Rock Band!

We got Rock Band and a Playstation around Christmas time. We tried playing Rock Band with the kids. Regan insisted on singing and Haden would not let anyone else touch the drums. Needless to say, we quickly got booed off the stage every time! The kids always blamed Clint's guitar playing skills! Regan preferred just to turn on her Taylor Swift CD and sing along to that while Haden rocked out on the drums. (He usually does have a clean face...) Haden sometimes insists on wearing his "Rock Star" sunglasses as he rocks out on the drums.
Clint also brought home a new, big, flat screen television to go with his playstation. After watching Haden swing his "Let's get down to business" stick (He likes to mimic Shang on Mulan as he sings "I'll Make a Man Out of You", but instead of a staff, he uses a broomstick.) near his expensive television, it was promptly returned. I think we will wait until the kids are all grown before investing much money in something that easily destroyed!
I am sure it is only a matter of time before Lila joins the band. I hope she likes playing the guitar because I doubt either of the other kids will give up their instruments!

Happy Birthday Savannah!

My sister, Savannah, came to see us for her birthday. Okay, she was actually in search of warmer weather than what Provo had to offer, but the timing was right, and we got to celebrate with her! The kids LOVE their Aunt Savannah. She is a good sport. She lets Regan teach her ballet dances, spends hours playing Barbies, fixes Regan's hair in fancy grown up hairstyles, takes her clothes shopping and still sword fights and wrestles with Haden. Because she had a break from work and the weather here stayed nice, she stayed with us for nearly a month. Both kids were devastated when she finally left.
Clint had just gotten back from a camp out with his scouts and the kids talked him into setting the tent up in the living room. And then they insisted that Savannah was only allowed to open her presents in the tent.

Tubing!

This weather this year has not been typical. Finally, when we did get snow, we took the kids tubing at a park close by. It was probably 50 degrees. The kids were rather skeptical. Regan is not very adventurous and Haden just copies whatever Regan does. After the first run, they were hooked! They loved going down with Clint, more weight=tube going farther and faster! After a long time, they got tired of walking up the hill, but weren't quite finished going down the hill. They talked Clint into pushing them in the tube up the hill so they could tube back down. (He's kind of a sucker when it comes to his kids!) Even Lila had fun going down!

My first race

In preparation for the Bolder Boulder, which I will hopefully be running this year, I ran in the "Love 'Em or Leave 'Em" 5K Race on Valentine's Day weekend. It was the first race I have ever run. I think it was killing Clint to be on the sidelines with the kids watching me instead of running himself! I had been having issues with low-iron so I was struggling at the end of the race and immediately after, but we still all had fun. There was a pancake breakfast and a fun run afterward. The kids had a lot of fun running with their friends!

Regan running. She was talking smack to her friend about how she was going to run faster, but then didn't. Regan said she just ran out of energy and Brooklyn was just too fast! I'm afraid she inherited her father's competitiveness!

Haden running.

At the finish line.

The kids had so much fun earning their medals and water bottles!

Tiny Tots Symphony

On a very cold and snowy day in February, Haden, Lila, and I went on a preschool field trip to the Tiny Tots Symphony. The Colorado Symphony presents a concert appropriate for preschool aged kids every year. This is the second time we have gone. The orchestra is arranged in a large circle and the kids & parents get to sit in the middle. The conductor is wonderful and very entertaining for the kids. He does an excellent job of narrating the music. This year an opera singer came. Haden was not too impressed until he saw the drums. He was rather disappointed that he was not able to play them. After all, thanks to Rock Band, he is a very experienced drummer! Lila loved the music. It is always neat to expose the kids to different experiences.

The Conductor

The opera singer

It is kind of hard to take pictures when you are all squished together on the floor!

Red Rocks

Wow! I am really behind on blogging. So before I forget everything that happened this winter, I better get started!
One beautiful Saturday at the end of January, we headed to Red Rocks. Even after living here 4 years, we hadn't yet been there. The kids had fun climbing on the rocks, posing for pictures, and dancing on the stage while Clint ran the stairs. There was a guy playing the guitar and Regan had fun dancing to his music.

Clint is the white dot in the middle.

