Carlsen Craziness

Halloween

2011-11-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

Costumes were fun (and easy) this year. Mia was a witch (gotten post Halloween in a previous year), Ryan was "Anakin Skywalker" from the Star Wars: Clone Wars era, and Wyatt borrowed a pirate costume. He doesn't have the eyepatch and the hat he wore to all the parties because he couldn't find them when he needed to. Tyler and I sat in a chair outside on the porch for an hour to hand out candy.
Don thinks that I am the Halloween Scrooge because I mumble under my breath (and sometimes not so under) about the older teens and adults holding out bags for themselves. I found a new pet peeve this year when I saw parents dragging half asleep toddlers and babies who had no interest in collecting anything, holding their bags for them, saying trick or treat for them, and pushing them off more than half asleep in the stroller. Who are you doing this for - you or your children? Are you really that desperate for candy? All right - let me get down off my soapbox. It was a ton of fun.
The three oldest kids went to two trunk or treats, a classroom party and real trick or treating for an hour. Lets just say that the amount of candy in our house right now is probably the scariest part of our Halloween season.

Pumpkins

2011-11-02T08:35:00.000-07:00

We used patterns when carcing then pumpkins this year and we invited Nana over to help us out. The kids did their own this time - which was awesome! They were pretty patient with the whole process once they "got it". Mia did a happier face. Ryan and Wyatt did a more traditional skeletal look, Dad did a zombie face, I did a bat, and Nana craved out a witch. It only toook me an hour and a half to clean up this mess!

First Day of School

2011-08-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

AAAGGHHH! It's finally here - my babies are going to school! They were up at 5:15am this morning (Tyler didn't help there) and were sooooo excited to get out the door. You can't get more ready for school then these kids are. Ryan spent most of the morning explaining things about school and answering questions (when will we have PE? how many recesses do we get? what's the ROUTINE?) Don and I dropped them off at school and walked in with them (tradition not to ride the bus the first day). They immediately left us without so much as a goodbye to find friends and play. I am so excited to see them grow and learn in a different way. I felt like I did all that I could do with them at home (in this aspect) and that they will grow so much in school. Wyatt has Ryan's old teacher (who we loved) and who knows him from when we went and volunteered in the classroom. We felt like this wasn't his first day at all! Mia was already holding hands with another girl in her class (who she met for 30 seconds during registration last week) and Ryan was racing around like a kid in a candy store saying hello to friends, trying to find basketballs to play with, and generally having a grand time. Incidentally, he said to me yesterday, "You know why I am excited to go back to school? Well, two reasons: first I get to see all my friends. Second, I don't have to do chores or homework!" I said, "you are still going to have homework!" (I have them work on things throughout the summer during "homework time" in the morning). He said, "Yeah but Mom, school homework is WAAYYY easier than your homework!" Hee hee. I guess I am doing something right. He is in the gifted and talented class at school and I know he will do great! The last picture is of Don and Tyler standing alone after all the kids ditched us. Now I get to blog, put away laundry and dishes, plan dinner and vacuum - ALL BY MYSELF!!

Explaination Below

2011-04-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

Tyler - 3 months

2011-04-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

Tyler is three months old today! We can't believe how time has flown! It seems like we just brought him home, but the pictures of him have definitely changed. He seems to be the perfect baby. We are waiting for something to blow up in our faces, but at this point he is almost too good to be true. He started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks old (11 whole hours people!). I hadn't even gotten my sleep training book that I used for all the rest of the kids out - he did it all on his own-- no "crying it out" required. He is a great breast feeder (except in the late afternoon when he feels he is entitled to every two hours ) and switches to the bottle fairly easily when I need to get out -we started this early in anticipation of me going back to work.The kids love to play with and hold him. He was a little late in smiling, holding out to about 10 weeks for a real "social smile", but now it is hard to get him to stop. We know when he is really tired because he just stares at you endlessly. He has a few babbles at this point, but he is not that vocal. He is such a "go with the flow" baby that it is hard to believe that this is the same soul who caused me great misery in pregnancy. He is easily in the 90th percentile for weight. I haven't weighed him recently, but he was over 12 lbs at 7 weeks. He takes after all of our other kids in low muscle tone. Floppy legs that don't support his weight, extreme dislike of tummy time (the only time I can get him to cry enough to clean out his upper nasal congestion), and most likely to be a little slower to reach all those other gross motor milestones. We are having so much fun with Tyler that we almost don't want him to get bigger (especially since he makes my arms pretty tired right now). He is probably a bit spoiled, but also gets woken up quite a bit to fit with the rest of the family's schedule. Anyway, you have probably guessed by now that we are loving life with a baby around! Enjoy the pics Mom. :0) Since I don't have ANY handle on how to format this blog (we are lucky I get it up without hitting the computer) I am just going to caption them this way: #1 He loves the swing and stares endlessly at the mobile of stuffed sea creatures (which doesn't move anymore) #2 Daddy tickling my chin #3 A serious look #4 I liked this pic because it shows his fascination with his tongue. He is often seen sucking his tongue or sticking it partways out.

Ranch Part Two

2011-03-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here are the ostriches (which grabbed the feed cup and yanked it right out of Ryan's hand) and the minature donkeys which were a sedate as a mammel ever could be. We also had great fun feeding the Lorakeets (Ryans favorite) which look like minature colorful parrots. The came and landed all over your body and drank from a little cup the kids held - so fun!

Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch

2011-03-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had great fun at an ostrich ranch (the largest in North America) that we had passed on the freeway at least 15 times since living here in AZ. With Don gone and spring break upon us, we decided there was no better time than now and left the ranch wondering why we waited so long. The trip was a total success, except for the fact that my camera ran out of batteries before we got to feeding the lorakeets (grrr) which just means we will just have to go back! Here is the first few animals (we actually had fun feeding everything BUT the ostriches which we too aggressive for our tastes). The deer we slobbery and the goats were noisy, but it didn't stop the kids from going back 3 and 4 times to empty their cups!

lookalikes

2011-03-03T06:50:00.000-08:00

Look-Alikes

2011-03-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

Especially now that Tyler has started to smile, we are delighted to see his resemblance to Ryan. None of our children have much similarity to each other, apart from the blond hair of the boys. This mimics my own family, who looks as alike as George Washington and Gearge Washington Carver. Of course, Ryan looks nothing like his baby pictures, so the mystery remains. Here are two of Ryan and two of Tyler.

Updated Pics of Tyler

2011-02-01T07:33:00.000-08:00

Now that I am finally current with all the other pics, here is some taken just yesterday evening. Cuddling with Tyler on the couch is everyones favorite thing to do and he is generally very accomodating. Ryan is having a blast being the "biggest brother" and is very understanding of baby needs and concerned about how Tyler is feeling. Don has the early evening hours with Tyler (his unhappiest time for some reason) and shows what a pro he is in the Daddy department.

Bath time

2011-02-01T07:28:00.000-08:00

Our first bath was quite the event. Everybody was fighting for ringside seats and after I got everything ready, Don swept in and did the honors. We are a little weary of baths because of the excema in our family, but there comes a point where rotton spit up makes the decision for you.

