Sloane's Birthday

Yesterday was Sloanie's 7th birthday and as you see, she had a wonderful day and was obviously well compensated. Apologies for the fuzzy pics but we are still waiting for our camera to be repaired so in the meantime, I am using my cell phone.

Krissy asked me write a blog entry dedicated to our special little princess so please bear with me as I'll no doubt come across as very biased;

As our only girl, Sloanie has always been very special to Krissy and I. She's always been very well behaved (especially compared to her younger brother!) and is particularly mature for her age. Sloanie and I have always been very close but it seems as though our already strong bond continues to increase as she gets older. I try to find time for daddy/daughter opportunities as often as possible although I'm sure not as often as either of us would like. One of our favorite games is to come up with the most disgusting sandwich ever and believe me, we've come up with some doozies. Although on Sunday's we change the game slightly and talk about our favorite things about Jesus. I'm continually amazed and how spiritually insightful she is and how deeply she thinks about spiritual things even at a young age. Each night I give her a 'bus ride' to her bed where she and I kneel down and say a prayer together. Her prayers are so precious and spiritually mature for her age. She's had a great love for the Savior even before she could speak.

Sloane does very well in school, in fact she was the student of the month in October. What I find especially impressive however is her attention to detail and her love of homework (sounds just like me, right Mom & Dad?) She's actually sad when she finishes her homework and is downright upset if her teacher doesn't assign homework on a given day. Believe me, neither Krissy or I were like that and we have no idea where she acquired/inherited this strange behavior (Grandpa Gibson maybe?).

One attribute Sloanie did inherit from Krissy is her desire to be kind to everyone regardless of differences. She goes out of her way to befriend kids who are new, shy or different. I was NOT this way as a child (although I'd like to think I've made some progress as I've gotten older) so I'm very thankful Sloane takes after Krissy in this regard. A couple of nights ago Sloane and I had a good daddy/daughter talk and I told her how much I love her and how special she is to me. I told her for the very first time about a spiritual experience I had as a teenager. Of course I won't go into specifics but I knew from that time forward that my first child would be a girl. Sloanie got a bit teary when I told her about my experience and I think she knows her daddy loves her.

Obviously we love our little girl very much and are grateful for the privilege we have to be her parents.

Check out this Website

http://www.eyeslipsface.com/ my mother in law sent me this website. Nordstrom is changing the look of all their cosmetics and everything is on sale for a $1.00. I went and ordered some stuff that would of cost me close to a 100 dollars and got it for 15. This is no joke. I promise you. Show your hubbies, maybe they can get ya some stuff for Christmas. I gave Chris a list. But they would have to move quickly I think before it is all gone.

Halloween Pics

we currently do not have a digital camera. These picks were taken with Chris' cell phone. Holden is a little blurry. My friend has a good pic of him and when I get it I will post it. Holden loved trick or treating. He was kinda slow so we came back home and got the stroller. Then Chris took him back out. At first he didn't want to go but then learned what to do and loved it. Sloane hung out with her friend Brigitta(sp?) and came home at 8:30. We were pretty much kidless all night and then we let the boys have a couple friends stay the night. All in all it was a fun night and I was in bed by 9:30.

I told chandler he is in charge of carving the pumpkins every year since he is the only one that enjoys doing it

Sloane makes a pretty pirate. We were not going to do pumpkins this year but then I got puppy eyes from Sloane and Chandler and at 4pm yesterday I was able to find 2 pumpkins. Chris drew the faces, Sloane cleaned them out and Chandler carved out the faces. I didn't even have to do much.

Tevin wasn't going to dress up. He was just going to be a teenager. He then ended up being a ghost and went out with friends to a haunted house. Let me remind you tevin is terrified of haunted houses. To go to this corpse nightmare it cost 10 dollars. Tevin paid got to the front and then chickened out. He was mad at himself and so we let him go again. Paid another 10 dollars and finally did it. He was freaked out, but we are proud of him that he made it through. Next year we will have to try and get the other boys to do it.

Our civil war hero. He looked so good. He already has a school teacher who would love to have his costume when he is done with it cause she teaches 7th grade as well as the civil war and would love to display the costume when she teaches it.

This is Harrison's last year as santa. His pants are getting too tight and his arms are too long. But he sure has used this costume to its fullest. 3 years in a row he was been santa

Protective Son

Chris and I were in the office talking and then we started making out...yes even after 8 years of marriage we still enjoy that.lol. Anyways, Holden comes walking in and says "What you doing my momma?" Chris and I started busting up laughing. He then said "That's my momma."

Halloween

Well Wednesday night was our ward Halloween party that I put on. I was counting on maybe 150 people to show up and it ended up being over 200. We had a chili dinner then a carnival for the kids. People seemed to be enjoying themselves. Sloane, Holden and I were all in our pirate costumes and got many compliments how cute we all looked. Can I tell you when these ward parties are done with I come home so tired and sore from standing, running around, putting up tables and chairs and then cleaning up. I love my calling and I am already planning Christmas. I had parents mad at me for not having a trunk or treat this year and I will have some mad at me at our Christmas party because I will not have a Santa. I am glad the bishop supports me on these. I think if you want to see Santa go to the mall. In a church building it should be focused around Christ. I am going to do a Bethlehem theme. So hopefully it will all come together.

