Merry Christmas 2009

So this year, I did not even pretend to think that I would get a Christmas card out...way less stressful that way! This post will serve as our "official" holiday greeting.
Besides our sweet little James joining the family, 2009 was a pretty quiet, pleasant year for the Thatchers. So, without further ado, here are the family updates:

James

10 1/2 months. Our little runt...but oh so cute. He's finally just starting to crawl normally, but resorts to the army crawl when he wants to go quickly. He started pulling himself up to a standing position this past week. He seems to be following in his older siblings' footsteps in the sleep department. Nights are still a struggle, we seem to be constantly training and retraining this little guy! We are finally getting somewhere with his eating solids. The past few days he has eaten quite a bit which makes me very happy! He's such a happy, sweet baby and will melt your heart with his big, cheesy grin. We love him to pieces!

Dylan

3 years old. Rambunctious, rough and tumble, 100% boy! Loves anything that shoots, hits, digs, hammers or causes destruction in general or makes load noises. Our little clown (I fear for his future teachers!) He is constantly making us laugh, he says the funniest things. He loves playing make believe with his toys, which is very entertaining if you get an opportunity to listen in! His toys fight and argue a lot...I wonder what this says about his home life! Just yesterday he was playing with our Little People nativity set and I heard him crying and called out to him to find out what was wrong and he said, "I am not crying, it's baby Jesus!" It was so cute and funny! Every family needs a Dylan!

Grace

6 years old. She is our star kindergartner and has had 100% attendance so far this year (an accomplishment not only for her, but for her mom as well! We didn't do so hot with Jesse last year...trips to CA were just too tempting!) She loves school and her wonderful teachers. She loves to read (which makes her mom really happy) and is really good at it. Grace loves her baby brother and is a great helper with him. She is so sweet and happy...except when she's not! She holds her own as the only girl with 3 brothers. Grace brings sweetness to our lives.

Jesse

7 years old (soon to be 8). Jesse is in 2nd grade this year and is an excellent reader and speller. He's our Mr. Smarty Pants. I can't believe how fast he is growing up. We are on the verge of having a big kid! Jesse looks forward to getting baptized and starting scouts next month. He is a great big brother when he is not teasing and tormenting Grace and Dylan! We love our biggest boy!

Danny is keeping busy with work at Intel. He is also enjoying teaching early morning seminary (all except the "early morning" part!) And I am still here trying to be a good mom, wife and contributing member of society! It's definitely a work in progress!

We are looking forward to a fun and relaxing Christmas here at home and welcoming in the new year in California.

We are also mindful of our Savior, whose birth we celebrate at this time of year. How grateful we are for His life and sacrifice on our behalf.

We are so thankful at this time for all of you, our friends and family. You enrich our lives immensely and we love you all. We hope that you have a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years.

I'm still here!

Sorry for the lack of posting! I have 2 excuses...
1. Nothing blogworthy
2. I have been lost in Green Gables, Queens, Redmond, Windy Poplars, Ingleside and Rainbow Valley, but I am back (and missing Anne!) and will have a Christmas post up tomorrow (if all goes well, I am suffering a little writer's block!)
Thanks for sticking with me!

Giving Thanks and Hello Christmas

Grace and I started our Thanksgiving at the Ronald McDonald house helping set up for a Thanksgiving feast. It was a great way to start the day.Then it was home to finish cooking...then to have dinner with our friends the Hatches and Bylunds.Nice pic, eh? But the only one I have of the turkey. Danny and I have started a tradition of brining our turkey. We try a different recipe every year and have met with success...it was really yummy!As usual, I was too busy for many pictures so this is all there is!
Good food and good company...and soooo many blessings for which to be grateful...what more could we ask for?

And as tradition stands, the day after Thanksgiving was our day to welcome the Christmas season.
We're ready for Santa!

Smarty pants Jess

Sunday, on our way home from church, Jesse was telling us about what his class had done for sharing time in Primary. He said that the lesson was on how to make our homes more holy and that he held up a little truck. I asked him what the truck symbolized, completely expecting him to say "What does that mean?" Well, he didn't skip a beat and said "Do you mean what does that represent?" Well, yes that is exactly what I meant! These little people are often a lot smarter than I give them credit. They keep me on my toes, for sure!
BTW- the truck "represented" helping to pick up your toys and sharing them. He then proceeded to tease Grace mercilessly all the way home...Does that help make our home holier???