Lego Santa

2011-02-01T07:23:00.000-08:00

Don took a break from all the baby fun to help the boys make a Lego creation based on a picture they had seen in the free "Lego Club" magazine the boys get every month. Those Legos sure are a hit at our house. They are played with EVERY day - mostly to make Star wars battle ships and fighters. Nevertheless, this was one of the best presents we have ever given (last years Christmas). I would say Legos are about the perfect toy except for the fact they they are so painful to step on!

Home at Last

2011-02-01T07:19:00.000-08:00

Tyler is a good kid - getting up about every four hours to eat, eating well, and generally adored by all. Which doesn't mean that having a baby hasn't been quite the adjustment for everyone. But we are glad he is here!

PS Can you tell who we were rooting for in the college championships this year? We were quite disappointed that the good looking fan wear didn't give them enough of an edge.

Post Bath Baby

2011-02-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

More Jan 3rd Pics

2011-02-01T07:13:00.000-08:00

The Main Event

2011-02-01T07:09:00.000-08:00

I am feeding the subject now so lets make the summary short and sweet. Induction, meconium stained amniotic fluid, lots and lots and lots of pushing, sunny side up, forceps, epesiotomy, cord around neck, and 9lbs 3oz. I thought things were supposed to get easier the more babies you had?

Who are those good-looking men?

2011-02-01T06:47:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of random pictures of my good looking boys taken right before church. They have so much fun together and can often be heard giggling in their room at night. I am so glad they have each other and that they get along so well. The fact that they are so awesome in many other respects is just a bonus!

Uncle Don

2011-02-01T06:44:00.000-08:00

There is not too much of a story behind this pic. The Jackman kids came over to play and Aiden crawled up on Don's lap while he was playing video games. It took about two minutes for him to fall asleep. I think this place has special magical sleeping properties - I know I sure can't stay awake for very long!

Rancho Christmas Party

2011-02-01T06:40:00.000-08:00

How do you get caught up on the last two busiest months of your life? Start with the parties! On eof the great things about where we live is that every couple of months, they throw a very kid friendly outdoor party. This past December the kids had a tons of fun on the "low gravity machine", "ice" skating, and Santa sitting. Mia asked for a babydoll, Wyatt asked for some more Legos, and Ryan asked for a video game. Whew, good thing we can fulfill those requests! We love our neighborhood and that we can have outdoor parties in the middle of December!

Wyatt

2010-11-08T20:48:00.000-08:00

Here's a little treat for Grandma - picutres she didn't have to beg for! I have twisted my ankle and am somewhat chairbound (just what a pregnant woman needs, right?) and so I was looking through old pictures and found some of when I went with Wyatt's preschool to a local pumpkin farm last month. It was so fun to go with just him. He is so social and talkative with his peers. He is very physical, loving to hold hands and skip or tackle depending on the friends.
I think he considers Ryan "best bud numero uno" and can't go to sleep without him in the room, wonders when he is coming home from school and prefers to do just about anything with him over Mia's style of play. He is the most likely out of all my children to say, "No" when asked to do anything and doesn't really feel a huge desire to please his parents, but siblings are another matter (most of the time). He is probably our most stubborn child - least likely to cave in the face of impending punishment. He is also one of the silliest and we often hear his giggle around the house.
He struggles with remembering basic sight words and names of letters, but has (by far) the best handwriting of any of our children even though he sometimes doesn't know what in the heck he is writing. He is a little bit of a perfectionist in that regard, erasing anything he doesn't consider stellar work, even if I say it is fine. He is our token "southpaw" and loves cutting paper and basically being destructive. He spends hours designing and building lego ships with firepower. He has the funniest potty dance EVER. He is by far our most adventerous eater and has had potty problems more than once by eating too many tomatoes in one sitting. He loves to be dared to do something (scary, I know) and loves praise, but not a lot of cuddling, hugs, or lap sitting. He loves to go go go, always wondering what we are going to do next, where we are going to go, who are we going to invite over, etc. Most of all, he's super fun and I am glad he is ours! I love you Wyatt!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

This year's Halloween fell on Sunday so we did not take the kids out trick or treating. They had fun getting their camping chairs out and passing out candy. We borrowed a couple of Star Wars costumes from a neighbor (the boys are very much into Star Wars these days). Mia borrowed several costumes from several different people and then decided she didn't really want to dress up to pass out candy. She did dress up as a Halloween Fairy for the ward trunk or treat but I was working so we didn't get any pictures. Halloween is always such a source of stress for me as I don't like any store bought costumes (that I can afford) and am not creative/talented enough to come up with fun ones. Mia is reading over my shoulder and she says, "Write that we had A LOT of fun!" So I guess that no matter how much stress holidays are to parents, it is good to know that no matter what , they usually have A LOT of fun!

The actual passing out of candy by kids was pretty great for us parents. No getting up and down every time the door bell rang and we have a ton of kids every year (I don't know anyone who doesn't run out of candy by 7pm). They had quite the system. Wyatt ended up at the bottom of the driveway, yelling at kids who would be across the street to come and get candy, then direct them to Ryan a little further up who would give them another piece of candy, who would then direct them all the way to the door where Mia was. Never make anything simple - that's the Carlsen way.

Carving Pumpkins

2010-11-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

We did our annual pumpkin carving FHE extravaganza. It was made much easier this year with the discovery last yuear of cookie cutter like shapes with sharp edges that you pounded into the pumpkin with a mallet, producing fun shapes. Easier for a five year old to pound with a mallet then wield a knife. We only had a bat shape and a star shape, but the kids has fun anyways.

Readers

2010-10-31T10:21:00.000-07:00

I love that the kids love to read. I do it more than I should (to the exclusion of other things that need to get done) and my kids, especially Mia, share in that. This last pic is this Sunday morning when everyone had grabbed something and gravitated towards the couches. (I had the Sunday paper before I looked around and picked up the camera). Ryan has Spiderman comics, Wyatt has the Toys R Us Christmas Toy Catalog, and Mia is reading Don a Ballerina book. I do love Sunday mornings!

Hair today...gone tomorrow

2010-10-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

In sunnier news, Mia got a much needed haicut. Her hair is so fine and straight that it is always snarly and tangled. We are growing out her bangs and she is in self style mode. She has more fashion sense at 5 then I will ever hope to have...ever. The "earrings" picture was taken a couple of weeks ago (she would LOVE to have her ears pierced, but I am holding out for a few more years). The second two were taken yesterday. I love the new pixie cut and she seems to too. Or maybe it's just all the attention she is garnering. At any rate, the mornings go much easier and she can spend more time picking out her clothes (she picks out each outfit with care).

HSP

2010-10-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

OK - the first thing you will notice about this blog is that despite living in near proximity to Brent for the last few years, I did not inherit any photography skills. In my defense, these were all candid quick shots. Ryan was recently diagnosed with Henoch Schonlein Purpura - an infammation of the blood vessels that is either not a big deal or really really scary depending on which internet comments you read. You can read more about it here:
http://www.medicinenet.com/henoch-schonlein_purpura/article.htm

We have been dealing with the intense lower joint pain that will make it suddenly really hard for him to walk, nausea, and a rash that covers his lower legs. Luckily the rash isn't itchy. Unluckily on the nausea front, I don't know how much more not eating his little bod can take. He was already skinny and I think I might have to go stock up on high calorie shakes in order to get him through the next month (we really need to perfect some fat transferring process so that he can take some of mine). My guess is that we will be starting the prednisone treatments and possibly some anti -nausea meds upon a followup dr's visit. Sometimes he does really great and we hardly notice anything and sometimes he feels like death is imminent. On the plus front, he is feeling so poorly today that all he can do is watch a little TV - thus giving me an opportunity to blog (which is RARE). We have to look on the bright side, right?

