TY MICHAEL NELSON
Oh what a sweet baby!
After 5 girls in a row Hunter and Nick really deserved to have another male enter the family. The delivery wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination but Ty Michael Nelson finally made it here! He is so yummy! Unfortunately, Candice had a C-Section so she had to spend a couple of days in the hospital - but on the plus side - I was able to spend a couple of really fun nights at the hospital holding this little guy. One of the nights Erica flew in from AZ and we an awesome GNO at the hospital laughing our guts out - I'll spare you the details BUT who wouldn't have a ball with Poppycock and crown burger?! He he he
I sure am going to miss this little guy when he moves back to AZ next month....but I'm not bitter! :)

Ice Skating
During the winter break we took the kids ice skating at the ice sheet in Ogden. Grandma and Grandpa Gibson were on their way to Egypt/Israel for a couple weeks so we invited them along to see the kids before they left. The kids had a great time! Jantzen decided it was too cold and it looked to hard so he wanted to watch. FINE by me! So the Dayt took Abby and Grandpa took Josh and off they went. The rest of us watched from the bleachers.

Dayt was a little hesitant because he hadn't ice skated much. His first mistake was to ask for hockey skates - ha ha ha. It didn't take long before he decided to get him some truly fashionable figure skates. He did much better after that - "toe pick" (Cutting Edge) Abby was a natural, she did great! She caught on soooo quick. After about two circles around she was doing great on her own, Dayt was so relieved!
Bless his heart, Josh tried and tried to figure it out in his hockey skates. We didn't think about getting him some figure skates until it was basically too late to switch. I felt really bad for him because I am sure he would've enjoyed it so much more. He is a trooper though! He fell time and time again but never gave up. He circled that place over and over again determined to skate like a pro.

Grandpa and Josh making the rounds

The next Kristi Yamaguchi!

Then after about an hour Jantzen decided he wanted to give it a try. I think it looked fun to him after the zamboni came out. Oh crap! I was thinking I wouldn't have to put on the skates. Of course while I am trying to "discourage" him - grandma was "encouraging" him to give it a try. So.....with only a short time left we bundled up and got the tiniest little figure skates I have ever seen and took off to the ice. He actually did rather well for a four year old. I think we only made it around ONE time and then he was satisfied! AGGHHH! After all that - he only wanted to get just a "taste" of it and was done after 5 minutes!

Then he was back to the bleachers again with grandma, snuggled up and toasty!

Indoor Soccer
Josh tried out indoor soccer for the first time this year. He had a fun time. He played on a team with a couple of kids from his neighborhood. They played older kids and all comp teams so they didn't win any games. However, it was AMAZING to see how much they improved in just 6 short games. They were good sports and they never gave up. It was a great opportunity for Josh to learn something new, and it was GREAT exercise. It was a fabulous way for my little ADHD guy to expend some energy and it was so much fun to watch him.

Abby's Birthday List
I thought this was too cute to not post about. Abby gave me her birthday list a couple of weeks ago....

Translation for those of you who don't have a first grader:

Abby's Birthday List
A new "girl" cd player and the Sharpay that goes with Zeke and that is a Barbie and another Barbie that is Taylor with Chad and another Barbie that is Taylor Swift and my own laptop and a gumball machine and a I-pod.

Wow!
Seriously, I have to say it...what the hell? I saw it on the counter on my way out of Walgreen's today. I truly don't even know where to start with this.

I LOVE YA REV RUN!!

Dayt showed me this little caption the other day -- and because I love RUN'S HOUSE so much - and I know there are a couple of you out there that feel the same...I had to share because this picture is a little funny. For those of you who haven't watched the show - Joseph Simmons AKA Rev Run was always teasing his wife about her diet and exercise and what she ate on the show. Just goes to show - we should never judge....he he he
This is what the caption said = While soaking his weary bones in the Hawaiian sun on Thursday, Run D.M.C.'s Rev Run aired out his hairy, meaty breasteses. Somebody get Run a two-piece, stat!