Anyway, kids are all in their costumes and ready to trick or treat, but they still have 3 hours to wait. I wish Holden knew how to tell time. He keeps on asking to go treat. Too cute. This will be the twins last year to trick or treat. Actually Tevin doesn't want to go but Chandler is and then they are done. Hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween.

Oh by the way some of you are wondering about Holiday plans. We are staying her for Thanksgiving. I have family coming up. We will try to come to the Tanner Xmas party but not sure. We are still working out dates for Xmas with the boys. I have them Xmas day until new years (I think) but am not sure. I hope this helps

Hate Mondays

I use to never have a problem with Mondays. But now that our lives are so busy the weekend go by too fast and then boom back to the busy life. How do I get my life to slow down. Sometimes I feel like I am going to loose it. Life is rushing by and I am not getting the chance to enjoy it and before I know it all the kids are going to be gone. Am I always there for my kids. Do I notice problems that they might be having or am I too busy to see if I am needed. OK I will stop complaining. Just had to vent a second.

Sloane and I had a fun Saturday. I went to Super Saturday and made beaded jewelry and found a new hobby in that. Then I hurried home cause Chris bought Sloane and I tickets to High School Musical 3. I have to say I enjoyed this one the most. I can't believe how many young girls there were in the movie and I applaud the fathers that took their daughters. It was a nice time with Sloane. She even went out in line and got her own popcorn cause I had Holden asleep on me. I was very proud of her.

I always enjoy Sundays because I sleep in until 10am which is very much needed. Church was very spiritual. Talks and lessons were all about Prayer and it was nice to hear peoples experiences with Prayer and how in 3 Nephi Chapter 17 or 18 can't remember exactly how Christ went often to talk to his father in heaven through prayer and how he prayed for the Nephites. I really enjoyed Sunday school.

Anyway, time to make dinner. TA TA for now.

Missing Hubby

I don't know what the deal is today, but Chris left this morning to go to Vegas and will be back tomorrow night. I always miss him, but for some reason I am missing him more this time. If I could of I would of went down with him. He looked so tired when he left today. I guess I am a little concerned. You would think I love the man or something....lol. I can't believe that next month we are going to be married 8 years. They have gone by very quickly.

Tonight I am going to go and scrapbook with a couple of friends. I finally figured out how to upload my pictures to Costco.com and will pick them up here in a bit. I had fun cropping and picking what sizes I wanted on each photo. It will also be nice to have a break from the kids for a bit. Tevin is grounded so he is my babysitter tonight. I don't know what Tevin is thinking of sometimes, but this morning Chandler was in the bathroom with the shower running and was getting ready to undress and get in. Well Tevin rushed into the bathroom and climbed into the shower before Chandler could get in. Chandler came upstairs all mad. I told him he should of hit him. I wouldn't of cared. At least not this time. When I took them to school, I told Tevin, Chandler get the shower from 7 to 7:15 and then he gets it at 7:15-7:30. If you wake up late then your out of luck. Hopefully this works. Tevin is mad he wont be going to night games tonight with friends, but sooner or later he is going to learn.

Well gotta run. Holden just dumped out a whole bag of oreos on the floor.

with it finally

Well after not knowing how to do much on the blog a friend of mine helped me change my template so it was cute like everyone else's and she also showed me how to put music on our blog. To the older generations that read our blog sorry for so much rock n roll. So enjoy the new things I can do.

Mom Gibson we got the package today and Chandler loves his costume and the beard for Harrison looks great. I hid the stuff for Sloane for her birthday and I will wrap it for ya.

I thought the twins were done with football, but the varsity coach told them to turn in their freshmen uniforms and get the varsity ones. They are the future players for Pineview and he wants them to be ready for championships so they go practice with the big boys and are there on their games dressed out and ready to play if needed. Tell ya the truth if Chandler had to go out there against varsity players I don't think I could watch. But they are having fun and think it is all cool.

Holden had fun today dumping out 600 Dixie cups all over the floor and building towers. I had fun cleaning them all up. This morning Tevin said hi to Holden and Holden's response was "leave me alone tevin I am eating" I thought it was so funny. Holden also always hears Chris and I complain about Headaches and the other day he came up to me with his hand on his head and told me he had a headache. Needless to say I didn't tell him that he was my headache.

Nothing Much

Well it has been a few days since I last blogged. Nothing much has been going on. I have been in the spring cleaning mood and I have been at DI daily dropping off huge trash bags full of things. I have also been working on our backyard. I will love next spring when we have a fun backyard to play in.

I am also pouting that I have to wear my glasses every minute. I am so blind now. I have noticed things getting pretty blurry. Chris laughs when I don't have them on cause I squint to watch TV. Signs of old age I guess. My sister was 36 too when her eyes started going bad. So get use to the new 4 eyes I have.

Kids are doing well. Holden is actually behaving these days. The twins have their last football game tomorrow. I will be glad when this is over. Takes too much of our time even knowing I love going to the games. Harrison is funny as usual. His new crisis is that he thinks he is getting fat. Yes he has gotten chunky but I keep telling him he is going to grow here pretty soon so be patient.

Sloane got student of the month in her class. She is so excited. I can't remember if I mentioned this already or not. She is also addicted to watching "The Sound of Music" and "Annie". She loves the fact that I loved these movies as a kid. I bought her the soundtracks for her birthday which is approaching very quickly.