First stop = Phoenix

2010-09-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

Where do you go when you don't have much money and even less time for a family vacation? Phoenix in summer! This was the kids request since we had done it the previous year. Castles and Coasters had about 10 rides - 5 the twins would actually go on (over and over and over and over and over...you get the picture). Ryan's favorite was the log ride and a ride that shot you up and short distance then back down again. They all thought the park was awesome and we pretty much had the park all to ourselves - can you guess why? Hint - AUGUST in MESA...

Results!

2010-09-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

After the picture of the green grapes stayed for so long, I figured I would have to put up the fruits of our labors. The sweetest little purple grapes ever! The kids had so much fun picking them and we were suprised by the harvest after less than one year!

Phoenix Children's Museum

2010-09-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

Probably the kids favorite stop of the trip, the Children's Museum was three floors and all kid fun. We started with a giant climbing structure and a vacuum tube that would suck up and spit out scarves that would then fly through the air for the children to catch. It was fun to see them jet through the clear tubes and guess which opening they would come out of. There were painting rooms, bike rooms, fort building rooms, play kitchens, a giant noodle forest, ball room, and more. We stayed there for 7+ hours before we dragged the kids out. At least it was air condidtioned...

Sea Life Aquarium

2010-09-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

This was MY choice of stops during our quick Phoenix vacation - the new Sea Life aquarium that just opened in the Arizona Mills Mall. I loved it and it was very interactive. Unfortunatly it was also our last vacation day so the kids were somewhat pooped. Still glad we went!

Found: One lizard minus tail

2010-09-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

My disclaimer is this: I did not come upon the scene until the lizard was already in the bowl. I am assuming that the tail was harmed in the capture since the tail was present - but I do not support the maiming of said creatures.
We see lizards ALL THE TIME. Big, small, quick, lazy-- but this was quite a distinctly patterned one and so they decided to trap it and have a closer inspection. After an afternoon of observation I casually mentioned that his family might be missing him so they let him go. Later that evening I find the tail next to the fruit bowl. Charming.

First Day of School

2010-08-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

My oldest started first grade today. He is a pro and I am not worried about him one little bit. I am surprised about how much quieter it is around the house with one less almost seven year old.

Just another day at the office

2010-07-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

Life has been crazy and certain people have been gently reminding me to replace the picture of the green grapes at the top of my blog. Well, we are vacationing in Phoenix for a couple of days so I am not near my pictures, but spending time with my kids away from home has reminded me of a couple of things I meant to post about. Wyatt is the most desired playmate in our house, being the wonderful people pleaser that he is. It is especially hard to balance Mia's girly play with Ryan's intense battle mentality. However, never underestimate my Wyatt. He will tell Mia that he will play baby with her (per her request) - but she has to be the baby and he will be the dad. He tucks her in to bed and then runs off to "work" with Ryan. This involves heavy gunfire, light saber battles, and wrestling. Mia calls out to Wyatt, "Daddy, Baby is awake! Is it time to get out of bed?" Wyatt calls out, "No Baby! Daddy is at work! Go back to bed!". Hehehe.

Garden

2010-05-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

We're unnaturally proud of our garden this year and are having fun seeing things thrive in the hot AZ sun. The grape vine that we planted last summer is producing for thr first time and in a few weeks all these grape bunches should be producing some fine flame red variety. Our corn and strawberries are going crazy, our pumpkin vine has overflowed and, of course, the zucchini has grown to gargantuan size. Yeah for gardens! We planted some blackberries and raspberry vines that won't produce until next year and plan to plant a tree when our backyard budget replenishes itself. The kids have a great time playing in our small backyard and the tramp still gets a lot of use. I just wish it weren't already so stinkin hot!

This is for the Birds

2010-05-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

I got a beautiful bird feeder for mother's day and the kids had a blast setting it up and making sure that the feeder was filled, that the birds knew what to do (they placed two small stone bird statues I had other places under the feeder on the ground so that the birds knew that it was a bird place to be), and then laying in wait behind the pillars to wait for them. Frankly, it was hilarious. The birds found it all right and if I keep it filled they can go through 2 lbs of feed a day. (I fill it off and on)

Wardrobe is Everything

2010-05-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

Mia loves her "morning shoes" - slippers that she got from Grandma and Gramps for Christmas and wears them around the house before she has to go out.
Wyatt loves Daddy's clothes and I couldn't keep him still for pictures. He was twirling around and falling on the ground and having a blast being the family clown. What a goof.

Just Ducky

2010-05-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

We went to the Gila Valley Temple open house (one of two new temples that are going to be about two hours away from us - the same distance as our current Mesa location) and afterward took them to a pond to feed the ducks. It was beautiful weather and the ducks weren't too aggressive with the kids but loved fighting over morsels. We had a great time (and the temple was awesome too!).

Summer Buzz

2010-05-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

I don't quite get those parents who let their 6 year olds have red mohawks, however Ryan did get his chance for a funky look, right in the middle of his yearly buzz and before I finished off the look.

Sleppy Mia Part Duex

2010-05-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

More falling asleep in the family room - if we could only have a designated time and place for naps....
Oh wait, we do and you don't take advantage of it!!!!

The new member of the family

2010-04-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

Don has been really lucky to be able to carpool in the last few years, but after 8 years of being a one car family we finally joined the ranks of the minivan crowd. We found a used Toyota Sienna from a broker in Tucson and decided that the price was right. It is only a year old, but used as a rental car vehicle so it has about 30K miles on it. The backs seat is one of those "fold and go" deals - which we love and there is an optional seat that unfolds and fits between the two middle captains chairs for and "8 seater" option. I was not in love with the color (Don has nicknamed it "Doublemint") but since I am in the car and don't really have to look at the outside too much (giant easter egg anyone?) I got over it. Super yeah for our children not having to elbow each other the whole trip!!

SuperKids!

2010-04-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

Can you think of anything more fun than putting on capes and flying down the street on your bikes? The twins can't...

Easter Pancake Breakfast

2010-04-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

At the community Easter Breakfast on Saturday, the kids had much more fun playing with their food than actually eating it...

Spoilsports

2010-04-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

At our community Easter party. Ever have a moment when your kids shout out something like, "Hey, that's not the Easter Bunny - I can see his shoes!!!!" really loud in a crowd of about 20 kids? Ummmm...we have.

Colossal Caves

2010-04-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

We are going about visiting some of the Tucson sites we never have even though we have been here for 5 years... First up - Colossal Caves! The kids had a blast, but I felt we were hurred through the actual caves on the tour. Afterwards we spent 30 min playing in a "river" (a full wash) that the kids thought was WAY better than the caves. :0)

More Spring Projects

2010-04-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Here we are completing more Spring projects - revitalizing an Ikea kids picnic table...

Generation to Generation

2010-04-04T08:15:00.000-07:00

As you can see, we are setting our children up for a long tradition of falling asleep while reading...

