Boring days, haircuts and parties

So, I finally have a bit more to add to my recently quite boring blog- *sigh* how I long for warm weather! :)
We held the family Superbowl party at our house last Sunday and it turned out to be quite the event! It gave us a chance to show off our new basement (and also to test the wear of our new carpet- check and double check) There were about 20 people in our house at one time with food upstairs and games and football downstairs. My contribution was some ooey gooey caramel popcorn, while my sister brought pizza chip dip and hot wing dip. My sister-in-law did some great potato bite thingies where she coated sliced potatoes with oil and then spooned barbecue sauce over them with green onions and cheese and baked them. It goes without saying that I wore sweats the next day! Here are some of the highlights:


My brother, Jimmy- not likin' the action on the Steelers side

Kolton, as always, the center of the action

I love this picture of Wes- it shows what a multi-talented daddy he is! He wanted Kolton to watch the whole game with him

We played a fun game of 'Hit the Deck' and I lost miserably- we decided to keep score on one of Kolton's {non-poopy} diapers since it would require going all the way upstairs to get scratch paper :) Here is my nephew, Blake, after winning the game:

And it pains me to say that we had to give Kolton a haircut this week. Anyone who sees him regularly knows that he has this great natural mohawk. Seriously, up to this point it has grown long on top and short on the sides so it was a pretty easy style. However, now he is getting this whole new growth of thicker hair and it was making his hair on top go completely crazy and he had constant 'bed head' hair even when we styled it! So, we decided to cut it all to one length and see how it 'grows'. Here is a few before pictures:




This was our last attempt to keep it how it was- we cut it shorter on the sides, but it just went from bad to worse. Pudding bowl, anyone?- (please excuse the stoned 'oompa loompa' look)

Now he has more of a buzz- which makes me want to cry. I am not a fan of buzz cuts because I think it makes kids look like bullies! So, now I have a bully for a son *sniff* and I am just holding on tight to my lunch money from now on...


Pretty shifty, eh?- But heaven help me I just can't get enough of his sweet little cheeks!

Wishing there were more to blog about! :)

Man, I have really slacked (for me) lately with the blogging. January and February are so hum-drum and we spend most of our time inside trying to find creative things to do. We have actually had some fun, but alas my camera has stayed in the diaper bag. I am determined to take some pictures this week so I will have something a bit more entertaining to post. :) Last Saturday we were able to go see my Grandma Francis which was great. I have been to see her several times since Kolton was born, but have not had the chance to take him yet to meet her because he always seems to be sick or teething when I go. Anyway, she finally got to meet my little guy and I really think it made her day to see him! My sister, Cristi took this picture with her camera phone, so it is not the best quality, but I am so thankful to have it- now I have a picture of Kolton with all 4 great grandmas! I think I hear a scrapbook page calling my name...

Fun Quiz (Thanks, Skye!)

You Belong in 1950

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Family Home Evening

Well, we finally decided that now that Kolton is starting to recognize things like pictures, etc. that it was a good time to start having Family Home Evening FOR REAL (Not just, 'hey, Dancing With the Stars is on tonight- sounds good for Family Home Evening!') I was pretty excited so I pulled out some old "Friend" magazines and made some little file folder stories about Joseph Smith. It was more fun for me than Kolton, but it still felt good to know I was doing something I SHOULD be doing for a change! Wes was in charge of the song and prayer, I did the lesson, and Kole helped me with the treats (well, he stuck his hand in the frosting and chucked an egg on the floor). It is fun having more than just 'couple home evening'-

Kolton is learning so much so fast and I am worried that I am not taking enough opportunities to teach him. I think I will be trying to keep up with him for the rest of my life! :)

Finally, I am so sick of having such BLURRY pictures because if I put on the flash he blinks and all we see are smiles and closed eyes- I LOVE this picture, but please pardon the blurriness- I just can't help but show off what a handsome little guy he is (as if my genes had anything to do with it! :P)



On a side note, he finally went a whole day without a fever! (Yesterday morning it was 103!) He has an ear infection and he finally cut one of his front teeth (goodbye, dracula fangs) so he has been not too happy for about a week now. Hopefully we are on the road to recovery! :)

**On another side note :) for those of you who were interested in signing up your kiddos for my sign language classes, I am going to the city council planning and zoning meeting tonight to finalize my permit and business liscence and if all goes well (as they assure me it will) I will be starting classes on Feb 5th- Wish me luck!**

Sick Daddy and Baby

Well, after Kolton woke up this morning with most of his little face, hair, and eyelashes covered in boogers, I have concluded that he is officially sick! He has no fever, is eating fine and sleeping fine, but boy is he cranky! Poor little guy- I am not complaining though because he is a bit more snuggly with me when he is sick. Unfortunately, Wes has been sick, too, so yesterday I got to play nurse all day instead of enjoying my newfound freedom at church (I am sans calling at the moment and it is bliss not having to prepare singing time every week!) It seems like this junk is going around and I can only pray that I don't get it! For now, we can look back on better times last week:

Kolton's favorite mischief spot is now the lid drawer in the kitchen- which is awesome when compared with his previous spot which was the DVD shelf (If I had a dollar for every DVD I put away...)

