Thanksgiving 2012

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Lyman crew in Blanding.

Maxon learned how to properly set the table in preschool so he was determined to help by setting the table.  He even pulled up a picture on the phone so he knew where everything went.  That's my little OCD boy, everything in it's proper place.  Love that boy!

Here is some of the deliciousness of the day!  One of the 2 turkeys, Kera's homemade stuffing, my sweet potato casserole, and the traditional dried corn.

And the most important part of the meal... the dessert table.  In true Lyman tradition, there was plenty to choose from.  I made a pumpkin cake/cheesecake and a lemon cream cheese pie.

It was so fun to have our first family gathering in mom and dad's newly remodeled house.  The new layout of the kitchen solved the problem of everyone squeezing through the opening between fridge and counter to get food, and the knocked down wall, joining the 2 living rooms into 1 made for a perfectly large enough room for all 32 of us!  Mission complete!

I'm the luckiest girl in the world!  So much to be thankful for!

The greatest surprise in the history of the world

We pulled it off!  The greatest surprise in the history of the world!  My sister, Kristi, has been living in Nicaragua for the past 3 1/2 months with her kids.  My mom went and stayed with them for the last 2.  While she was there, she celebrated her 60th birthday.  My dad started plotting (with a little nudging from me) to remodel her house as a surprise while she was gone.  This is the house that they built in 1980, the house she has walked into everyday for the past 30 something years.  Little did she know that the next time she walked into it, it would look totally different than when she left it.

I can't remember the last time I was so excited for something.  She was to fly home the day before Thanksgiving.  My dad picked her up at the airport and we all waiting anxiously back at her house for the big surprise.  Finally, the red camry pulled into the driveway!  As she opened the door we all yelled surprise; and she definitely was!

This is what she saw as she opened the door!  New wood floors, new carpet, new paint on the walls...

And then the kitchen!  All the cabinets were ripped out and replaced with beautiful new ones.  The layout was also changed to eliminate the annoying little opening that used to be there.  New granite countertops, new sink, new light fixtures...

The living room/family room, that was once separated by a wall, is now open.

Here are a couple before/after pictures.

Planning the whole thing was such a fun process.  I wish I could have been there to see more of the transformation, but unfortunately I live 5 hours away.  I did get to go down for a week in the middle of construction to paint the whole thing.  I was so happy to get the help do this for my mom.  She is the most amazing person you'll ever meet.  The most selfless, giving, loving, easy going person you'll ever meet.  No one deserves to be spoiled more than her.  Love you mom!  Hope you're loving your new house!

Scout's 4 year old interview

A spooktacular birthday for Scout

Scout turned 4 on October 21st, and to celebrate we invited every kid we know (not really, but almost) to a Halloween party!

When the kids got there they were put into groups.  The groups rotated around to different activities (it didn't go quite as smoothly as I'd pictured, but that was kinda to be expected).  They got to paint a pumpkin, play a "toss the rat in a bucket" game where they won prizes, haunted house in the basement and get their faces painted.

Captain America Scout, before and after her face was painted.

The spider cake and eyeball cups

I saw these cute skeletons on pinterest and knew we needed them.  They're brownies with white chocolate pretzels and marshmallows.

The spread

Some of the cute faces at the party

Time for cake and presents

We had around 25 kids total there.  I didn't get the group picture quite fast enough, we are missing Alex and Wyatt

Back row: Livvy holding Arianna, Addi, Oakley, Maxon, Olivia J, Josh, Aleyah, Jake, Kylee
Front row: Drew, Cohen, McCoy, Scout, Kate, Ava, Kamdyn, Owen, Tyler

The kids had a blast, and I was more than exhausted when it was all over!  I may have set the bar a little too high for a 4th birthday, I'm afraid she's going to expect this much effort for every birthday now!  Luckily, she's worth it!  I love that girl, strong will and all!  She keeps me laughing all day long.  She thinks she's 16, which worries me for when she really is!  But hopefully she'll use that strong will for good!  I love you Scouty girl!

Trip to Denver

Last weekend we took a little trip to Denver.... without Denver.  We left him behind to play with his aunt Marilyn and cousins.  Maxon, Scout and Trent and I flew to Denver on Saturday morning.  We got checked into a hotel, then headed to the Rockies game.

The kids weren't too super impressed with the baseball game.  I think they were bored after a few innings.  But it was fun while it lasted.

Oktober fest was going on downtown that night, and somehow we parked right in the middle of it.  Not exactly the kind of place I'd usually take my kids, but whatever.

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast, then swam for a little while.  Then it was time to put our game faces and jerseys on, and head to Invesco field to cheer on the Broncos.  

 This was Scout's first Broncos game, a very important day in her life :)  She did OK.  It was 4 billion degrees when the game started, and she kept telling me she was soaking hot and going to die.  About halfway through the second quarter I decided to take the kids to the indoor section of the club level where there was AC, TV's and couches.  We stayed there until halftime got over then decided to brave the heat again.  To our pleasant surprise, when we got back out to our seats, clouds had rolled in and it was much cooler.  The second half went much better (at least as far as comfort level went.  The game was another story)

The Broncos couldn't pull it off in the end, but we still had fun.