Garden Fun

2010-04-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

Part of my birthday present was some large pots in the front yard (not pictured) and some more plants in the backyard. Here are the kids planting a potato bush and Don digging a hole for the honeysuckle. We love our backyard so much! When Ryan comes home from school, he heads straight to the backyard for a little downtime. I caught him snoozing on the warm grass (fake as it comes) but couldn't get a shot in before he perked up and gave me a cheesy grin. We are also nurturing pumpkin, zucchini, white and yellow corn, tomato and strawberries in the veggie garden not pictured. We love being outdoors in the Spring!

Challenge

2010-04-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

How many of the princess dress up clothes can you put on at once? Apparently, all of them...

Birthday Wishes

2010-04-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

Well, lots has happened in the last month - lets start at the beginning with my birthday. The kids got me some great doller store presents, which I am modeling here. Flip-flops from Wyatt, "LOVE" earrings from Ryan, and berry lip gloss from Mia. Of course the best present is being loved by so many good kids! Here I am wrangling kids on my 30th birthday...

Picnic

2010-02-18T17:20:00.000-08:00

We have had such gorgeous weather, it is hard to believe we are going to be suffering in a few short months. The twins decided that they wanted to eat outside in the backyard and since I decided to take more pictures of everyday life I tried to take a somewhat natural shot of them. It was not to be. As soon as I got the camera out I was able to take a quick photo and then amid "my turn, my turn!" relinquished control to other budding photographers.

Beds and Breakfasts

2010-02-18T17:13:00.000-08:00

Wow - I am getting positively wordy! Yesterday morning, Don took Mia out to Dennys for a daddy daughter date before work. She was able to stay dry at night for a whole week and it looks like we have only one left in pullups at night. Frankly, I was surprised given the dubious bedwetting genes handed from both of her parents. Rest assured readers, we are not in pullups either. They left as we were getting Ryan out the door (he catches the bus at 6:40am) and I think she must have said "bye" fifteen times and in such a way that made it seem like she was going to be gone for a year instead of an hour. By her reports she had bluberry pancakes, sausage and bacon, some of Daddy's french toast and her OWN apple juice. Oh what fun it is to be a big girl!

The Laundry Queen

2010-02-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

At it again-- my cloth drawer is empty and the cloths are being folded in perfect squares and stacked just so. Mia loves to fold rags, towels, and blankets for me. It is so funny to see her in the middle of the kitchen floor going to town on those cloths. If I don't save them for her out of the laundry and stuff them into the kitchen drawer, she will find them and take them all out and fold them and stack them. Then she comes to me and says, "You're welcome".
She is also a meticulous room cleaner, though usually only upon request. She can make her bed without any blanket wrinkles, hang up all her shirts and put all the rest of the clothes in the right drawer. By contrast, when the boys are asked to clean their room, they shove all the toys onto the shelf in such a way that one hard look will have them come tumbling down; all clothes, clean or not, go into the laundry hamper; they have no idea what "making a bed" means to the rest of the world; and they feel that the room is clean when you can see more than half the carpet and any given time. Now if I can finish off by teaching her how to do the rest of the laundry, mop kitchen floors, and make a few basic recipes, we'll be in
business! Mia, you're the greatest!

Little Things

2010-02-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

You know, I always mean to blog more. Most of my friends and family can get it done at least once a week, maybe more. It is not like I work full time outside the home or have some great project in the works, but somehow I am always startled when another month rolls around without a post. One of my friends had a book made that published all her posts and I thought...hmmm, if I actually did that on a regular basis - what a great journal! So here it goes again, more resolution to break out the camera more than every so often. A couple of days ago, my dear sister in law invited Mia over to play. It isn't very often that the twins are separated for play dates. It just takes twice as much effort and I think people feel bad just inviting one. They go everywhere together - exercise group (a babysitting co-op that lets us moms work out a few times a week), preschool co-op, even doctor and dentist appointments. (Hey, I am remembering why I don't get around to doing this very often). We always mean to do different things for them, but real life and practicality get in the way. I can count the number of times on one hand since they were born that I have had Wyatt all to myself. After consoling him about not going over to his cousins (with the promise of a popsicle and special mommy time), we headed home. I was really grateful for the chance to play with Wyatt one on one. I could do things that I wouldn't have done with both of them there, like play horsey on the trampoline. They get so upset if you do something with one child and then don't do the exact same thing with every child in the house and my back just can't take one hundred and two horse rides. We also worked on writing his name. We have worked on this only one other time in the past and were inturrupted several times by the handwriting queen herself, bragging on her latest essay. With just Wyatt there, he mastered the same skill we were so frustrated with before in minutes! There is so much in him that doesn't get seen because he is lumped in with louder sibs (not that I don't absolutely adore said siblings, however they can be LOUD). It was fun to see Wyatt express himself in fun ways! I love you bud!

Warm Fuzzy

2010-01-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

After October's General Conference, we decided to start our own warm fuzzy jar, based off of some comments in President Monson's talk. At first the kids had a hard time distinguishing "service" from "chores". I explained that one you do to help someone else out and one you do because it is your responsibility. They have done pretty well with it and we have already filled it up once and had our reward - a family ice cream party. The kids got excited to fill it up again in anticipation of a family bowling outing. This morning I found the twins putting a warm fuzzy in the jar and asked, "what service did you do?" They must have figured out the system because Mia said, "I cleared Wyatt's cereal bowl and he cleared mine - that was very nice of him, don't you think?"

The "other" Don

2009-12-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

We were especially grateful to be able to visit Don's grandparents while we were in Utah. Don's grandmother has been in a nursing home for about a year and has suffered the debilitating effects of a stroke. It was bittersweet as she could not communicate well, but we were glad the children got to give her hugs and see Great Grandpa Carlsen too! We love you guys!

Treehouse

2009-12-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

On one of our last "Utah" days we visited the Treehouse Children's museum in Ogden. This place was amazing and made our local Children's Museum look like a McDonald's playplace in comparison. The kids had fun playing on the little play fire truck, playing in the rodeo room, the farm room where they practiced milking a fake cow, the music room, the doll's room, the midevil knights room, the states room, the oval office room, the train room, the doctors room, and especially the Lego room. My boys are addicted to Legos - something Snata has been made aware of this Christmas... All in all - great fun!

Temple Square

2009-12-06T20:17:00.000-08:00

We went to Temple Square while we were in Utah. It was fun to be back in Utah...and a little wierd. The kids had a hard time walking "so far" and the cold weather gave the boys no small amount of asthma problems. I am glad we did it though. As you can see, the boys came home afterwards and crashed....

Snow Bunnies

2009-12-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

Sledding for the very first time. The kids had a great time discovering snow and all the things you could do in it at the park outside my Grandpa Jackman's house thsi past November. They only lasted about a half an hour - but it sure was fun!

"The Loot"

2009-11-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

When I asked Ryan what he wanted to be for Halloween this year, he said, "A KNIGHT!". He cuoldn't wait to get last years costume out of the box. I tried to convince him that he could pick somthing new, but then slapped myself when I came to my senses. Recycle costumes, well, OK. But only because YOU want to. Wyatt decided the same and Mia said, "Whatever you want me to be, Mom". I kid you not. Where are these agreeable and frugal personalities when we're begging in the stores? Well, I had an angel costume that I had purchased a couple of years back on clearance and the fabulous trio rose out into the night. They went up and down two streets and came back with LOAD of candy. I let them pick at it for a few days and have stashed the remainder for good use. Bribery? Christmas Stockings? The possibilities are endless - and so is the candy.