A lesson in global economics

Jesse and Grace are becoming very aware that everything (or most things) are made in China. They are constantly looking for the labels on all of our products and then enthusiastically proclaiming their origin. They were shocked this morning when they discovered that James' binky was "Made in Germany"! When Grace made this discovery, Jesse had to see it for himself before he would believe it. Anyway, I didn't realize how common this occurrence was in our home until this afternoon. While we were waiting in the car to pick up the big kids from school and listening to the radio, Dylan exclaims: "I know this song...it was Made in China!" It was cause for a good laugh. He says the funniest things! He's catching on. I used to think that Spanish was the language to learn...I think I'm going to have my kids learn Chinese!

**side note: after dropping the kids off at piano, Dylan says "I not going to suck my thumb anymore cause I going to be a big boy." That lasted all of 5 seconds when he recanted with "but I am still a little boy!" and popped his thumb back into his mouth! Funny boy!**

That guy is "sick"?

Yesterday at the park the following exchange took place:

Jesse: That skateboarder is "sick"
Me: He's sick?
J: You know like he has good moves, he rocks, he's wicked!
M: Can't you just say cool?
Has "cool" become outdated? Is "sick" the "bad" of today? I don't like that kind of talk coming out of my kid!I told him that I don't like him talking that way.Am I right to say so?
Or should I just let it be?How do you feel about this topic?

*pics from a beautiful fall afternoon at our neighborhood park. I love the view of the mountains from this park.

I need a plan...

for my life. It is spiraling out of control. The problem is...I'm not a planner. Where do I start? How do I get control before my life is over? Anyone wanna come help me get a life? Or at least a plan for this life that is upon me whether I like it or not?

~~crickets chirping~~

Yeah, that's exactly how I feel!

Along the Turqoise Trail

This past Saturday we decided to take advantage of the 70 degree weather and head outside. We went exploring to a little historic town called Cerrillos. It is on the Turqoise Trail which was the main thoroughfare from Albuquerque to Santa Fe before the interstates were built. Anyway, we were expecting a quaint, charming little town, but it was pretty run down. I could tell that it was a cute little place "back in the day"! There was a really cool place to go hiking that had some old mine shafts from the late 1800's, so we enjoyed our hike. There were quite a few horses and riders that passed us on the trail and every time they did, Dylan had to call out "hello cowboy!" whether they were male or female. It was really cute. We enjoyed the weather and just being outside with our little family.

And we also got to see a Jesus tree...now how many of you can say that!?!

Side by side

Here is a picture of Jesse and James to see the difference in size. I think Jesse is a month or so younger than James in this picture.

9 Months

James is 9 months old!

Stats:
14 lbs 12 oz (still below the 5th percentile) I told him that at this rate, he'll never get to sit in a forward-facing car seat!
26 1/2" long (dropped to the 10th percentile from the 25-50th)

Dr is still a little concerned because now he has dropped in his length percentile. He is still not very interested in eating anything besides nursing. He will snack a bit on things that I am eating, but will not eat a "meal"! He does really like ice cream, though (just like mom!) That would certainly fatten him up! We are being referred to a dietitian...that should be fun!

Besides the eating thing, he is a healthy, happy little guy. He is army-crawling all over the place, (none of my other kids did that and I think it is too cute!) and can get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. Traditional crawling is just around the corner. We are being retrained to keep things off the floor...slowly! He just started sitting up unassisted this last week and cut his second tooth. He has discovered the joy of hearing himself scream, shriek and squeal and does it quite a bit. He also loves to say dadadada! Why is it never mamamama? The kids still pretty much adore him although they are not too happy with him when he chews up their things that they leave on the floor. They get upset with him and I remind them that it is their own fault for leaving it on the floor. They are learning! We just love our little James!
Just one more pic:

Starting him early! (Just in case you are concerned, he just loves the bottles...honest!)

