Traum-us

When Thomas was little and went through his tantrum-throwing stage, Chris lovingly referred to him as "Traum-us". The nickname still makes me laugh.

Today, however, we really did have some trauma with our Tommer. I was at work when Chris called to say that he had gone to pick Thomas up from school after Thomas fainted in class. Apparently, he stood up and just fell over like a tree, flat onto his face. The poor little guy had a bloody nose and still has a few little cuts and bruises from the event.


The cuts and bruises weren't serious, but we were concerned about the cause of his fainting spell. Thomas has had some little issues here and there with migraine-like symptoms and "spacing out" in class that made us wonder if there may be something more going on. I took him to the doctor this afternoon and fortunately, he seems to be okay. His balance is good and the doctor couldn't see anything abnormal from his exam. The unfortunate part is that the doctor wanted to run a few tests just to rule out some problems ranging from anemia to epilepsy. Thomas had to endure his blood being drawn at the doctor's office and will be heading back tomorrow morning for an EEG. For this test, we need to wake him up at midnight and keep him awake until we take him to the hospital at 7:30 tomorrow morning. I really don't think there is anything wrong, but I am glad that we are doing this just to be sure.

Our sweet little guy has been such a good sport today and I am grateful that he has handled this little trauma so well.

Cute Gordy-Gord

He may have TROUBLE written all over him, but I am just in love with this silly little stinker! Gordon is not quite 2, but he is certainly practicing. Along with the tantrums, the struggles for independence, and the constant fights with his older brother, this age is also bringing some of the sweetest parts of Gordon's personality out. Just looking at his huge eyes and snaggle-tooth grin makes me break out into a big smile!


So maybe a lot of the "terrible twos" really aren't much fun, but the kisses, giggles, and spunkiness of this kid make it all worth it!

C is for Conifer

Ah yes, the spectacular Colorado Blue Spruce... wait, these aren't "spectacular"? Ha ha...

I took the boys and met my parents and Caitlan on Friday evening at Alpine Gardens in Perry, UT for their special after-hours sale. The sale did not disappoint, and we came home with three baby spruces to plant in the northwest corner of our backyard. Aren't they sweet little things? "Spectacular" is a few years away...

In addition to the conifers, we also found a lovely Pacific Sunset Maple for the front yard. Chris named it "Stockton" and planted it in a very nice spot (picked by yours truly!).

We also bought a couple of easy-to-grow aspens for the South corner of the back and some cute little shrubs to line the side yard.




With all of these items at an extra 10% off, I certainly enjoyed my little shopping spree!

Our yard is really starting to look lovely, minus the dandelions, of course. For that problem, I took my mother-in-law's advice and bought a Weed Hound. It's a fantastic little contraption. I did a bit of weeding today and found myself humming a certain tune from the Beastie Boys as I went about the yard searching and destroying. As I was busy at work, my neighbors pulled into their driveway with several weed-destruction tools in tow. I wonder if they've been reading my blog?

Point me toward the sale...

Even as I write this post, I can't really believe it. My husband, yes, let me repeat, my husband is EXCITED about a sale. He even said things like, "40% off!" and "special after-hours prices" when we were on the phone just now. Can this be real?

Of course, he is talking about going to a nursery this weekend to buy landscaping items for our yard (like the Colorado Blue Spruce, as pictured here). Still, the shopaholic in me is relishing this moment.

My Nemesis

This picture actually makes them look kind of pretty, but these little yellow weeds are making me crazy! Our front yard is unfenced and borders two neighbor yards on either side. On the South side (where the majority of our front yard is, thankfully), our neighbors take impeccable care of their yard. They mow, fertilze, the whole bit. On the North side, however, our neighbors seem to have lawn care at the low end of their priority list. Hence, their dandelion problem has now become our dandelion problem. And not just dandies, but also crabgrass and clover. The sight is not pretty!

We've sprayed once, but apparently our efforts need to be much more consistant than that. My friend even suggested spraying our lawn and our neighbor's. I'm strongly considering it.

The Red and White Game

Like the true Ute Fans that we are, we joined my in-laws at Rice Eccles Stadium for the annual Red and White Game. Chris really loves getting a Spring preview of his favorite football team-- I think it's a nice appetizer to the real games in the fall. And the nice thing about this game is that the Utes always win!

After the game, fans can go onto the field and get pictures and autographs with the players. Here is our Tommer with one of Chris's favorite all-time players, now a defensive coach, Morgan Scalley.


Gramm and Gramp were fun sports-- especially Gramp giving up his Coke to Thomas, who complained that his Sprite "honks his nose." What a nice Grampuh!

Chris and the boys enjoyed the view from the sports-box level at the stadium.