Since I have been cleaning out things I have noticed how much the kids have grown since last winter. Sloane especially. She has gotten pretty tall and we are going to have to buy a new wardrobe for winter along with pretty much all the kids.

Well all the kids are gone to school and Holden is at a play date so I am going to lay down for a bit. I am sick of sleepless nights I have been having. I also spent 4 hours on the computer doing tax stuff last night and I don't think I can handle being on the computer anymore today. Have a great day.

One ugly haircut on one cute kid

Come on, be honest, have you ever seen a worse haircut? As some of you are probably aware, it was necessary for Krissy to buzz Holden's hair due to some cradle cap that has never cleared up. Unfortunately, Holden wouldn't sit still so we'll probably need to get him into Fantastic Sam's sometime this week (they'll need to live up to their name to fix this mess). By the way, Krissy isn't about to strangle Holden even though it may look like it!

Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed conference this weekend. As usual it was inspired counsel specifically regarding the economic and other societal challenges facing the U.S.

By the way, you'll notice what I DIDN'T mention. Good thing I'm able to compartmentalize and focus on other things, otherwise I'd be in trouble!

Chris

buzz

Well after 5 hair washes on Holden i finally buzzed his hair. It was so bad that the clippers wouldn't go all the way through his hair. He looks a lot older. Chris wasn't too thrilled, but at least we know it grows back.

The boys went up north with their dad and went to the morning session of conference. Tevin was texting me telling me that they were in the 16Th row from the front and that he sees a lot of people he recognizes. He loved the feeling he felt when the prophet came into the room. He sat by a family from England who came to the states just to go to conference. He said he never paid such close attention to conference before like he did today. Chandler and Harrison said how totally cool everything was. And they loved listening to the Tabernacle choir. This will be an experience the boys will never forget. I still remember when I went and I was 12 years old.

I couldn't believe that there is going to be a temple in Rome Italy. I loved hearing the congregation all whispering and how President Monson paused and smiled. That is so major since it there are mostly Catholics there.

Chris said if the cubs loose tonight that he was going to stop being a fan.... I wont hold my breath. He also said that we will not be going to Arizona in March either. He is so upset with the cubs. I feel so bad for him.

Time Flies

I can't believe it has been a week since my last post. A lot has happened during this time. On Thursday of last week at the boys football game, Tevin made a touch down. He jumped into the air and caught the ball between his legs and couldn't believe he caught it for one thing and then he started running as hard as he could and he could see the other team coming at him and he was yelling cause he didn't want to get tackled by them. Well he made the touchdown and then got tackled by his own team mates. This was a 60 yard touchdown and he was so excited and talked about it all night. He tells the story so much better and it makes you laugh. Well I missed the entire thing cause I was stuck in traffic on the freeway. I missed it by 2 minutes. I couldn't believe it. Chandler was the one that told me and he ended up finally playing the entire last quarter.

We then had my sister Heidi and her husband Allen and 3 of their kids come up for a quick weekend. Allen was called to be High Priest Group leader in his ward and wanted my grandfather to set him a part as a high priest. It was so neat to see my grandpa in a suit again. I can't remember when the last time was. It was a spiritual experience. My grandpa also announced that he would give patriarchal blessings again just to family members. I hope when the boys are ready he will still be around to do them. Allen ended up fixing our flood problem in our backyard. Now we can finally get all the weeds out of there and NO MORE FROGS!!! Thanks Allen. It was a fun visit.

I have been busy planning the ward Halloween party and doing science projects for kids and running here for this and here for that. Tevin just announced all his pants are too short and now we need to buy more. I think he is now 6'3 who knows. He wont sit still long enough for me to measure him. Well tonight is another football game and look forward to watching it. I think next week is their last game.

Kids have also made their Christmas lists and Tevin is so unrealistic. Everything on his list cost over three hundred dollars each except for the Electric Guitar he wants. I told him I was going to throw that list away and to try again. Chandler wants Chicago Bears stuff and an Iguana. Harrison a bass guitar and 2 cans of whip cream....gotta love it. Sloane's list consists of birthday and Xmas. She told me what I don't get her for her birthday to give the rest of her list to Santa...too cute.

My dad had fun calling me the other night to tell me the Dodgers are coming after my cubs. I said bring it on. yesterday we kept calling back and forth rubbing it into each other when our teams did well. Needless to say the Dodgers WON!! UGGG..My dad reminded me I was first a Dodgers fan. That is when I started to love baseball. I guess I kinda am rooting for both teams to do well. Hopefully the cubs will WIN tonight.

Today Holden and Landon(boy I babysit) decided to put Vics vapor rub in their hair. I have washed their hair 3 times and I still can't get it out. I am sure Holden was the instigator. I don't know how they found the jar. I thought I had it up high in the medicine cabinet. Anyway, my house smells like vics and it is making me sick.