Birthday Fun

2009-11-08T14:09:00.000-08:00

We ended up postposing Ryan's birthday party a couple of weeks due to sickness and by the time we had the party, it was quite a bit cooler than we had expected. Nevertheless, the kids had a blast witha timed obstacle course, pin the treasure on the map, decorating cupcakes, and (Ryan's only request), a small ghost pinata. We don't have parties every year, but it was fun to do something this time. Yeah for SIX!

Aqua Linda Farms

2009-11-08T14:02:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to the local pumpkin farm and petting zoo with our co-op preschool. The kids had fun, although the long serach for the pumpkin (carrying two large ones is not easy) and dealing with "What else are we going to do fun?" questions in the midst of said fun left me fairly tired and cranky. It might me a while before I go with my kids again.

The Best Present Ever

2009-11-08T13:58:00.000-08:00

I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have my very own life size doll!

My apologies

2009-10-31T17:28:00.001-07:00

Overheard today at a birthday party:
Another Mom: Come on off the bouncy castle, its time for "Pin the tail on the donkey!"
Ryan: Uh, I can't, I'm allergic to dogs.

How did a month pass by already?

2009-09-24T20:21:00.000-07:00

OK, yes, I'm a sucky blogger - I try to get it in once a month so people know I am not dead. But in my defense, I am going at this alone - unlike every single other sibling I have, my husband does not contribute to this in any way. Never mind that I am doing this for the good of extended family members who need to be reminded of how cute our kids are on a regular basis. No, he says, "Hey, you started it, its your thing." Ha....I am never going to let his mother look at the blog again, and we'll see who laughing now....
Ahem. Now back to our regular blogcast. Things are crazy now that Ryan has started school. I am volunteering every week in his class, hosting the twins preschool group every third week, and participating in an exercise co-op every morning (we watch each others kids one day a week so that the other four we can go exercise alone). Add to that birthdays, soccer, sickness, camping (and sickness while camping), and cub scouts and you'll be able to see that we haven't had a lot of "down time" lately.
However, here I find myself with the chance to clean the kitchen after six kids ate dinner (I watched Miranda's kids while they slowly move things into their new house) or dink around on the computer with some pictures. Ergo, here I am. Below are some of the things we have been up to in the last couple of weeks.

Huh?

2009-09-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I catch Mia and Wyatt doing the wierdest things. Here they are playing "Salon" - Wyatt's getting made up for something. (Probably a good sound beating when he is 12 if anyone ever sees this picture)

Presents

2009-09-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks Gramps and Grandma for our fantastic presents!

Camping at Mt. Lemmon

2009-09-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, sop we went camping in a technical sense - we slept in tents with sleeping bags. The fact that there were electrical outlets, colvered pavilions (with lights), great potties, and built in grills was only incidental. Although, I do maintain that with kids, this is the only way to go. We took advantage of cooler temps for a couple of nights and went camping with about eight other families with small kids too. They only snags we ran into were skunks...a lot of them prowling around our food in the evening time. That's the one animal you don't really want to scare away... The kids watched us make homemade rootbeer and we encountered the biggest marshmellow we had ever seen. Great fun!

4 Years Old!!

2009-09-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

Oh the joys of birthday parties. We didn't have one last year, so we decided to let them have one this year. We had water balloon games, but the water balloons wouldn't pop. You could throw them really hard at someone and all that person would get was a bruise - it was funny. So the kids just all started throwing them at Don. We put the sprinkler head on the trampoline and basically made the kids as messy as we could get them.

Ryan in AYSO

2009-09-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

2009-09-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

OK, yes, I'm a sucky blogger - I try to get it in once a month so people know I am not dead. But in my defense, I am going at this alone - unlike every single other sibling I have, my husband does not contribute to this in any way. Never mind that I am doing this for the good of extended family members who need to be reminded of how cute our kids are on a regular basis. No, he says, "Hey, you started it, its your thing." Ha....I am never going to let his mother look at the blog again, and we'll see who laughing now....
Ahem. No back to our regular blogcast. Things are crazy now that Ryan has started school. I am volunteering every week, hosting the twins preschool group every third week, and participating in an exercise co-op every morning (we watch each others kids one day a week so that the other four we can go exercise alone). Add to that birthdays, soccer, and scouts and you'll be able to see that we haven't had a lot of "down time" lately. However, here I find myself with the chance to clean the kitchen after six kids ate dinner (I watched Miranda's kids while they slowly move things into their new house) or dink around on the computer with some pictures. Ergo, here I am. Here are some of the things we have been up to in the last couple of weeks.

Faces

2009-08-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

While Tom and Erica were visiting earlier this month, a park nearby had a grand opneing celebration. I was working, but I guess they were there early enough to get the full on face painting done. Quite the images. Just to clarify - Tom does not have face paint on. :0)

Pretend Primary

2009-08-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of pictures taken before church of Mia and Wyatt playing "Primary". In the first one Wyatt is saying the opening prayer and the one after, Mia is the pianist and Wyatt is singing the opening song. In times like this, you almost forget they don't spend half their time fighting with each other.

The Carlsens think they can dance

2009-08-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the four videos, they are all basically the same thing but we couldn't decide which of the hilarious ones to cut so I put them all on. A couple of months ago we were getting ready for bed and watching "So you think you can dance" on TV. Ryan and Mia thought, "Hey that doesn't look so hard, and actually it kinda looks like they are having fun - lets copy them!" What followed had us in stitches.

2009-08-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of Ryan reading a book to Wyatt. You don't get the beginning because I was trying to sneak up without being noticed. Mia ruins it by whining through the whole thing and I had to end early because the twins were too interested in actually seeing/playing with the camera. But you get the idea. He is actually quite a super reader, picking up new words every day. No wonder he thinks Kindergarten is a little on the boring side!

There is a monster at the end of this Book, Read by Ryan Carlsen from Robyn Carlsen on Vimeo.

San Diego Part Duex...

2009-07-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

More San Diego Pictures...

San Diego

2009-07-16T15:27:00.000-07:00

We took a semi-last minute trip to San Diego with our family, Nana Carlsen, Don's brother Mike, and our good friend Aelisa. We were all getting summer cabin fever and we needed to ESCAPE! We didn't really know what the plans were, but we ended up going to Sea World, Coronado Beach, beach kayaking, and Legoland. It was loads of fun and the kids were GREAT. It was a fairly short drive at about six hours. We stayed at the Hampton Inn and the kids were busy every minute of the day. Here are a few of the many many funny pictures from the trip. Every time we ask the kids what their favorite part was, we get different answer. The kids are at a great age when we can skip naps without (too many) repercussions. The only downer of the trip was when we were going on rides in Legoland and Mia was able to go on the 40" rides but Wyatt had to stay behind because he was only 38 1/2". It sucks to be a boy.

Swimming Video

2009-06-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

Fishy Ryan

Swimmers Part Two

2009-06-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

I will include video when I figure out how to...

Swimmers Part One

2009-06-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

We can hardly picture a summer without swimming every other day and our kids have turned into quite the little fishes. While I had a coupl eof weeks where I couldn't swim because of the surgery, the boys had quite a lot of fun jumping in and getting crazy by themselves. Lucklily the "floaties" let the twins do that by themselves and Ryan has become quite the little independant swimmer. Hopefully I can figure out how to post a video soon. Ryan begged me to take it. Wyatt knows no jump besides the belly flop. Horrible because it is so painful to watch.

