Whatcha doin?

I'm sure those of you that don't live close by often find yourself wondering, "What is Tiffani's family doing right now?" Well here's a peek into our current pastimes/obsessions/ways we waste our time:


Brady:

Puzzles. At any given time there are two or more puzzles in various stages of completion on our kitchen island. Now you know how I feel about having a clean island, so this has not been easy for me, but he loves it.

Mark: BYU basketball. We watch pretty much every single game, start to finish. Did you know the Cougars are 20-2 and are currently ranked #10 in the nation? (That will unfortunately change after our heartbreak loss to New Mexico this week.) How many colleges do you know that have a great football and basketball team? Not Boise State, that's for sure!

McKenzie: Food Network. If she's not on the computer or her cell phone (which is currently not working...grrr!), she's watching a competition on Food Network. Her favorite are the elaborate cake designs.

Dallin: Nintendo DS. He's completely obsessed and seems to have it with him at all times except for the 5-6 times a week when he loses it or it gets hidden by his sisters. He also continues to read voraciously. He finished all the Harry Potters in about a month and is now plowing through the Charlie Bone series. He's already received the highest award in the school's reading rewards program, so his teacher says she's gonna have to come up with some new prize for him to work towards. (Sorry for the shameless bragging)

Mallory: Club Penguin. OK, all my kids are obsessed with this online game, but Mallory the most. She lives in Penguinworld (don't know if that's what it's called) more than our own. I had to laugh while visiting teaching yesterday and one friend was saying she limits her kids to 1/2 hour of "screen time" a day. What a great mom! My kids don't know what to do with themselves if they're not sitting in front of a screen. Just one more reason I'll never be nominated mother of the year.

Me: Watching "How I Met Your Mother" on DVD, taking a bath in the middle of the day, drinking Cranberry Sierra Mist (with a lime wedge...pretty close to Sonic's cherry limeade). This is what I do when the kids are in school. Yep, pretty much equates to sitting around eating bonbons. Sorry to rub in the fact that all my kids are in school and I have lots of free time on my hands. I've also been working on organizing my photos from the past two years. Here's two funny ones I found that the kids had taken in the fall of '08 ('cause I know the real reason you check my blog is to see my cute kids.)

Why am I taking a photography class when Brady can stick the camera out and take a self-portrait like this?

So how are you all wasting your time these days?

Saturday Night Stake Dance

Oh to be 14 again! Here's Kenzie and Heather getting ready for the dance: Kenzie pretending she doesn't care what she looks like because boys=ewwww! and Heather doing her best to makeover Kenz (hair straigtened? check, makeup? no way!)

Random Updates

Happy 2010! I know, I'm a little bit late on that one. Nothing too newsworthy to report here, but I thought I'd fill you in on a few things:



1. It's January in Idaho and it's cold. I stay inside most of the time. We have had a few unusually warm days (like high 40's-50's) and I've forced my children to stay outside for hours at a time. Dallin was only wearing a t-shirt and he thought that was fine. If we were in Phx. they would all be begging for coats. It's all relative. We haven't had any snow for a few weeks now and I'm getting tired of the brown grass and bare trees. If it's going to be cold it might as well be pretty and white, right? I'm hoping for an early spring.



2. I've starting scrapbooking again for the first time in 2 years (since I packed up my scraproom to sell the house in Phx.) I'm enjoying it, especially since Mark surprised me with a Cricut machine for Christmas. That thing is awesome!



3. For the next week or so I am the mother of 5 children instead of 4. Kenzie's friend Heather is staying with us while her parents are in Hawaii. She's a wonderful girl and a good friend to Kenz. She's very helpful and polite and easy-going (probably because she's the youngest of 7 kids...love that!) The girls were up late the other night finishing their big "protest project" for English. The issue they were defending? Choosing adoption over abortion. Way to be an "example of the believers", girls!



4. I'm taking a photography class with a few friends. Maybe I shouldn't disclose that because now you'll all be expecting better quality photos on the blog. We'll see. I'm supposed to take a creative self portrait for class on Monday. Any suggestions?



5. My hair is longer than it's been in many years and it really needs a trim. Lindsay, isn't it time for a visit? I miss you and your alleged baby bump (I'll believe it when I see it) and your mad hair-cutting skills.



6. Our new favorite show? "Chuck". We're catching up on the first 2 seasons and DVRing the new one. Thanks for the recommendation Teri! Perfect show for both Mark and me (comedy, romance, action, computer nerds). We're choosing not to watch "24" this year. I've loved you for so long Jack Bauer, but the violence has just gotten to be too much. Can't wait for "Lost" to start, though, but I still don't think I'm going to have any clue about what's going on.

