the one with the grizzly

i'm still pretty spent from this weekend.  we celebrated a friends birthday at olive garden followed by an evening loaded with all things girls talk about.  when i say all...that's pretty much an understatement.  never ceases to amaze me the amount of ground we can cover in just one evening, course we stayed out talking 'til 3:30, whatevs. it was fun, but i'm still paying for it. ;)


on saturday i watched addison for rachael so she could go to a basketball game with kent and colton.  i would say "we" watched addison, but she would have nothing to do with steve.  we all went to the sportsmans show and when steve would try to get her out of her car seat she would reach for me and say, "mama."  i would try to correct her and tell her to say "aunt liiisa" but she never caught on.  i had to carry her, or be the one to hold her hand. i was mama for the rest of the evening. 

my dad was there volunteering at the fish pond, which was fun having him help the boys while they fished.  after they caught their fish we took them to see the grizzly bear. addison loved it.  she reminds me a lot of graycie.  she's rough and tough, and has such a strong love for animals.  

it was pretty fun having little addy with us...she fit right in and enjoyed keeping up with my boys.  at one point however, we were walking through some of the booths when she spotted a pretty bracelet.  she snatched that sucker up quicker than don leaping over a rocking chair to keep a kid off the carpet with a beverage.  when i asked her to put it back she squeezed her little fist around it so tight and then told me to shove it.  she may have said it with her eyes, but i got the message.  i asked her again, a little more encouraging this time.  at this point she threw it on the floor.  i gave the lady of the booth a little nervous, "hehe." shoulder shrugged and walked away as quickly as possible.  


we picked up aubrey from don and karen's and took them home for the evening.  rachael told me addy hadn't taken a nap so she would probably go to bed early.  HAHA.  she fell asleep on the way home, from about 9:00 to 9:06.  she woke up when i brought her in, changed her diaper and got her in her jammies. i figured since she hadn't napped i could just rock her with her bottle and she'd fall back to sleep.  not so much.  i'm pretty sure rachael's team edward, because her children are vampires.  little renesmee didn't fall asleep 'til 12:15...a mere 15 minutes before the cullens got home.  and aubs didn't fall asleep at all.  i know this may not seem that late to most, but after staying out so late the night before i.was.dragging.  they took there little brood home, that's all she wrote.  lights out. 



trent's a funny character.  he is the sweetest and most mischievous boy i know.  he has a shirt that says, 'i make stuff up, all the time, like right now."  it is him to a t.  for instance, at don and karens a couple of nights ago, sophie came out of the laundry room crying. (this is where the famous candy cupboard is.)  she said that trenton put poison on the cookies.  yup, trent was in there too, and in fact, told her that he poisoned all the cookies.  sweet, right?

we were playing mario bros. last night and trent and i kept dying, he looks over at me and says, "we're pretty crusty, right mom?"  (i knew he meant rusty...but some things are too funny to correct.)


my mom makes the most amazing chocolate covered peanut butter balls.  these are usually a treat enjoyed around the holidays, but given her circumstances she hasn't made them until now.  she sent a plate home with me yesterday and i let the kids have one before bed.  when i told them all to go brush their teeth trenton says, "ahhh, i don't want this taste to go away...it's soooooo good."  


my mom recently got a bill for just her hospital stay alone.  one of many she's received.  this bill was $135,811.26!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that's like more than my house!  gary's response???? "worth every penny." is that not like the sweetest thing ever?  makes me love him even more, even if he does cry when i steal his diet pepsi.

graycie's gay necklace...

no seriously.  at don and karen's the other night, graycie was crafting and creating, as usual.  when i checked on her to see what she was making she showed me this...

uh, in the words of aubrey, "what. the. hell???"  i didn't say that, but i was sure thinking it.  "what is this, graycie?"  "it's a necklace i made for carson, since that's what he calls me."  *big sigh* just another one of her beautiful creations.  the next morning she was going to wear it to school, i quickly stated...i thought that was for carson.  oh yeah, she said.  crisis averted.  