Circus

Last night I took Sloane and Holden to the circus. We got there about 45 minutes early and found good seats and ate cotton candy and did the pony ride. The circus ended up starting 30 minutes late but once it started Sloane was glued to everything. She loved that they were playing high school musical songs to different things the acrobats were doing. Holden was starting to get tired so I went and bought him a unicorn (yes I tried to talk him into a light saver or a sword -something boyish but he wouldn't have it). But when the clowns came out Holden laughed so hard and Sloane didn't think they were that funny. The biggest attraction was of course the elephants. The kids loved them. Holden was a little scared since they were so big. Well we ended up getting home at 10:30 and both kids were fast asleep in the car within 2 minutes of me starting the engine. It was a fun night and I am glad I took them. I wish the boys could have gone, but they were with their dad and Chris is down in Vegas. I have pictures on the blog but I put them starting with the end of the night to beginning. Sorry!! Brain Freeze again.

mommy children time

Some of the circus entertainment

Pony RIde and toys

eating cotton candy

Going to the circus

Cute Story about Holden

First of all when I was looking at one of my old blogs I noticed I spelled Holden's name wrong. In church yesterday I had to ask Chris to verify the spelling cause I wasn't really sure. I am really loosing it I think. Anyway,

Holden loves to look at a picture of Sloane that I have displayed when he misses her. Well today he took it off the shelf and was laying on the couch looking at her and he kept on knocking on the picture and saying "Sloane are you there?" I asked him what he was doing and he said "Sloane wont talk to me." I started laughing and tried to explain that it was just a picture and she was at school and couldn't talk to him right now. Then he rolled his eyes and said " Oh Dang it!"

Finally a cute story instead of one that is going to put me into an early grave. Chris told me I forgot to mention his number 1 birthday present which was the Cubs winning their division on his birthday. WOOHOO

Chris' BIrthday

Well I think Chris had a good birthday. He spent the day preparing and going over his talk that he has to give this morning. We gave him his gifts in the morning which were a briefcase for his church stuff (from the boys and I) Sloane got him a wallet to hold all his business cards, Holdon bought him sock...lol. And I still need to make him an angel food cake.

Last night I planned a dinner at a restaurant called Iggy's and had a some of Chris' friends from Learnkey meet us there with their wives. There was about 9 of us all together. We had so much fun and I haven't laughed so hard in all my life. Our friend Jolene and I were in term oil a little bit because our other friend Scott use to be a partner with Tai Pan Trading. We were devastate when we heard that one. He gave up his share because he thought it wasn't going to grow anymore. Well look at it now. We were giving him a guilt trip and teasing him at how much money he would have now if he wouldn't of left the company. Oh well. We were there from 5:30-9:00. We were having so much fun chatting we lost track of time. We all haven't been together like this for about 4 years. It was a blast and I know Chris had a good time. We hated to end it but Chris had to get back on his talk. But our friend Ken and I put in the word for Chris to be sung to and sure enough they did. Chris got a little red and I ate his dessert they gave him because it was too chocolaty.

Ken made a comment to our group last night how they may all hate the bosses of learnkey, but look at how they have brought all of us together and this kind of friendship we all have will never die. So ken thanked them(the boss) for bringing us all together. There ate only 2 of our group still left at learnkey and it is a little better company to work for now.

Well that is how Chris spent his birthday. Thanks for the phone calls and emails he received yesterday.

Twilight Sisters Weekend

Well last night my mom informed me that our sister's weekend will be in June of Next year in Forks Washington for a Twilight Convention. My sisters and sister in laws on my side will be going. We will be staying at a bed and breakfast most likely that will fit us all and make the cost not be so high. We are all very excited. It will be just fun to go to Washington. I have always wanted to go there. I can't wait to get the agenda of what we will be doing there for 4 days. The convention is for momma fans of the Twilight series.

Curried Chicken

I am in a cooking club and we exchange meals every Tuesday. Well this week I made a dish that Chris and I just love and it is Curried Chicken. Well the 3 people who had it this week all called me and told me how much they loved it and their family wished they had more. Well I thought I would share the recipe with all of you.

Curried Chicken

2 T Butter
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
1 apple peeled and finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
2 tsp curry powder
2 cups of chicken cooked and diced
1 12 oz can evaporated milk ( I sometimes will use coconut milk)
1 cup shredded carrots, peas, potato's these are all optional if you would like to add to the sauce

Saute apple and onion in butter until onion is clear. Add curry and saute for one more minute. Add soup, milk and chicken (if adding veggies add them at this time as well). Simmer on love heat for 20 minutes, until onion and apple are tender and sauce is thickened. (You can add up to 1/2 cup regular milk for a thinner sauce). Serve over hot rice.

Since I am on Weight Watchers, I use Fat Free Soup and Evaporated Milk. I hope you try it and let me know what you think.

Scare of loosing photos

Well today I was having fun putting pictures on our blog. Our camera is broken so I was putting my SD card in another digital camera and when I did that an error message came up and deleted half my pictures. I tried finding them by putting my SD card in my computer and couldn't find them. I had my friend Tonya over and she called her brother to see if he knew what to do. I was missing all pictures from June till now. Well I decided to go to Costco and see if my card would work on their computer and it didn't. I asked to speak to someone who knew a thing about cameras and let me tell ya Shane was my life savor. He told me when you take pictures on one brand of camera and then put your card into another brand the other camera will have a hard time formatting the pictures. I took the pictures on a HP camera and then put the card into a Kodak one and the Kodak couldn't read the pictures. Well Shane spent an hour on the computer at Costco and was able to retrieve my 694 pictures from the card and burn them to 2 Cd's. The pictures were not restored back onto the card but at least I have a hard copy of them now.