7. I finally saw "New Moon" yesterday for the first time. Funny how I was the first person I knew to read the book and the last to see the movie. It was OK, definitely better than the first, but still a little too cheesy and filled with teenage angst for me. We went with a bunch of ladies to celebrate a friend's birthday and when Jacob took off his shirt for the first time Michelle yelled out "Happy Birthday Marci!" Hilarious.

OK, so now you're all caught up on what's been going on around here. To recap: cold, Cricut, extra kid, better photos, too-long hair, new TV season, shirtless werewolf. Happy January!

Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend. We started by going to the Thurgoods on Christmas Eve where Santa himself made an appearance! Only Dallin was brave enough to sit on his lap:

We enjoyed a delicious dinner and had fun with these good friends.

Then it was time to get home and open one gift from under the tree. The kids hurried off to bed so fast that they didn't even set out cookies for Santa! If only it were that easy every night!

Even without cookies Santa definitely made it down our chimney. Favorite gifts included:

Kenzie: cell phone (finally!)

Mallory: digital camera

Dallin: Nintendo DS (finally!)

Brady: legos and the biggest Nerf gun you've ever seen

We shared a delicious brunch on Christmas morning with our friends the Burks and the Packers. The machine gun was a big hit as everyone ran for cover.

After cleaning up we headed to Shelley to spend the weekend with Mark's family. We enjoyed yummy food, fun games with cousins and precious time with Grandpa. All in all, it was a wonderful holiday for us, filled with family and friends that we love.

Christmas Break at a Glance

Please tell me I'm not the only one with a kitchen counter that looks like this right now. I will say it's a pretty good representation of our life right now, because at any given time you will find:

*a plate of treats from friends or neighbors

*gifts for the kids (these are from primary teachers and secret sisters at church)

*gifts Mark brings home from work (shown here: giant Santa pen and book entitled "What's Your Poo Telling You?")

*two gingerbread houses, made by Kenzie and Brady

*rubber stamps, scissors and paper from a Sunday art project

*the ever-present Legos

*vase left over from roses Mark gave me for our 17th anniversary (should have taken the picture before I threw them away!)

*2 Redbox DVDs ("G-Force" and "Julie and Julia")

*list of books to return to the library this afternoon

*$1 Brady got from the tooth fairy last week

*Christmas cards from friends (one of the best parts of the season!)

*misc. ribbons from gifts unwrapped or to be wrapped

*fuzzy socks (a staple around here in the winter)

*coupons (Amber or Chelsea, they're for Similac, want them?)

*Christmas dish towel (because if there's one thing I've learned from my mother it's that your dish towels must coordinate with the current holiday!)

So that's pretty much our life right now: trying to keep the kids happy, finishing up last minute prepartions and generally enjoying this time of year. What crazy things are on your counter right now?

Regarding Henry....and other winter happenings

Meet Henry, the newest member of the family, born yesterday afternoon while I was snuggled in bed for a Sunday nap. Based on how cold the weather has been I have a feeling he's going to be around for quite a while.

It snowed all day Saturday and through the night to Sunday. It is absolutely gorgeous outside, especially when the sun comes up and goes down and the sky is covered in pink.

Getting the boys out the door to the bus is quite the project. They LOVE the snow!

Dallin had his last basketball game on Saturday and to our surprise they were playing his friend Trevor's team. He and Trevor have been best buds since they were three and played on the same team in Phoenix. We won't talk about the final score of this game, but Dallin did great this year. He scored in almost every game and is learning to use his height to block shots. The "D" on his jersey was an appropriate nickname for his great defensive moves.

We continued our tradition of having a couple's Christmas party. We had about 12 couples from the ward and enjoyed yummy appetizers and fun games (and no, the two men in the top corner are not a "couple" they just really enjoyed guessing how many kisses were in the jar.) Such a fun night!

Santa's Little Helper

Brady has loved getting the house ready for the holidays and wants to help with everything. He wasn't too sure about being up so high on Dad's shoulders, though, as they put the star on top of the tree.

I hate to see my baby growing up. He still lets me snuggle him, but I'm afraid those days are numbered. Last night as I was tucking him in I said, "Goodnight Brady, I love you." He said, "I love you too, Mom. I love you soooo much...you're my one true love." If only those words could last forever!