Halloween 2009

Let the festivities begin...

Wednesday night dressed up for the Trunk or Treat:Carving Jack o'Lanterns:The kids loved pulling out the guts! Better them than me! The kids each designed their own pumpkins (Dylan had help from his own designer aka: Jesse) and Danny did the cutting. The finished product:Notice how Grace's has eyelashes. Jesse went for the traditional look. Jesse helped Dylan by drawing different shapes and letting him pick which ones he wanted. I just love it when they get along...I have to cherish it...it doesn't happen often enough!

We had our friends the Hatches and the Tates over for trick or treating and fun. The Motley crew!Halloween down...Bring on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years!

Random side note:
I was out doing some shopping Saturday morning and came home to find Jesse pulling James around in a laundry basket while Danny was in the shower. He had a jump rope tied around the basket and he kept walking around and when I asked him why, he said that if he stopped James would wake up and cry...it was so cute.What a good brother! And what a sweet baby!

A jog-a-thon and an exciting day in the neighborhood!

The kids had a jog-a-thon fundraiser at their school where they had to run around their field for a half hour and see how many laps they made. I was impressed with both Jesse and Grace. Each lap was a 1/4 mile. Grace ran 6 laps and Jess ran 8...definitely more than I could do. Good job kids.Dylan also "unofficially" ran about 10+ laps. The different grades ran at different times and we were there all day helping pass out water and marking laps, so he ran with every group that came through and enjoyed spraying them with water.Sadly, I did not get any pictures of Jess, I was too busy marking laps as the kids ran by...Bad mommy! The kids had a great time and were able to feel like they were helping raise money for their field trips and such. Fun times.

We have a usually very (extremely) quiet neighborhood. We have been here for a few months now and rarely see anyone about. Apparently, all you need is a good sink hole to get the neighbors to come out of their houses.This happened on the street below us where the kids' bus stop is. We enjoyed watching the digger and men as they went about their work. I'm sure they loved having all these grown ups and kids running around while they were trying to repair the pipe! After this excitement was over we headed back up to our house and was met by this...A couple of firetrucks and police cars in front of our next door neighbor's house. Apparently our elderly neighbor, Gary, had passed away in his sleep. We spoke to his brother and he had been struggling with heart problems for quite a while. We had only spoke to him a few times since living here, but the kids felt sad for him. I'm just glad that we know that he is no longer suffering.

And now we have gone back to the quiet.

Uh Oh!

Here comes trouble!


Yes, he is now mobile! Can't sit up, but is scootin' all over the place. Ain't he cute?

Pumpkins, some funny shaped balloons and a two wheeler!

Now how's that for a title? I know you are antsy with anticipation, so off we goooo!

Grace had a field trip to the pumpkin patch...fun was had by all!On the last few days of Balloon Fiesta, they have what they call the special shapes rodeo (and at night they call it the glowdeo where all the balloons stay grounded, but they inflate and glow from the fire) Friday was the first day of the rodeo and this is what graced our skies.We saw Nemo, the Energizer Bunny, Darth Vader and many more. We were even able to catch up with the sun.Yes, we were all in our jammies, we just jumped in the car, not intending to get out, when we saw Sunny Boy here landing next to Walmart. We just couldn't resist the photo op. However, as I was getting out of the car to take the pics, I remembered that I had a big hole in my pajama pants...Luckily I had a sweatshirt that I tied around my waist.
Balloon Fiesta ended on Sunday and we sure miss all the balloons flying overhead.

Friday night, Grace finally braved the two wheeler and is now off and running.I took her training wheels off last week to put on Dylan's little bike. She was a little upset, but being the mean mom that I am, I told her that she was too old to ride a bike with training wheels (and I didn't want to go buy some new ones for Dyl!) We tried to get her to ride it for a few days, but she would just cry for her training wheels. Finally on Friday we got her to try it. She was a little afraid at first (which is unusual because she is not my scaredy cat) but then she took right off. She asks all the time now if she can go practice...I think she needs a bigger bike!

Housekeeping Habits

Do you have certain days that you clean certain rooms or do certain tasks? Or do you clean on an "as needed" basis? How does that work for you? Tell me about your housekeeping routines...I need all the help I can get!