I owe Shane so much. I was in tears and sick to my stomach. But now I am fine. I will not do that again.

Holden wet from the rain

Down poor

Yesterday we had rain hit us really hard. Sloane was in it as fast as she could.

Tevin in is the game and chandler is watching him on the sideline numbers 88 & 36

Chandler is number 36 and is the smallest on the team.

Tevin is number 88 he is the tallest on the team coming in at 6'2

A long day of babysitting

All of us are sick

Well, we all ended up getting sick. I had a miserable cold a long with the flu. I had Chandler and Tevin home from School yesterday, but theirs only lasted 24 hours. I came down with mine on Wednesday night and am finally feeling better today. Chris got the flu while he was in Vegas and it was so hard for him to work. I felt so bad for him. Surprisingly Mr. Holden is the only one that hasn't got sick yet. Knock on wood. I was so glad I didn't have to babysit yesterday because I spent pretty much the entire day in bed. Days like yesterday is when I wish my mom or mother in law lived closer to help out.

But all of us are feeling so much better today. We all stayed close to home because we were tired from being so sick. But now the boys are well rested and are out playing night games and Sloane and Holden are jumping on my bed watching sponge bob.

I am ready to go to bed, I am still pretty worn out. I had it the worst.

Holden

I just wanted to let you know Holden is doing great. He doesn't ask for a bottle anymore. He has one in the middle of the night when he wakes up but that is it. He woke up dry this morning and I tried to sit him on the potty but he freaked out. One thing at a time I guess.

I also want to say how much I HATE politics. I hate both parties. I am sick on the lies and bad jabs at each other. I am not going to vote this election. I hate both parties. I know some of you are probably gasping for air, but that is how I feel. I do have to say which ever party wins will be a historical event.

There was an incident with Holden last weeks at the twins football game. I was video taping the game and Sloane was suppose to be watching Holden. All of a sudden I looked to check on them and Holden had got down from the bleachers and was on the football game. Needless to say I was embarrassed to have the game stop while I chased Holden off the field. I will find babysitters for Holden for now on.

I am starting to babysit another child. She is 4 months old. I start tomorrow and will only watch her 4 hours a day 3 days a week (I think). The lady is paying me more than I quoted her which I thought was nice. Hopefully things will go well with me watching 2 kids now.

Sloane is home from school today with the flu. She is constantly running to the bathroom. It breaks my heart. I am hoping the rest of us don't get it.

Anyway that's all for now.

Cubs!

Ya, I had to change our blog. The cubs are wearing on me, after being in a rut. They won last night but then lost today. Oh well. But my ringer on my cell phone is the song "go cubs go" what they sing after a ball game when they win. So I am still rooting for them. I am ready for fall and needed to change things. I don't have the patience to look around for a cute template so this will have to do. Unless someone else would like to look for one for me....hint...hint

Holden has behaved this week, thank goodness. Today was the day we finally are taking the bottle away. He usually has 10 a day, but today it will only be one at bedtime. I have to say he has done surprisingly well. When he asks for it I just tell him he is a big boy now and when it is dark outside he can have one. Since he hasn't had milk all day he has been eating meals. I am hoping after 3 days I will take the bottle away at bedtime too. Then we will start the potty training next month before it gets too cold.

I finally took Sloane to see Mama Mia yesterday. She kept on leaning over in the movie telling me "I know this song and this one too" I could see her dancing in her seat. She came home and couldn't get the music out of her head. We bought her a MP3 player for her birthday and I will have Chris put the music on it for her as well as Sound of Music. I think she watched that movie about 4 times last week. She also thinks her dad looks like Peirce Bronson because their hair is the same and they dress the same. I thought that was cute.

I am fighting another cold. I hate it when school starts and all the sicknesses come home. My first one was from Sloane and this one is from Tevin. Anyway, TA TA for now.

Same old thing

Well I have semi calmed down from our horrible day with Holden last week. I still get worked up a little every time I walk into my room and see my stained carpet. Things have been pretty much the same. The twins have played 2 football games and have lost both. Tevin played in both games, but Chandler has not played yet. The coach told him when he can tackle someone during practice he will put him in the game. I was mad, he can't be any worse then the kids he is putting into the game. I hate it when they ignore the smaller boys. Chris agrees with the coach.
We told Chan to pretend he was tackling Tevin when he has made him mad and he will do fine. Tevin is banged up. He has a sore neck, scratches and bruises all over, but is loving it. He gets sympathy from his now back on girlfriend.

I went to SEP at Sloane's school and she is doing very well. She is at second grade level in everything but reading. The teacher says give her a month and her reading is going to sore. On the first day of school they had the kids do a spelling test and Sloane was the only one that got all 15 spelled correctly. She is also one of 3 in her class that can write complete sentences. Needless to say we didn't work with her over the summer. I am impressed with how much she remembered from last year. We are just going to work harder on reading.

Anyway, Chris is in Vegas and will be home late tonight. I better go get all the laundry put away on my bed to he will have a place to sleep.

All in one evening

I wanted to get this down for posterity's sake. Actually, this information will be used to embarrass Holden one day in front of his fiancee; we'd like to give her one last chance to backout!