Chocolate Milk

2009-06-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

This is what has happened lately in our backyard. An explosion of interest into the culinary arts...well, as along as dirt is involved. The kids have loved going and playing in the unfilled planter beds filling buckets with dirt and getting water (often tracking it through the house) and mixing "chocolate milk". Stirring for good consistancy, spreading it liberally over clothes and clean patios, and having a grand old time. These pics were taken this morning before it was time to get ready for church. All the kids get involved, although I have only included pictures of Wyatt. He has been really cracking me up lately. He is our biggest mystery child. We have a hard time understanding what makes him tick.
He is the BIGGEST pushover for his siblings. He will give them anything they want. If there is a fight to sit in the two seats on the car cart in the grocery store, Wyatt will decide he wants to walk. If it is his turn to pick a cartoon show the others just whisper what they want in his ear and he goes with it. He usually watches for about five minutes with them before coming to me wondering what we are going to do next. When Ryan and Mia play "house" or any pretend game, Wyatt dutifully assumes the subrodinant role of baby, dog, or other pet. When he and Mia are alone together they play "Mommy and Puppy". When Mia asks him (often), "Do I look pretty?" he replies, "Oh, you look cute Mia. You look very good today." If he has something the other two want, all they have to do is say, "Please Wyatt?" and he gives it up fast. When it is his turn for a privilege, we have a hard time making him take it because he often hands it off to Ryan and Mia, who say imoocently, "He doesn't want a turn, he wants us to have it!" The other two often fight over who gets to play with him (they only play together when doing destructive things like messing up the backyard). This leaves Wyatt with a hard choice. Go along gender lines or age similarities? He is usually pretty diplomatic. I do think he worships the ground Ryan walks on. He has even adopted Ryans "tongue out of mouth for the camera" pose. (See above). They often play Spiderman and Star Wars imaginary games with each other.
Sounds like a pretty agreeable child huh? He is, until it comes to his parents. Although he is very verablly expressive ("I love you Mom" he sighs often), he is the most stubborn of the three. If he decides he doesn't want to do something, he will dig his heels in pretty fast, even when he knows punishment is imminent. He goes to time out the most often because he refuses to give a single inch. He will get frustrated with me and scream like a banshee as loud as he can. He is, in short, my mystery man.

Sleepyheads

2009-06-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

If nothing else, you can say that I am comfortable. This week after the appendectomy has been full of me sleeping on the couch...a lot. The kids often take advantage and nap with me. Unfortunately that negates the benefit of sleeping downstairs (cooler temperatures) with the addition of the warm furnace of a toddler body. It just might be worth it...

I Love the Rain

2009-05-21T14:34:00.000-07:00

After a couple of weeks of over 100 degree temperatures, we have been shocked to have a couple of rainy days - today has been especailly wet. Hurray! The boys grabbed cups and tried to catch the rain from the gutters and put it into their bucket (a standard car wash type bucket). They have probably dedicated over 3 hours to this task today. First they stood and waited with one cup and then got smart and grabbed a couple of cups and chairs. It's amazing how much energy they can devote to such a monotonous task. And amazing how much I can get done when they are not in the house! Mia thought this was fun for about five minutes and then came in to read. My garden (tomatoes, watermelons, sugar snaps peas, cantaloupe, pole beans, zucchini, and strawberries) is also liking the wonderful rain.

Girls Night Out

2009-05-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

Mia, Nana Carlsen, and I had our first ever "girls night out" while the boys went on the Fathers and Sons campout. While they roughed it, we had french toast sticks at Dennys and painted our nails. We even tried our hand at putting makeup on each other. Mia didn't see the point of eyeshadow and I think we got more blush in our ears than on our cheeks, but we sure had fun!

Mia concentrates on getting as much on the fingers as possible.

Pretty Girls!

Mothers Day

2009-05-15T15:01:00.000-07:00

My big mothers day present was going with a group of friends scrapbooking for two days (Fri&Sat). We pooled money and rented a vacation house and potlucked our meals. I got a ton of pages done and had fun talking with friends (mostly about our kids). I was reminded repeatedly of what a wonderful husband I have when all the other girls were calling home kid instructions to their cluless husbands. I knew that I didn't have to worry (or call) because Don is Mr. Mom! He usually gets much more done at home than I do when I am home with the kids and I even came home to a clean house. Woo-hoo! This is an example of one of the layouts I did. I think I completed 13 layouts that weekend! I should be scrapbooked out but all I can think about is "when can I have another weekend?" :0) This weekend, Don is taking the boys to the Father and Sons campout. More girl time at home!

Crazy Carlsen's Easter

2009-04-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic and busy Easter weekend. We had a fun egg hunt in our newly finished backyard with the Jackmans. Well, not so much finished, as finished for now. We want to add quite a bit of plant life. We have some plans for a few vines along the back wall and of course, the planter boxes in the back corner need to be filled. It will need to wait until next year and our budget has recovered. :0)
Afterward, Brent took some pictures of the kids in their Easter finery. Unfortunately it was the coldest, windiest day in the last few months so the pictures were....interesting. Mia was crying because she was cold. Wyatt couldn't stay still to save his life (I haven't seen so much bounce since I watch Tigger on Winnie the Pooh). And to top it all off, Ryan made every single face but his natural smile. Check it out on his site here. Thanks Brent!

We colored Easter eggs and had the famous Carlsen easter egg roll that involves rolling the finished eggs toward each other on a flat surface and seeing whose egg cracks last. It ended in a draw when Mia and Waytt missed each others eggs totally on the roll and Wyatt returned Mia's egg with a high toss in her direction and Mia dug in her fingers into Wyatts egg for kicks. They were both excited to share first place. We played games all Saturday night with some of Don's co-workers and his family. His parents are visiting for the next four months for his Dad's health (He has really bad allergies that turn to pneumonia in the spring). Oregon's loss is our gain - we have a ton of fun when they are here. We finished up with a huge Easter dinner this evening. I made a homemade carrot cake and let the kids eat waaaayyyy too much sugar. Fun times!

Breakfast Conversation

2009-04-03T07:08:00.000-07:00

The kids were talking over breakfast this morning while I was in the other room and when I heard the conversation, I hurried to the computer as fast as I could.
Ryan: Do you guys wish you were older than me?
Wyatt: Yeah.
Mia: Yeah, I wish I was 16.
Ryan: Well, I am going to be 16 before you are 16.
Mia: I wish I was 16 and I wish I was a mommy.
Wyatt: I wish I was a fish.
Ryan: Who are you going to marry? I am going to marry Sophie.
Mia: I am going to marry Sydney.
Ryan: You can't marry a girl.
Mia: Why not?
Ryan: Because you are a girl!
Mia: Oh, well, then I am going to marry Will (Sophie's younger brother).
Mom: Oh yeah? Why Will?
Mia: Because he kisses me when we are playing mommy and daddy.
(WHAT????!!!!! - though not so worried because he is 2 1/2 and has a severe speech deficit - but we should still nip this in the bud).
Wyatt: I wish I was a fish.

And there you have it....