Monday we flew home from Denver, and were all anxious to see our Denver.  Fun times!

Labor Day 2012

This year for Labor Day, we did what we always do :)  We joined the rest of the Lyman crew at the Colorado cabin.  With the increasing numbers in my family, we decided to rent an RV for the weekend to park outside the cabin and sleep in.  It definitely made the 7 hour drive much more bearable!  The kids were in heaven.  Well, except for Denver who was still strapped in his car seat for most of the way.  We left Friday morning and got to the cabin that evening.  After a yummy dinner prepared by Jeremy and Heather, we relaxed and eventually hit the hay.  Saturday morning we all got up and headed to Ouray, about a 2 hour drive, for a dip in the hot springs.  Of course I forgot my camera so I have no pictures to document that :(  After swimming, we got back to the cabin and hung out.  Later that day, Josh heard a chipmunk in a pipe so he ran and tipped the pipe, and with gloves on, tipped the chipmunk into his hands.

He made a little leash and put it on the little guy, but the chipmunk outsmarted it and got away.

After seeing Josh catch the chipmunk, the kids were all determined to catch one on their own.  They all set out making their traps. It was pretty cute listening to them discuss the best way to catch one. They weren't quite as lucky as Josh, but it did keep them busy for quite a while.

Maxon, Oakley, Addi, Livvy, Coy, Cohen, Madi and Scout... the mighty chipmunk hunters

Besides chipmunk hunting, the kids had fun taking 4-wheeler and Razor rides, and riding horses.  Of course I also have to pictures to document that :(  Failure!  Here is one of Denver playing on the 4 wheeler with Lexi.

Scout somehow got a hold of some makeup and beautified herself.  Over and over actually, I think I saw her reapplying about 13 times.  She sure was beautiful!

Denver decided to show off and walk clear across the room a few times.  Until now, he'd only taken a couple steps at a time.

He's still not totally walking.  He can and usually will whenever you tell him to walk somewhere, but still chooses to crawl most of the time.

Other than the lack of sleep, we had a blast.  Denver did not sleep much the first 2 nights, which made for a grouchy little guy and a grouchy mama sometimes.  But we still had a fun!  And despite the lack of pictures, I'd call it a success!

Preschool - Day 1

This year I have 2 preschoolers!  Maxon barely makes the cutoff to start kindergarten, but we decided to hold him and start him next year since he just barely turned 5.  So Maxon and Scout both started preschool a few weeks ago.  They're both going to Learning Dynamics.

They go on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-2:15.  My neighbor's little boy also goes at the same time so we carpool with them and I drop off one week, then we switch off.  Scout's teacher, Mrs. Holmes, is our neighbor and brings them home every day, so it works out nicely!  Scout is also going to The Little Redd Schoolhouse, where Maxon went the past 2 years, and she goes on Mondays and Fridays for a couple hours.  So far so good!  They love it!

My one year old

One year has passed since our sweet little Denver joined the family.  Craziness!

He is the absolute most lovable little guy.  You won't find a 1 year old who gives better hugs.  And he gives them freely.  I always wanted a snuggly little baby and he definitely is.  He also loves to give kisses.  Ummmuh!  For the most part he is a very happy, content little man.  Unfortunately that was not the case the day I took these pictures.  He was not happy about something and screamed almost the entire time.  The shoot did not last long, but at least a got a couple non-screaming cute shots.  He is not walking just yet, but we are working on it.  He has pretty good balance, so he just needs to figure out how great walking is.  I hate crawling, and I especially hate crawling at the cabin (which we are going to in 2 weeks).  So we will have to work on it.  He has 6 little teeth, 4 on top and 2 on bottom.  In the last week he has mastered going up and down the stairs, that's always a happy day when you can take the gate down.  He hasn't been to his 1 year checkup yet, but it's no secret he's a big boy (almost passing up his 3 year old cousin in weight).  *Update- Denver's 1 year stats from his checkup- Weight 24 lbs (60%) & length 31.25 (90%).

We were in Blanding for the county fair on his birthday, so we had a little party for him down there.  We had pizza and cupcakes and balloons, very easy and low key.

Reese's Peanut butter cup cupcakes...mmmmm!

Since Maxon's birthday was the day before we included him in the birthday celebrations.  Denver didn't nap this day and was already grouchy, then grabbing the fire on the candle just made it worse.

He didn't want to go anywhere near the cake so we had to ease him into it by showing him how delicious it was.

He eventually started off slow by shoving his chubby little fingers in...

Then he would pull his hand out, and suck just his thumb off.  Then repeat.

He finally got down and dirty with it and ate until he was content.

What else can I say about my little Denver??  He loves to dance.  Any music he hears (or sometimes no music) he'll start busting a move.  It's pretty much the cutest thing ever.  He loves to laugh and giggle.  He loves to wrestle.  He loves any and all balls.  I could squeeze and kiss him all day long!