric for blankets for her little girl that's coming. And also ventured to JCPenney for some more cute girl items. It was proven once again that girl clothes are much cuter than boys!
It was a really fun weekend! Thanks for coming out Kristin and the boys!