Backyard Bliss

2009-03-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

We are close to the end of finishing our dirt backyard. A great guy in our ward did the masonry. The brick potato shape is going to be filled with artificial grass (sample in the middle) in a couple of weeks and we are going to spread rock and plant some desert plants this weekend. We are going to fill the corner planters with some decorative plants and the left side long planter with some fruits and veggies. Yeah for less mud in the house!! We also hope to dig down the trampoline to be level with the ground, but I expect that will be a long time coming.

Who are those princesses?

2009-02-13T16:47:00.000-08:00

Emma and Sydney came over and played today. Although Ryan and Emma play fairly well, they are old enough to have started preferring their own gender. The "triplets" love playing though and today had a grand time dressing up in some garage sale costumes. Have I mentioned how much I love garage sales? All of these costumes were a buck each. A BUCK! Anyways, I digress...Their favorite part is making the grand entrance down the stairs and showing off. Mia doesn't really do it much on her own and loves the excitement of being part of a pair (I guess Spiderman doesn't count). They flounced and bounced and giggled. Oh, there is nothing like someone who understands you....

Say What: the Thursday Edition

2009-02-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

Maybe you do know how good you have it....

We were telling Daddy about our day and Mia commented that we had seen one of her primary friends at McDonald's with her grandma and that she was having a little baby sister born today. Don commented, "How fun!" and then jokingly added, "How come you don't have a baby sister?" Mia thought about it and said hesitantly, "Because I'm lucky?"

Frere Jaque

2009-01-25T19:52:00.000-08:00

These pics were taken by Don Saturday morning. Ryan had a rough asthma night. He was up a lot wheezing, not ever really getting the relief he needed. He got up like normal with the rest of the kids but took one small bite of toast and promptly fell asleep at the table. Don didn't quite notice (breakfast at our house is a crazy noise time) until Mia shouted, "Hey look! Ryan is sleeping!" Sure enough. He slept on the couch on and off for the next few hours. It was really funny because he would (seem to) fully wake up to say hi then while you were responding his eyes would roll back in his head and he would be instantly asleep again. I do think he inherited some of his poor mom's narcolepsy. Poor guy was himself again after a few hours sleep and some nebulizer treatments but was heartbroken to have missed his best friend's birthday party.

Say What?

2009-01-14T14:34:00.000-08:00

I know this is an unprecedented two posts in one day, but when you are sick you certainly don't have energy for dishes or laundry, so.....
Last night we were quizzing Ryan on his "opposites". What is the opposite of floor? "Ceiling" How about over? "Under" What about right? "wrong". Then we said "What is the opposite of bottom?" We were very confused when he took a minute to think about it after some of the harder ones we gave him. Then with a deadpan, very earnest expression said "a pee-pee?" After we finished laughing, we approached it a different way. What is the opposite of top? "OOHHHHH, bottom!"

Bleccchhhh....

2009-01-14T05:54:00.000-08:00

Don't you like how I always include the most random pictures in my post? Nothing related to the goings on of today. But you might be glad of that when I tell you that the goings on of this week have mostly to do with copious amounts of vomit. A 12 hour stomach bug that leaves its host pretty darn wrung out. Ryan first, a couple of day delay, then Wyatt yesterday, now Mommy this morning. Don should avoid it by mysteriously being at work whenever vomiting occurs. We are washing our hands until they crack, but it hasn't seemed to help thus far. Don gave the kids a stern warning that I was sick and to be nice. When saying prayers over breakfast this morning, they blessed that Heavenly Father would help them be good for me. I guess it is totally out of their hands! Actually, it is kind of nice now that they are older and have some concept of sympathy and help out quite a bit. Nothing like having to rock a screaming baby while throwing up at the same time - oh yes, I do remember. The kids constantly surprise me with their kindness, understanding and willingness to help. I think when Christ counseled us to be as little children, he meant the 3-5 age range. They certainly love each other and are so close. The picture above was taken on Saturday. This was a dress I bought during Mervyns closeout that I absolutely love. Mia does not. On Friday she said, "Mom you can pick out my clothes today" When I picked this dress, she said "ummm, how about tommorrow?" The next morning when I woke up, she had it on as promised and said, "Mom, you can do my hair if you want." Although I am not great at doing hair, Mia makes it harder by preferring to look homeless most of the time. I curled it and took a picture to remember the time she actually wore what I wanted her to and asked to have her hair done. Enough for now, I am going to concentrate on not vomiting....

Sunday Morning Celebration

2009-01-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

There were many many reasons to celebrate today. The first perhaps being the most momentous. We switched to a 10am church time from 8am and were excited to add this to our days of switching off sleeping in. When Don and I rolled over to the sound of children playing we glanced at the clock. It was well after 8am!! The kids had gotten up as usual (the boys have an alarm clock in their room set to 6:30 - they are not allowed to get out of bed until the alarm rings and then Mia can follow). Then they had gone downstairs, set the table, said prayers, and eaten by themselves!!!! It helps that plastic dishes and cereal are accessible in our new house and that Ryan loves to be the "big kid" in charge of pouring everyone's cereal and milk. Hah! (and everyone asks why we are not in the midst of having another child - evidence right here).
The second is that Mia and Wyatt went to Sunbeams today for the first time. They were so excited. We have a rather large set of kids in our ward (17 brand new active sunbeams today) and we were told repeatedly by many harried primary teachers and leaders that they were the only two who were not crying. What a primary that must have been! 15 crying kids and no toys and snacks. Well, we feel that we had already done our part when Ryan cried for the first three months of his Sunbeam year.
On Wyatt news, we are potty training and are about 80% there. He seems to want to and does a fairly good job keeping dry but seems a little confused when he has accidents. There is going to be major carpet cleaning when this whole thing is done. Arghh. Special Note: Mia has been potty trained for a year...a YEAR.
Well, I have no pics from this week, but I know that I might get flack from my mom if I don't give you something, so here are some completely post-unrelated pics from last month when we were playing by the iron turtles at the neighborhood lake.

A Carlsen Christmas

2008-12-25T11:51:00.000-08:00

So, the Christmas present rush of this morning is over. The kids played upstairs with their "Christmas Eve" toy they had opened the night before until 7am, then we videoed their stocking opening (too bad I have no idea how to post video from our camera). They had a blast and made a mess (as you can see). We had Belgian waffles and chocolate milk and then played all morning. Don's brother Mike came to share Christmas morning with us and revel in all the presents that were sent to us by his Mom because she didn't trust him to wait (good call Mom). This is our first Christmas away from any family at all and even though I am muchly enjoying being in my own house, I had not expected to miss them as much as I have. I guess it is not as much fun being the grownup. We do not miss traveling with a billion bags, living out of suitcases and the general ruckus of a million kids (that is, even one more than we already have currently residing here). We hope (I hope) this Christmas "break" is filled with lots of organizing the garage, planning for scouts (Don and I are the bear den leaders), and maybe a couple more shelves put up. Hope all of your Christmases were great!