Haden's 1st Crush

Haden has been in preschool for a few months now. Every time I drop him off or pick him up a cute little girl named Ellen runs over to play with Lila while I talk to the teacher, sign Haden out, etc. Last week the class was walking back to their classroom after watching a movie when I came to pick Haden up. Haden and Ellen were holding hands. It was super cute! I'm not sure who's idea it was. Haden has been talking about Ellen a lot at home. She is his favorite friend at school. He really wants her to come over for a playdate and will say that he misses her when there is no preschool. He didn't want to go to school when he was sick, though because he didn't want to get Ellen sick. Very considerate! Yesterday when we got to school, Ellen exclaimed, "Haden, you're here!" and ran over to give him a hug. When I ask him why he misses her, he says, "Because I love her, mom!"

I really do love him

I really do love my 3 year old. Haden is ridiculously imaginative, and full of energy. On the way to school yesterday he asked me if Grandpa's cows wore good climbing shoes. I told him that cows didn't wear shoes. "But they need to wear good climbing shoes, so they don't fall down and break their legs, because that would be soooo sad!" How do you respond to that? He regularly uses markers all over his body for war paint. He even knows which ones wash off easiest and refuses to use those. After watching Mulan, he started coloring his lips black, but only in the middle, just like Mulan. And you should hear him sing, "I'll Make a Man Out of You" at the top of his lungs as he chases Regan around the house with his broomstick (just like Mulan's). He was "so sad" on another day because he doesn't have a brother to sit beside him in the car. He told his teachers at preschool that he got thrown into the dungeon and loudly asks me, when we pass someone, if that person is a stranger and if they are going to take him. (He ran off in public a couple of times and I had the stranger danger talk with him, but he has taken it a few steps further!)

So last night when I was making dinner, I was standing at the sink in the kitchen when I felt a water drop on my foot. Our kitchen sink has leaked occasionally, so I turned off the water to investigate. The water wasn't coming from the sink, but from my recessed light in the ceiling. The drip quickly turned into a steady stream of water dripping from the light. The puddle on the floor was growing quickly. It took me a second to realize what had happened. An hour or so earlier, I was feeding Lila when I realized it had been very quiet. Regan was playing on the Playstation and Haden was nowhere to be seen. I thought I should go look for him, but by the time I put Lila down Haden came downstairs drenched in some of Regan's perfume. I dismissed any concerns of what he might have gotten into (other than Regan's perfume, that is). And then I realized what had happened. Clint had just gotten home and we both raced upstairs. The faucet in the kids' bathroom sink was on full blast and the drain was plugged. The water was pouring over the counter and onto the floor. The carpet within 5 feet of the bathroom door was dripping wet. Apparently those little holes that come in the top of the sinks to prevent this very problem don't work so well! I turned off the water and got out the vacuums. We sucked up water until we realized it was pointless. Haden was sentenced to the couch so he wouldn't be in the way, and maybe so I wouldn't kill him. By the time we gave up and went downstairs, the little stinker was sound asleep. The water had soaked through the sheetrock and we now have a huge wet spot which will turn into a water stain when it finally all dries out. In the mean time, the fans are going full blast and my kitchen just smells like wet dry wall-yuck! When Haden woke up and we had our talk, he said, "That's okay mom, we can fix our house, just like Handy Manny does!" I don't think my house is going to survive him!

Happy Birthday Clint!

Clint turned another year older this month. We never really do anything exciting for his birthday since it is so close to Christmas. This was the first year that the kids really got into it. We made the cake. (Clint does not like frosting so he just had a boring cake.) Haden loves to help cook!

We painted pictures for his office.

And we assembled a fairy garden, also for his office. The people at Tagawa are awesome! The lady was so good and patient with my kids as they made their decisions about which plants they wanted where, what color rocks would look best, etc. Clint took it to work before I got a good picture of it, but the kids did a good job on it. Clint is lucky that Regan didn't see the display of little fairies by the plants or he would have wound up with several in his garden!
He also got new running clothes, but the kids both thought that was rather boring. Clint is the best dad and husband! Not everyone can sword fight Haden while dancing with Regan! Happy Birthday Clint!

Lila also loves chocolate cake!

Pajama day

Haden's preschool had a pajama day where Lila and I got to go to school with him. That morning he absolutely refused to wear his pajamas. He told me that you were not supposed to go anywhere if you were wearing your pajamas. None of my cajoling worked. He was adamant. So, I packed his really cute pirate pajamas in his backpack just in case he changed his mind when he saw that he was the only one in jeans. He didn't.
We had Teddy Grahams and hot chocolate, sang songs (Haden still sings about the penguins who "waddle, waddle, side to side") read a book that the kids made, and created a bird feeder out of pine cones, frosting, and bird seed. It was fun to watch Haden interact in a new environment. His teachers still praise his behavior and tell me that he is "a pleasant, young man." He is growing up so quickly!