Although he tried to stay awake, Gordon finally gave into his sleepiness and missed out on running around the field. What a sweet little goober!

"This book has been flagged"

Reminiscent of one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes of all time, Thomas decided to take one of his Sam books (like Dick and Jane, only with a lion named Sam, a monkey named Mit, and other such characters) to the bathroom with him. Apparently he got a little distracted because he accidentally dropped the little book into the toilet. We threw it away, of course, and after washing our hands with anti-bacterial soap, I told Thomas that we needed to write a note to his teacher, Mrs. Anderson, to explain what happened. He decided that he would write the note, and though I helped with the spelling, the words are all his:



When I asked him if he gave Mrs. Anderson the note (along with another explanatory note from me), he said, "Yes, and she laughed at me because I'm cute."

Weekend in IF

Thomas had another soccer game on Saturday afternoon (they don't keep score, but I think Tom's team may have won, or at least tied), then we drove up to Idaho Falls to spend the weekend with my family. My parents have a very large backyard where my dad has built a cool little fire pit. On Saturday night, we sat around with the Freeds and roasted hot dogs and mashmallows around the fire, plus watched a few fireworks that my dad had stored for a special occasion. And what better thing to celebrate than his birthday on the 16th? HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

We went to church with my parents on Sunday, then the Freeds and Flatlands came over for dinner. It was tasty and we all had a fun time hanging out together. We brought Bananagrams, of course, and I think it was a big hit with everyone.

Ever the blogger, I made everyone gather up for a couple of pictures. You can probably tell that it is almost impossible not to have fun with these people! :)

Chris's new do

This post is dedicated to my dear brother-in-law, Andy Hansen, for his continued comments of distaste for Chris's long locks.


We were going for a Judd Nelson do (as seen here in The Breakfast Club), but after months of long hair in his face, Chris finally got sick of it and went to Great Clips for a trim. I still think he was a hottie with his long hair, but he doesn't look bad with the buzz cut either. So, here's to you, Andy: Chris with short hair!

Before...


After...

Soccer!

Tom's first soccer game was held on Thursday afternoon against "Bridger Team 5". There were two kids on the other team who really knew how to play. Everyone else just chased the ball around the field. Despite the loss (and who was counting anyway, except the one kid who was a foot taller than everyone else... hey-- what is the regulation age here anyway? Does he have a birth certificate with him?) Thomas and his teammates had a great game. They managed to (accidentally, I think) score once, and it was met with a huge roar from the sideline. It was really fun to see how much the parents enjoyed watching their kids.

One of Tom's teammates, also a classmate at EBLS, is from Korea and speaks English as a second language. His parents were really into the game and were so cute, jumping up and down, yelling, "JUST KICK THE BALL!!" Hilarious!

As you can see from this video, Thomas is still learning some of the rules of the game...


Thomas does a great job of running with the ball-- even if it's just to chase it to the other team's goal. Even though the other team scores in this video, you can see how quick our little guy is!


Here's our little rock star resting up with some iTunes after a great game.


Thomas isn't in this one, but I thought you'd all enjoy a slice of life in Logan. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that child has a mullet.


For all of the grannies and aunties out there who are interested in seeing a live game, the schedule is as follows:
Saturday (tomorrow) 2:00 PM
Thursday 4-19 6:30 PM
Thursday 4-26 6:30 PM
Saturday 4-28 1:00 PM
Tuesday 5-1 6:30 PM
Saturday 5-5 10:00 AM
Tuesday 5-8 5:30 PM
Saturday 5-12 12:00 Noon

Easter Sunday with the DeArtons

My parents and Caitlan visited us on Easter Sunday. It was so fun to have them in our home. We enjoyed a tasty dinner of marinated pork chops, twice baked potatoes, our favorite spinach, craisin, pecan and feta salda, and yummy brazilian cake for dessert. Afterward, we enjoyed our new favorite game, Bananagrams.



Thomas really wanted to play a round by himself. I thought the Hansen folks, who gifted this fun game to us, would get a big kick out of the video of Tom's words.

Our Sunday Best is Purple

Who says purple isn't a boy color? When I bought the annual Easter outfits for the boys, I exercised my motherly rights and picked out the most adorable navy blue and purple pants-shirt-vest-tie combos in the world. And it paid off-- are we not the most handsome family? :)

On Saturday, we went to the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville for our 2nd annual trip to Baby Animal Days. There is just something about being outside on a farm with a bunch of baby animals that really gets me in the mood for Spring.


When we arrived, a family was leaving and offered us their handcart. Chris was pretty excited to walk in his ancestor's footsteps, albeit in shorts and sandals. But still, the boys really liked riding instead of walking and the little adventure added some "old West" spirit to our afternoon.