Ramblings about Christmas

2008-12-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

Christmas is a funny time. I LOVE the decorations. I love getting out things that I remember from years past. I like the Christmas music in the stores. Lights on houses across the neighborhood. But, I hate the Santa story. I just can't pull it off. I don't remember growing up ever believing in a real Santa Claus. I have a hard time perpetuating the story for my own kids. I am trying (my husband is absolutely insistent on this aspect of Christmas), but I don't like it. I am just not creative and, in addition, a horrible liar. No really-- you can see straight through me. Luckily my oldest is 5 and thinks I know everything magically. Really funny actually - I walk into his room and see a portion of a 1x2 we had left in the garage after making shelves. The board is sticking into the space between his very bent screen and the window frame. I find Ryan and say "Ryan, why did you break your screen?" Ryan, with wonder and apprehension on his face says "How did you know?" There have been many such incidences. Oh, the innocence of not trying to cover your tracks. In all instances, I look at him firmly and say "I know everything, that's why I'm your Mommy." But the Santa thing really stumps me. I have the pat answers for what how Santa will find us, and how he will get in when we don't have a chimney - but it is getting harder. Soon he will notice that I look uncomfortable and pause with a umm...well...mmm, whenever he asks a "Santa" question. And really, well, I don't care that my kids believe in Santa. There is going to come a time when I look at them and say, "Umm, well, yeah, your friends are right. I have been lying to you all these years. Santa is more a symbol than anything. Sorry about that..." Humph - I don't like it. But it is funny seeing the kids sooooo excited to see Santa at Walmart - how can you deny them that?

You don't say....

2008-11-22T12:22:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago Mia was reading through a book given to us by Aunt Denise and Uncle John. Their picture is posted in the back (which the kids love by the way). Mia reached the picture, stared at it and said, "I wish Aunt Denise was my mom. She has pretty lips. I wish you could be married to Uncle John and Denise could be my mom cause she has really pretty lips." What this means is that she was wearing lipstick. Mia is infinitely fond of people who wear lipstick and disgusted with her mother who sometimes does not make it out of sweatpants. She always comes up to my room when I am getting ready looking to "make her lips pretty". I have stashed a lip gloss in my drawer for this purpose. Anyway, know Denise, that you are loved.

Ryan started a conversation asking me, "why do some kids not have parents?" After talking about adoption and orphans, etc. We talked about what would happen if we died and that he would get to go live with Aunt Miranda and his cousins. He screwed up his face and said, "Could I go live with Sophie instead?" Sophie is one of his best friends. I said that Emma would probably be OK with that.

Back into Action

2008-11-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

These photos were taken this morning - the first morning I was back from vacation. The boys had gone "missing". Turns out they had raided the fresh laundry and were out jumping on the trampoline with some major kung-fu action. I don't know if the socks were for warmth (highs are down to the low 80's - this is cold for my kids in the mornings) or for dramatic effect. They were sure having fun. Another note - the fresh clean socks are now sitting outside in the dirt - eight mismatched orphans. Sigh...

Cruisin Along...

2008-11-13T20:50:00.000-08:00

Well, we're back and Gramps is still alive (for the record, we were never worried about the kids). For those out of the loop, we went with some of Don's co-workers on an eight day cruise to the Mexican Riviera (Alcapulco, Ixtapa, Manzanillo). Grandpa Jackman graciously made it all possible by watching the little characters while we were gone. We had a blast on the boat eating, relaxing, eating, and playing...and eating. We went kayaking in the open ocean (my poor sore sore sore arms), snorkeled, and read read read. We took advantage of an unbelievable price. It hard to believe they can make money selling tickets as cheap as they did. They probably counted on us buying a ton of alcoholic drinks and gambling while on the boat. Whooops...
We heard a stat (not actually checked out as fact or anything) that said the diesel engine of the boat used a gallon of gas for every sixty feet moved. Our groups tickets couldn't have got us out of San Diego Bay. Most of the good pictures were taken by other members of our group, but here are a limited few of our own. We had just got a new camera and were too nervous to take it out too much-- wierd, I know. So when we share the photos, we will have more to show. The very well named boat was the refueling vessel at the San Diego Port - fun, huh?

Addicted to Haircuts

2008-10-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, I guess more news about haircuts in our family (we hope to take family pictures soon with Brent...hint, hint). Ryan has three , count THREE, vicious cowlicks so we have to keep his hair pretty short. A sad Ryan with long hair and a happy Ryan after chopping it all off.

Special Unrelated to Haircutting Note: Ryan just came downstairs to ask a question. To understand this question, you need background info. Wyatt and Ryan started sharing a room after this move. They sleep in a bunk with Wyatt (obviously) on the bottom. Wyatt is having a hard time not talking to Ryan (and vice versa, although he denies it) and an especially hard time staying in bed with a companion in the room (which must mean playtime, right?). Ryan is forever coming out of his room with complaints about Wyatt. Well, with that info, here is the question:
Ryan: "Can Wyatt get in trouble if he is not talking and not getting out of his bed?"
Mom and Dad: "What?? What is going on?"
Ryan: "He is not doing anything-- Wyatt just wants to get in trouble"

Huh?

Pumpkin Guts

2008-10-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

So, we attempted, for the first time EVER to carve pumpkins with kids around. It actually wasn't too bad. The kids were utterly grossed out with the idea of putting their hands into the slime inside, but after they were (strongly) encouraged, they got over it. The kids cleaned out their own, designed faces on paper and helped mom and dad hold the carving utensil for the rough parts. They loved pushing the parts that were already cut right out of the pumpkin. Mia had more fun than anything else putting the pieces in and out again and again. You can tell she is my puzzle girl. Mom carved a bat and Dad did a ghost from a template. Really fun - except for the massive amount of pumpkin slime that ended up on the floor....

Oh the PRESSURE!!!!

2008-10-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

So, I've been told by a close maternal figure that I am the ONLY one of my generation not posting regular updates on a centrally accessed Internet site, commonly referred to as a blog. I thought about telling this as-yet-unnamed person that the pressure would be too much and I like keeping you all in suspense, waiting for the littlest morsel of news. Now what am I going to put in my Christmas letter? Or will this absolve me of any responsibility for holiday cards at all? But the pressure finally got to me. So here goes...

We have been in our new house a little under a month. We are still trying to decide where things should go and the master bedroom still has piles and piles of books waiting for a bookshelf. But things are starting to resemble normal and the kids are getting used to stairs.

We decided (OK, mom decided) that Mia's hair was getting too long and since she didn't like combing it (except with food covered fingers), we were going to cut it. Unfortunately we didn't take any "before" pictures, but here is an "After" picture. Don even admits it is cute and he is president of the "women shouldn't cut their hair...ever" club.

Halloweem was also interesting. I bought a 75% off dragon costume after Halloween last year, thinking that since Mia was going to be three -surely she would want to be a princess this year and I could do a cute fairy tale theme. Well, when Mia saw that dragon costume, she decided that this was exactly what she wanted to be. She puts it on herself and walks around "scaring" mom and dad. When we get a frightened look on our faces, she pulls back the hood and says, "Don't worry! There's a pretty girl inside this dragon!" Well, we don't have to work on self esteem issues yet.... We finally convinced her that she was the only one who could be the princess, so she wears the dragon during non-official Halloween functions. The picture above was taken before our ward trunk or treat. Wyatt was trying to get the dragon head up, Ryan is protecting...someone, and Mia is dancing (immediately what she does when a camera is pointed her way these days).

Oh...one more thing that makes me laugh. Mia has adapted the term she has heard Ryan use for his closest friends for her own use. Quite fun to hear, "Mom, did you know that Ryan and Wyatt are my best boys? Yup, they are my very best boys."