karen put together a bunch of pictures of steve and i's reception, bridal shower, and a few other things.  looking through it was outrageous.  when did we ever look like that?  what were we thinking about in those pre-kid days?  why did i look russian?  steve so kindly points out that i've gotten better looking with age.  it's crazy to look back on 11 years ago.  i got sentimental for a moment when i was looking at all of those moments passed, then looked up at steve...seeing the gray in his hair and the maturity in his face and said, "we're growing old together."  though it made me happy...it kinda freaks me out. 

amy introduced me to the song, 'cigarettes and chocolate milk' by rufus wainwright....i'm obsessed.  seriously, i've listened to that song like 200 times in the past two days.  i feel like a teenager again, locked in my room listening to ace of bases' i saw the sign.'  on repeat.   

i took preschool pictures for tyson's class.  i was super nervous.  i kinda feel like a poser, pretending to be a photographer.  i did it simply because mrs. kristen asked me to. i think the pictures turned out okay.  course me and amy were pretty biased about who the cutest kids in class were...

the one with mlk

so i was fixin' to have some super mario time with the kids and told trenton to get it all set up while i finished cleaning the kitchen.  i finished up and was all ready to get our game on.  i walk over to the rocking chair (me, trent, and ty all sit together here while we play) and tell trent scootch over let's play.  he tells me, "hang on, i have to finish this."  finish what??? i look at the tv and realize he was hard at work making a very accurate martin luther king mii.  he had his scholastic hand out from school and decided the perfect way to honor MLK would be to make a mii.  

graycie drew me a picture the other day.  i looked at the picture and say, "how nice."  i looked at the bottom and asked, "is that an airplane?"  she says, "yeah, it's crashing into the twin towers."  uh, er....silence....then she continues, "but the robot is saving the day."  phew.  i didn't quite know how to react to her beautiful picture.  

this other one trenton drew.  pretty much just me and a tent.  i love it.  the end. 

 church yesterday was so amazing.  feeling the spirit and being uplifted was so what i needed after the week i'd had.  *cough, choke* wait...riiight, that's not how it happened.  yeah, it went a little something like this;

we blew in from outside and brought the chaos of that wind with us.  we were late for sacrament (gasp), which is such a shame, because as we were getting ready steve was telling tyson to hurry up.  tyson says, "so we can eat the bread, wight dad?"  yes, steve says.  "good" says tyson.  "i'm weally hungwy." 

we make our way to the very back row of the overflow.  those seats might as well have our names on them.  "reserved for the freakin' landoni's." and then in fine print it could read, "if you came to church to hear the talks...sit somewhere else." so trenton made it his mission to make the girl in front of us laugh.  mission accomplished.  trenton spent the rest of the time sitting on the floor facing me with his arms and legs folded, problem solved.  tyson couldn't keep his hands off of easton, so we rearranged to keep tyson isolated.  graycie decided to get some coloring supplies out of our handy dandy church bag. (the backpack theme song comes to mind when i think of this bag...seriously anything that you might need...).  but instead of asking nicely to hand her the bag, she figured it was probably easier to climb over two full sized people.  i disagreed, and asked her to get back in her seat.  oh, you didn't hear me???  let me say that again while shooting lightning bolts out of my eyes.  GET BACK IN YOUR SEAT! (said in the most intimidating whisper i could muster.)  uh, did you NOT see those lightning bolts????  let me add some daggers.  there we go.  so back in her seat she went.  as she continued to reach for the bag, i asked her kindly to put her hands in her lap.  she then preceded to hold her arms out in the air in front of her as to blatantly defy my request.  if the wind weren't bad enough, we had our own personal landoni storm going on in the back row of church.  at one point, i look over at steve with the stinkiest of stank faces and said, "i am NOT feeling the spirit." there you go...a typical sunday.  