He got to spend some quality time with his cousin, Katie (age 3) at the Wal-Mart fun center. He really didn't know what to think of his car ride, but he loved pushing the button to make it honk. Thanks for sharing your ride, Katie!

My favorite condiment, "catch-up!"

That's right, I am going to try to fit the rest of our Holidays in one post, so bear with me!

Okay, Christmas day we woke up around 6:30 to feed Kolton and I heard the familiar sounds of a fire crackling in my parents' fireplace and my mom pacing the floor. I went out to make Kolton a bottle and saw my mom sitting on the fireplace hearth and stuffing the stockings that she had made when I was about 6 years old. She had even stuffed my old one! :) I couldn't stay to chat, however, because it is a strict rule in my parents' house that you DO NOT go to the fireplace until my dad has rung the bells and said 'HO HO HO!, MERRY CHRISTMAS!' This does not happen until he is satisfied with the Christmas carols we have sung while waiting. Finally, around 7, the bells rang and we dashed from our room with Keli (my little sister- well, she's almost 18, but always little to me) at our heels. As is tradition, we knelt around the coffee table in the family room first and said prayer near the fire and then dug into our stockings:

When that was finished, we stowed away our Christmas booty from the stockings and headed into the living room where the tree was and there, waiting for Kolton, was a Curious George stuffed monkey! (My parents' always leave the 'Santa' gift unwrapped under the tree) Kolton crawled right to it with a huge grin on his face!

Then it was on to the present unwrapping FRENZY- Grandma and Grandpa sure had fun spoiling their newest grandson (and so did his mom and dad)!

Now, this might seem like a lot of detail I am giving, but it is important for everyone who reads this to know that Christmas at my parents' house has followed this pattern for as long as I can remember! I was so excited to get to spend what may be my little sister's last Christmas at home with her. She is the youngest out of eight, so it was kind of a bittersweet experience that the bells may have rang for the last time in 2008...*sniff*

And, I MUST include this picture of my dad in his new hat...he has seriously been planning his funeral since he was 40 and we always joke about how extravagant it will be and I told him that this picture is the one we will select to blow up and have positioned near the casket:

Our first family Christmas with Kolton- what BLISS!

Now, onto New Year's Eve (I promise it is not quite as lengthy as Christmas!)- Traditionally, we have a puzzle contest between the men and women. Last year, the men got the easier of the two puzzles that had been purchased for the year and won...this year we switched and, unsurprisingly, the WOMEN won! (Well, there was a slight discrepancy with a missing piece, but I just chalk that up as sabotage from the Men's team)

Left to right: Lauri (niece), Cristi (sis), Keli (sis), Lizzy (niece), Moi, Britney (sis), Wendy (above Britney, sis in-law), my Mom, and Billye (sis)- VICTORIOUS!!

Kolton fell asleep around 10 and when the puzzles were done it was nearly midnight so we hurried up and filled all the fancy glasses with sparkling cider (this is for Cori- we laughed earlier about my family all getting hopped up on sparkling cider!) and counted down with New York City...

It was such a great Holiday season for us. Thanks for bearing with me for the super long posts- I just didn't want to leave out a single detail. Christmas has always meant so much to me and being able to share it with our son was just the cherry on top this year. We can't believe how much we have been blessed! Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always swingin' at my Parents' house. Everyone came wearing their jammies and ready to munch on Mom's excellent Christmas ham and all the other foods we brought. It was a fabulous spread, if I do say so myself. We did everything buffet style this year and it was oh, so yummy! We started the night out with Kolton's first sledding experience. This video makes me cry with laughter. I swear, he eventually really liked the whole experience, but here he is being pulled by me on the sled on our way to the hill near my parents' house:


When we got back and ate, we started the traditional Christmas Eve happenings with my mom reading the traditional sweet Christmas story to the grand kiddos:

Then my dad played some songs on his accordion. Kay, here is a bit of background- My dad has had this accordion since he was seven years old! That is almost 60 years! Every year since I can remember, my dad has played Christmas songs on his accordion on Christmas Eve. It is the only time of year that he plays it and we always love it! Kolton thought it was really great and really wanted to help Grandpa out.

Mr. Mischief, as I like to call my son on occasions like these, had been trying to get at my mom's carroling statues ever since she put them up. Well, on Christmas Eve he succeeded! He knocked Mr. Carroler man right out of his shiny black boots:

Here is my sister, Keli showing the damage- My kiddo is a sneaky little devil

Stay tuned for more Christmas and New Year adventures!