One of the most fun things about Baby Animal Days is the opportunity to get hands-on with some of the little animals. Thomas was not interested in touching much, but Gordon was (as usual) just the opposite. He especially enjoyed mauling this poor baby chick.



The boys really enjoyed seeing all of the animals. There were even some adult chickens to observe; some were kind of pretty.



And of course, the puppies-- Gordon's favorite part.

In addition to seeing the baby animals, the kids also got to play percussion instruments. It was loud, but fun.

Springtime Saturday

After the egg hunt and before Baby Animal Days, I took the boys the elementary school next door to play. Saturday was such a gorgeous day. I was very glad to have a digital camera-- I think I took about 150 pictures in one day! Here are the two cutest of the littles: I love how bright they look!



Thomas is still quite unsure about riding a bike. We've taken off the training wheels and he has identified "summer" as the time he plans to learn to ride. Consequently, he refuses to even try in the Spring.

I have told Tom that he is too big to ride his old trike, but I will concede as long as he is willing to tow Gordon. He's pretty good to share (after all, a trike is much less scary than a two-wheeled bike, even if you do have to give your brother a lift) and I caught them "sharing" very sweetly on the way home from the school.

Candy, candy, candy

Our Easter festivites began Saturday morning when the boys woke up to find their cute baskets filled with jelly beans, the traditional chocolate bunnies, and new Peter Pan and Happy Feet dvds from Grammuh and Grampuh. The spoiling continued later that morning with an egg hunt in our back yard. They looked so darling in their new outfits (also from Grammuh-- she's too nice!) that I couldn't help but take a bunch of still photos and a video! This is the first year that Gordon could really participate (last year he just stuffed his mouth with jelly beans, but the egg hunt idea was a bit beyond him) and we loved watching him trot around the yard after his big brother. Don't they just look like little Easter eggs?





In addition to the candy from us, we also got a big bag of Jelly Bellys from my Grandma Sue (so sweet!) and my parents brought candy and prize-filled baskets when they came for dinner on Sunday (more to come on the rest of our weekend). Now we're "enjoying" the after-effects of way too much candy. Thomas has been very clever in finding my different candy hiding spots. Gordon is much less subtle: he simply asks, about every 30 seconds, for a "treat".

We love the Wards!

It's true: this is a week plus late post! We had a fun visit from Kevin, Becky, Owen and 3/4 Baby Ward the first weekend in April. We love the Wards-- they are so fun! We love how much Owen and our boys get along and we love visiting with Kevin and Becky. We just wish they lived a bit closer (hint hint!)!

Becky and I have been friends since elementary school. I love that we've been able to keep in touch for so long. Isn't she cute?!


I only managed to get one picture of the boys (Gordon and Owen are only two months apart) but you can see that they have a fun time together. It's fun for our little guys to have friends.

Recipe of the Month

I am not the world's greatest cook, but I'm improving and I do appreciate a tasty recipe when I come across it. I am trying to be a bit more ambitious and cook new things for my family, and sometimes those things turn out to be really good! In this spirit, I am going to try at least one new recipe each month (ambitious, I know) and post it on my blog.

Here is the one we tried on Saturday with our friends, Sean and Karin. So yummy! Chris was not extremely crazy about the sweet pork, but I really liked it. Then, yesterday, we had the leftovers in a delicious taco salad for dinner. Let me know if you try it!

Cafe Rio Mexican Pork Burritos

Mexican BBQ Pork

3-4 lb. pork loin roast
1 cup brown sugar
1 12 oz. can of Coke
1 TBSP ground cumin
1 14-oz bottle La Victoria red taco sauce – mild or medium

1. Place roast in crock pot. Fill pot with enough water to cover half way up the side of the roast.
2. Cook on Low for about 6 hours. When done, the meat should just fall apart with a fork.
3. Drain off the water.
4. Shred the meat with a fork, remove the fat as you go.
5. In crock pot, make sauce by combining remaining ingredients. Stir together.
6. Return shredded meat to crockpot, stir with sauce ingredients.
7. Continue cooking on low for 2 – 3 hours.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing (Delish on my taco salad!)

1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
1 fresh jalapeno, chopped (remove seeds)
3 medium or 4 small fresh tomatillos (peel off leaf and chop)
½ bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
1 envelope Buttermilk Ranch dressing mix
1 tsp fresh lime juice

Blend prepared ingredients in a blender or food processor.


Build Your Own Mexican Burritos

Shredded BBQ Pork
Tortillas
Black or Pinto Beans
Rice (stir in some fresh cilantro as it finishes cooking)
Shredded Cheese
Chopped lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Sour Cream
Guacamole
Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

Enjoy!