All Naturale'
Jantzen is going through a phase that is journal worthy. It has been 20 degrees outside and it doesn't matter, this is how I find Jantzen all day long...in his underwear! This has been going on for several weeks. The house hovers around 72 -73 degrees during the day and he constantly tells me he is "sweaty." I cannot keep clothes on him. Not that I don't think it's cute to see his little body in his spidey underwear - trust me - it's adorable! However, it is freezing outside! It makes me cold just looking at him. But really, if the kid likes to be in his underwear in his own house who am I to tell him he can't. At first he just did it at home. Then there was an instance or too at a friends house (sorry Melissa and Holli) we talked about how we need to keep our clothes on at other people's houses yada yada yada. It must have worked, he hasn't come home missing articles of clothing, and I haven't heard about any other problems at this buddies houses. Fast forward a couple of weeks - he is still in his underwear at home most of the day and night (including bedtime) unless we have guests. We decide to have a "Fabulous Friday" together and decide to go to Chuck E. Cheese, just me and him. It was so much fun just spending the time with him without the others. For those of you who know Jantz, you know he is wildly entertaining and has the best personality. We were laughing and having the best time together. We found the basketball game and played over and over and over. I was actually impressed, he was pretty good for a 4 year old. Anyway, one of the balls hit the rim just right and bounced out and into the play area. I turned to go and get it for him - 5 seconds later I head back and see him starting to take his clothes off! I said "Jantz! You can't take your clothes off here!" He said, "Well mom, I am sweaty." He is so funny! He thought that it was ok because it wasn't at a friends house where we had told him that it wasn't ok. He has now learned the definition of "public places." Guess I should've started there to begin with.

This is a shot I took from my phone - playing b-ball in the kitchen
Jumping around on the bed watching Spongebob

LOSER!!

I know what you are all thinking - two posts in a row what a princess right? Well maybe you all don't care but Josh is probably not going to be happy. He was upset that I didn't mention that he fasts every month in the last post - ha ha ha - must be a little jealousy. I told him it just wasn't as cool to see a 9 year old fast every Sunday - that is just a given! Just kidding - I didn't really. Anyway, my darling little daughter has finally lost her first tooth!! WaHOO! She has been waiting for this for so long! This tooth has been loose for 3 weeks so it is about time! She was so excited. I took this pic on my phone just minutes after the hysteria and excitement - look how happy she is! Yea! Now she can have her name listed on the tooth chart at school - this is BIG! She has felt so left out! :) The tooth fairy actually made it to our house (miracle) and left two dollars (what?) that is a lot for just one little tooth. I was really sad to miss her reaction in the morning. I had to fly to Denver on business and missed the whole thing so this information is what I gathered from my phone conversation with them after school. Apparently she was super excited that the tooth fairy must be some sort of pixie or fairy because she left some pixie/fairy dust behind. Josh was thinking that maybe he shouldn't have saved so many of his teeth and should have sold them to the tooth fairy because $2 is good pay for a tooth (no kidding!). And Jantz just couldn't believe that she was so quiet... "Man, that tooth fairy is good! I can't believe she can go in and out of the doors and we didn't know about it. She is sooo quiet I can't believe it!"

Sent: Feb 4, 2009 11:51 PM
Subject: Abby
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

My Sweet Abbles!
I've never been one who can articulate thoughts very well, but here goes...Occasionally I second guess my parenting skills, or lack thereof, and wonder if I am making the right choices when parenting these kids of mine. I tend to error on the more strict side, my kids seldom if ever get away with things - I believe in boundaries. That being said, lately as I have been juggling more roles than ever before, I have had a harder time trying to do each of those roles well when my time in each role is so much more limited than ever before. I am NOT a perfect parent, my children are not perfect children. We try to do the best we can. Sometimes we don't get scripture study done, sometimes we miss a prayer here and there, sometimes FHE doesn't end with spiritual overload, homework gets overlooked, I forget to pay lunch money, sometimes the house is a disaster, dinner doesn't happen, and sometimes I am guilty of raising my voice far above where it should be. Sometimes I feel like I am not doing enough, and feel like I am failing in so many areas. And then sometimes there are days that remind you that it isn't always about what happens during "each" day. Sometimes you can't measure the success of each individual day, sometimes you have to look at the big picture. Thank heavens for the small, sweet, simple moments that remind us that the most important things in life aren't always the things that take place every day.
Today Abby came into my bathroom while I was getting ready for church and told me that she wanted to fast. I was somewhat surprised, for she is only six. I asked her repeatedly and each time she replied yes, I want to fast. I reminded her a little about what it meant to fast, and we talked about the different things, situations or people that we might fast for. I told her she could choose something to keep in her thoughts today. She thought for a minute and then said, I want to ask Heavenly Father to help me learn subtraction. I said, would you like me to help you say your prayer to start your fast (thinking that she might not know how to do this considering she was young and had never done this before) she said no - I can do it myself, but you can come with me and listen. I love her! Thank you Abby for reminding me about what really matters.

This is one of my favorite pictures ever - Veronica Reeve posted it on her blog last summer. She does the most amazing job - www.veronicareeve.com

Go Cards!

I miss you AZ!