We love Balloon Fiesta!

To kick off balloon fiesta week they do a lift off at the elementary schools all over town. So, we got up early Friday morning to head over to the kids' school to see the balloons inflate and launch. It is really so much fun to see.

And then on Sunday morning we woke up to this amazing sight...

Balloons filled the sky and flew over our house. It was really a spectacular view that we had, the pictures don't do it justice. We even jumped in the car to see some of the balloons landing just a ways up from our house. How much fun.
The balloons were up again this morning and will continue until next Sunday. This is definitely one of the best parts of living here!

Eight Months

Our little James is 8 months old...where has the time gone??? He cut his first tooth this morning and we had a weight check on him. He is now 14.6 lbs (3rd percentile) Still our little runt, but cute as he can be. Our little dairy-free experiment did not garner any noticeable difference, he is still growing at the same rate, so I am back to a normal diet...yippee! He didn't gain, I didn't lose, so I celebrated with a slice of Costco pizza after his appointment...Yum!
At 8 months old, he is rolling, scooting a little, but not sitting up unassisted just yet. He seems to be following in Jesse's footsteps in this regard as well, so I am expecting it to be any time soon. He is sleeping through the night (most of the time) and is just such a little joy to have around. We love our little Jamesy-bug.

Did ya miss me?

So, I was gone for a little while because I got a nasty virus on my computer. Luckily our EQ president is a computer guy and was able to fix it...real cheap, too, a dozen cookies and we were good to go! Everyone needs a computer friend...and a doctor, a mechanic would be nice, a lawyer might come in handy...but I digress! So what have the Thatchers been up to?

*Grace found this lovely thing in her bathroom last week:Hands down the most disgusting thing that I have ever found in my house and had to kill. Yes, that is a quarter next to it. Danny was not home, so I got to do the honors. I put on one of his big shoes to do it, because I was sure that my little flip flop would not cut it. I was right! Even with his shoe on, I could feel it. My skin still crawls to this day just thinking about it. Yuck!

*We went for a fun morning walk along the bosque. It is so fun to have this trail just minutes (seconds really) from our doorstep. We walked farther than we had previously and found a beautiful wooded area. It was such a beautiful morning.*Dylan the photographer! Who could blame him, with such a cute little subject, he just couldn't help himself! I just wish he hadn't got a nice picture of my messy house!

Finally...we had another birthday, a happy one we know!
Our little Goose turned 6. We love our little princess and hope that she had a fun and special day.

Drastic times call for drastic measures!

Goodbye TV! We love you, but it is time for a little time-out. The problem is that we love you a little too much. Our lives somewhat revolved around your schedule, our family room was situated to make you the center of attention and we just spent a little too much time in your company. I know that it is season premiere week, but if not now, when? It will never be a "good time". You will be safe in the garage, all wrapped up and cozy in your moving blanket, until such a time when we decide that you can come back in with more limitations or determine to find you a new home because we can, in fact, truly live without you. The kids are going to miss you the most. Dylan cried as I took you outside and Jesse and Grace will be surprised to find you gone when they return from school. There will most assuredly be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth! I'm not quite sure what Danny's reaction will be! But it really is better this way. This family lacks the discipline that we need to not let you run our lives...so we bid you adieu for a time. Maybe we will see you again someday...or maybe not!

My new favorite thing!

BeforeNothing special!

After

A little closer look

I made that all by myself! I just saw one in a magazine that they were selling for $775 and mine was free. I already had the mirror, I picked up the driftwood at the beach and I already had the glue sticks! But, I figured if I had started from scratch it would have cost less than $35 maybe even less if you found a good, cheap mirror at DI or something. I have carried around the driftwood for about 2 years wanting to do this project and it is finally done! I love the way it turned out.
Thanks for letting me share my project frenzy with you guys! I think that I am done for a little while...maybe!

PS...I'm sorry that I seem to be bragging a little lately, I just never thought that I could do anything like this before, so I never tried, afraid that I would fail. But a couple of years ago, I just got over my fear and just started doing and I am just so pleased (and surprised!) that things are turning out! Thanks again for indulging me!