Here's how Holden spent his evening tonight;

1 - threw-up all over the floor
2 - dumped 6 tubs of Crystal Light on our bed
3 - squeezed an entire tube of toothpaste all over the bathroom floor and then threw the tube in the toilet
4 - dumped my liquid shoe polish all over our semi new carpet and then used it to finger paint all over the walls.
5 - scribbled all over our bed spread.

Keep in mind, he didn't do this all at once; we would clean up one mess, get Holden in trouble, only to discover another mess not long after. Additionally, a few days ago Holden emptied about 1/4 of a box of tide all over the downstairs. On the bright side, the basement doesn't smell like teenage boys anymore! Needless to say, Krissy is fit to be tied and so I volunteered to keep Holden away from her for the rest of the night.

I'm sure I'll laugh about this tomorrow (Krissy may take longer!) but he is sure tough to deal with sometimes. Anyway, hope all is well with everyone else.

Scare with Holden

Krissy suggested (my word, not hers;)) I write tonight's blog. We felt bad we weren't able to attend Ty's baptism, particularly after reading Lynn's and Paige's description. We were thankful for the wonderful pictures and commentary however and almost felt as if we had been there. Congratulations again Ty, this will be an occasion you'll always remember. I have very distinct memories of my own baptism so many years ago (almost 20 years now;)).

As the title suggests, we did have quite a scare with Holden Saturday night. Lately we've let Holden go outside by himself for a few minutes at a time. Up until last night we've felt OK about this because we live in a safe (we hope) cul-de-sac and we're very good about checking on him every few minutes. Sometimes he'll end up in our neighbors backyard, occasionally he'll even walk into their house and help himself to a snack in their fridge. But we're used to this and our neighbors get a kick out of him and usually send him home with a few new toys.

So, when I went out to look for him last night and couldn't find him right away, I wasn't immediately worried. After exhausting his usual hiding places however, I began to get really concerned. I called Krissy and Sloanie out to help me search and within a few minutes several of our neighbors joined the search.

After searching our backyard and basement really well, I had the impression I needed to get in my car and start driving around the neighborhood. Logically this would have been my next course of action anyway but I remember thinking the thought had come to me much stronger than normal. So I quickly got in my car and began to drive. Fortunately, I caught site of Holden way down on the other end of our street, probably close to a quarter of a mile away. When he saw me he tried to hide behind a tree as a joke but I could tell he was glad to see me. He insisted on driving (sitting on my lap) back to the house. On the way back, I rolled down my window and thanked all of the people who were helping us look. We felt very blessed and relieved to have found our little boy. Sloanie and Krissy took turns holding Holden for the next half hour. Needless to say, all of our doors leading outside now have childproof locks on them.

Anyway, just another testament that the Lord hears our prayers and watches over us in everything we do. Hope everyone is well.

Thanks

I want to thank everyone for their comments about Landon who I babysit. The other day I let him cry for an hour and I gave in and shouldn't have. But my nerves were shot. At least I had Holden in the other room sound a sleep with the sound machine on so he didn't hear anything. I will try and not give in today.

Last night was back to school night and I was at a table for the PTA trying to get memberships and this great guy came up to join who was so funny and was having a ball embarrassing his kids. I was busting up laughing. I told the kids he had a cool dad and they rolled their eyes at me, but anyway he looked at my name tag and asked if I was related to the Gibson's up north. I asked him if he meant Larry and Shirley and he did. I said yes that they were my aunt and uncle in laws if that was such a word and he said that they were his aunt and uncle too. I was so surprised. His name is Chuck Barton. I couldn't believe what a small world we live in. Sloane goes to school with one of Tony and Amy's nieces on Amy's side of the family.

Anyway, Chuck related a story to me that happened a couple weeks ago at a family reunion they had at Larry's. Keep in mind Chuck is completely balled and he was taking pictures of what was going on and Tony's little girl I believe is Morgan the 4 year old came up to chuck and asked him why he had cracks in his head. He then turned around and showed me the little lines he had on the back of his head. We both laughed and Larry got a kick out of the story.

The twins got their football uniform and they look pretty dang cute if I do say so myself. They said I can take a picture today of them to put on our blog. I hate the fact that the twins don't like me to take very many pictures of them anymore.

Update

Harrison is doing a lot better. He walks a lot better, but his toe is still kinda gross from the infection but we both can tell it is clearing up. We will give it another week and if we don't see a lot of difference then we will take him in again to the doctor.

OK...the little boy I am babysitting is VERY SPOILED!!! He is so good but when it comes to nap time he wants to be held when he sleeps and when I lay him down he screams. I can't hold him for 2 hours while he naps. The mother doesn't care if I let him cry to fall asleep but what is the time length to let him cry. My kids were always asleep after maybe 10 minutes. He goes longer than that. I check on him every 10 minutes to calm him down and then I leave again then he screams. Paige what would the super nanny do?? It is harder to know what to do when it is not your child.

Harrison

Just wanted to let everyone know that Harrison came home in tears from school today because of his broken toe. It was hard to take off his shoe and his foot was swollen. We ice packed it and Harrison cried himself to sleep. I was finally able to get him into the doctor tonight and his toe is infected. He is on antibiotics and is putting cream on his foot that cost an arm and a leg even after insurance. He has to keep his foot elevated at all times if possible, even at school using another chair. If it doesn't start to look better in a couple days I have to take him back in and we will get x-rays done. Worse case scenario is that the bones haven't healed correctly and if that is the case he could get a bone infection and we don't want that. So Dr. Twiggs wants us to watch it very carefully.

Anyway, we feel really bad for him and his toe is just throbbing constantly. He takes a lot of hot baths to soak his foot as well.

Michael Phelps

Well if I was a young teenager I would guarantee there would be a poster on my wall of Michael Phelps. He is unbelievable. Chris and I were watching a thing on him and how he has to eat 8-10 thousand calories a day. Just the thought of that makes me sick to think how much food that is. And he still is too skinny. We have surely enjoyed watching him compete.

I was also proud of the US last night in the men's gymnastics. They were awesome. They weren't even suppose to get a medal and walk away with a bronze woohoo.

Well Sloane had a wonderful first day of school yesterday. She was so excited that she couldn't eat and I had to feed her myself to get food down her. She loves her teacher and is happy she has friends in her class. She came home and said I just want to lay on the couch and rest. Poor girl.

Today was the boys first day. It was so fun to have them come home last night. Holden was ecstatic. They were all nerves too especially Harrison. He didn't fall asleep until 3am. He broke his big toe and wanted to wear tennis shoes today but I told him if it gets too painful that I would bring flip flops up too him. Chris gave all the kids a fathers blessing and I am sure that helped.

When the boys get home they will have their supply list and then I guess I have to go school shopping uggg. This is the part I hate is buying all the supplies. I don't mind buying clothes.
I look forward to hearing about their day.

By the way Tevin and his girlfriend broke up...OH BROTHER!! Drama

Olympics

I don't know about anyone else but I thought the opening ceremonies of the Olympics was amazing. China sure does know how to put on a show. Of course the boring part is always when the athletes march in because it takes forever but everything else was beautiful. Other countries are going to have a hard time when it comes to their turn to host.

I have been watching the US women's volleyball play this morning. I love volleyball. I miss playing. Chris is looking forward to the track and field. We always look forward to the games.

Holden went to bed last night at 7:30 then woke up at 3:30am wide awake. So we watched cartoons and I did work on his laptop and then Holden finally went back to sleep around 6am and was up again at 9. I am tired. Sloane we let her stay up to watch the opening ceremonies and she fell asleep after the US marched in. She tried so hard to stay up for it all.

Anyway, have a great weekend and enjoy the Olympics to those who watch. I need to hit Costco and walmart before they get too busy to get school lunch stuff.

Monday Ugg

Well Friday night at Barnes and Noble was very interesting. I have never been to a premiere for a book and couldn't believe how many people were there. Sadly to say there are too many my age obsessed with Edward. I heard one lady say she had an erotic dream about Edward and went and talked to her bishop about it. I rolled my eyes and my friend Tonya and I couldn't believe how older women were acting. There were people dressed up as vampires but I thought it was stupid since the Cullen clan in the book are not your Gothic vampires. We ended up leaving at 11pm and got our book the next morning at Costco at a cheaper price.

Saturday Chris watched the kids so I could go out to Sloane's school and put in some volunteer hours. It was a nice break. Sunday morning were couldn't wait to go to church and hear Chris being called to High Council. A gentlemen behind us told Chris congrats and said we would miss him in the ward. The boys came to last hour of our block and we then went and had Chris set apart. Holden was horrible, climbing in the stake presidents chair, laying under his desk, repeating what was being said in the prayer. I was embarrassed. Chris is over the pine view ward, over relief society, trains the elder quorum presidencies, stake calender, institute and other stuff I can't remember. He is very excited. He starts his training Tuesday night. I forgot to mention that during our sacrament meeting I asked Chris if he was going to bare his testimony. He told me no because he would have plenty of opportunities to do it, but I looked at him and said but not with me in the congregation. He did bare his testimony and it was wonderful.

Being stupid as I am I haven't worn my wedding ring for sometime due to the weight gain. But I had lost some weight and I made my wedding ring go on and now I can't get it off and my finger in tingling and is swollen. I have tried soap and oil. I am not sure what else to do. I should have waiting before putting it on again. Sloane is having a blast with Landon who I babysit. Holden is a little selfish with his toys right now. Hopefully he will get over it.

The boys are gone one more week and then I will have them back and be back on the normal schedule. Can't wait.

Home Safe

It is Friday afternoon and we just got home from Vegas. Chris was very busy but the kids and I enjoyed buffets and the pool. Did a little shopping too. The kids were very well behaved. YES EVEN HOLDEN!!! I know a shocker. Glad to be home. Vegas wears on ya after awhile. I need to get a nap in before I go with some friends to Barnes and Noble tonight at midnight to get the 4Th book of the "Twilight" series by Stephanie Myers.

Chris is relaxing on the couch watching a cubs game, Holden is in my bed watching cartoons, Sloane is pacing around the house waiting for a friend to call her back and I am checking my blog and doing orders for Chris. I just want to lay back and relax.

Some of you have asked me about my babysitting job. It is for a lady in our ward. I will be doing it 4 days a week for a 14 month old little boy 5 hours each day. I am hoping it will be good for Holden to have a friend especially when Sloane starts school in a week. I might try and find another child to babysit, but we will see.

Well my sister just called so I better run. Have a great weekend.

Out of town

Well I decided I would go down with Chris to Vegas this week. We are leaving early in the morning and will be back late Thursday night. This is our last week of fun cause next week I start a babysitting job and wont be able to go down with Chris again until next summer. Sloane is excited to go. She loves just hanging out at the pool and going to the Disney Discount store. I loved every ones comments. I need to do better at checking and posting on your blogs, but be patient I am taking baby steps.

Chandler and Tevin have started their football training this week for the season. Tuesday and Thursdays 6am practice. Tevin called me today to tell me how sore and tired he was. But can't wait until their first game. Holden loves getting into Chris' car and pretend he is driving. A couple of weeks ago he locked himself in it and was so hot. So Chris has been locking his car. Well yesterday morning he forgot and Holden got in and turned on the lights and drained his battery. So I had to take Chris to the office and then later in the evening we finally got his car jumped. Holden also has a new movie favorite. It is called "An American Hero" it came out a few years ago, but it is about a boy that has a talking bat and ball and it is in the time of babe Ruth. Well so far today I have watched this movie 5 times. Holden calls it his baseball game movie. Needless to say Chris is very proud.

Anyway, that's all for now and I will let you know how our couple of days were in Vegas.

PS. Loved Natalia's forehead. Sloane thought it was cool. Holden said gross.

Shocker

Wow 3 and a half months since I last posted on this thing. I am so out of it. Well as you all know we have had a busy summer. The boys are with their dad right now until school starts and needless to say they are not having fun. I get calls often because they are down and I am there for them to cheer them back up. I was able to have them on pioneer day and we went to the breakfast I was in charge of at our church, then went school shopping, lunch and then to a movie. The boys, sloane and I had a blast. Too bad Chris had to miss all the fun. He was still in Vegas. Tevin and I cried when I had to take them back that night. Needless to say Tevin has changed his mind on living with his dad for now. Tevin also has a girlfriend. They talk all the time. She is in our ward and she is afraid of Chris and I. I think it is funny. I told him he was too young because they couldn't do anything except to talk on the phone. They knew that and don't care if all they do is talk on the phone.

Holden is under the weather. When I went to pick him up from nursery yesterday his eyes were watery and was having a runny nose and he is worse today and is running a fever. Most of you are aware of Chris' new calling. I can't go into detail until next Sunday though. I am still loving my calling as head honcho over the ward activities. My next one is our pool party next month. Need to loose a few more pounds before the ward can see this body in a swimsuit. UGGG

I think that is all that is new. Don't pass out from shock of seeing a post. Hope you all have a good day.

wonderful weather

Our weather is so nice. Today we hit 77 and by Wednesday it will be up to 88. Since it was so nice we had a nice BBQ with Kim and Steve and they loved it. I also introduced Kim to Tia Pan Trading. I was impressed neither one of us bought anything. The boys went to the river and Chandler has a bad sunburn now. Kim liked the downstairs. I am still waiting on Chris to put pictures. Well better run. We are going out for frozen yogurt.

Family Room is finally done

I have been such a procrastinator when it has come to finishing the downstairs. What got me in the mood to finally do it was Chris telling me that he was going to finish it on Saturday if I didn't. Needless to say I got my butt in gear and finished it yesterday. I have to say I am very pleased. When I get done putting pictures up on the walls I will take pictures and post them. I don't know how to put pictures on this thing so I will have to leave it in the hands of my hubby.

The kids are all finally well. I am so burned out on illness. When kids are sick it sure puts dampers in your plans to do other things.

Chris has been really busy with work. I hardly see him during the week. I look forward to the weekends.

Sloane (Sloane had to show me how she could type her name and how she has learned finger placement).

We are looking forward to having Kim and Steve here for a little bit this weekend and next. We always love it when company comes to visit.

I have been fighting insomnia lately and sleeping pills do not help. Lately I have been getting up at 3:30am and start cleaning house or other little tasks. From 5-6:30 am I go to the gym come home and shower and then gets kids ready for school and out the door. I try not to take a nap during the day. But when 10pm comes I am dead tired but as soon as I lay down I am wide awake until 11 or so and then I fall asleep again until about 3 or 4 am. Now that Holden pretty much sleeps during the night I have to deal with this now. Any suggestions?

Tevin is doing really well with his guitar lessons. He is embarrassed to play infront of people. He tells me when he gets better he will.

Harrisons birthday is coming up and I can't believe he is going to be 12. ALL he wants for his birthday is a laptop and a base guitar. He doesn't give us much options.

Chandler is doing really well. He has been enjoying hanging out with his friends lately. Every night he likes to go out and play night games and he is so proud to announce that he has now shaved for the first time. He wouldn't let me take pictures. Oh well.

Sloane is pretty much perfect. We don't ever have any problems with her. I wonder if that means she is going to be a very hard teenager. She loves school. She doesn't want summer to come. Unlike her mother who is ready to relax.

OH now for our Holden. He is our demon seed. He is into everything and is very mischievious.
He loves to throw things off our balcony. He actually threw a statue that meant a lot to me off it and broke it into a million pieces. But then there are those moments when he hugs us and tells us he loves me so I guess that makes up for all the bad things and stress he brings to our lives.

Well I better go and watch the cubs with Chris. Hopefully when get pictures on sometime this weekend since Chris will have time. Love to all