(it's a pretty random picture...but i've always loved the boats at newport.)

 

it's all about tyson...

tyson is awesome.  he makes me laugh.  he's my last baby and i can not believe how big he's getting.  there are a few baby esque things that he still does that i think i will cry myself to sleep on my huge pilla (i have a big head) when he stops doing.  like when he stops running his little fingers through my hair when i pick him up, or when he's sitting by me.  or when he asks me about tomorrow, and not "when it's good morning."  seriously melts my heart every time he asks me, "mom, when it's good morning, can i wear my batman shirt?"  cutest thing ever.

when we go to my mom's house, he immediately asks for some gushas, and to play the wii.  his game of choice? wesowts-da-dowts.  (that would be wii sports resort.)  close, yes? (i asked tyson to say wii sports resort nice and slow for me...see if you can catch it.)

steve took him to get his hair cut yesterday and he pulled a colton.  he refused to get his hair cut.  so steve pulled a rachael, and told him they weren't leaving until he got his hair cut, even if they had to wait til all the other customers left. after they were the only ones in the shop, steve held him while they cut his hair.  yes they.  one to hold his ears as to not cut them off, and one to cut his hair.  today i asked him if he liked his haircut.  he says, "yes, but i look bald."

tyson and jett are best friends.  seriously the cutest relationship ever.  when he is upset and crying about something, he can always be seen petting jett while he cries.  when he watches tv, he calls the dogs to wherever he's sitting so he can pet them, or lay by them.  the other night, tyson fell asleep on the couch.  jett walked over to him and gave him a big ol' lick on the cheek.  jett loves him too. jett had a tumor removed on the 31rst of december.  it came back as cancer,  but they got it all out.  he just had a test done on wednesday to see if it had spread or not.  results say...CANCER FREE!!!!!  i loved listening to tyson's prayers, always asking Heavenly Father to make jett all better, and that he will be okay.  seriously best friends, these two.  

 

his other best friend.  seriously never known two kids who had more fun wrestling than these two.

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in primary yesterday they were talking about the scriptures and how we should hold fast to them.  trenton was asked what it means to 'hold fast' his reply, "to hang on tight before someone else takes it."


there is a picture of steve that looks so much like easton...it's scary.  in fact, i convinced all of my kids that it was, including easton.  

 

i have been playing super mario bros. way too much lately.  we have two remotes and i make the kids take turns with one, while i keep mine as we play.  all in the name of advancing.  my kids don't mind.  and i'm teaching them a very valuable lesson.  when you grow up...you don't have to take turns.  i'm a little embarrassed to admit how much i scream when we play.  the kids think it's funny and we all get pretty worked up when we die at the castle for the gazillionth time.  whatevs.

i laughed pretty hard at one of rachael's 700 posts when she was talking about us taking pictures of the sea lions playing in the waves.  i was expecting to see a picture of, well you know...sea lions playing in the waves.  so when i scrolled down and saw the specs she called heads, i LOLed.  i understand her proudness, she did birth them afterall. i wanted so badly to post a picture in the comment section, but since i couldn't, i figured i would post one here instead.  

 

so just to clarify, i don't think my pic is the shiz or anything...but it caught at least a fraction of what we saw. and i am not knocking rachael's skills as a photographer...AT ALL.  i was just expecting to see something a little different.  it was the coolest thing to see them playing and surfing like that.  

i am a changed woman.  i laughed at pain.  this is the complete opposite of how i used to be.  i guess it was just a matter of time, before these freakin' landoni's changed me.  i get it now.  last night i was in the kitchen and heard steve cry out in agony, followed by a united frenzy of laughter from the little landoni's.  i rushed back to our bedroom to find out steve had rolled his ankle and was now rolling back and forth on our bed moaning and yelling at the kids to get out.  i'm pretty sure they didn't hear...they were too busy pointing and laughing.  i looked back at steve and as i saw his butt in the air, wagging from side to side as he made noises that can only be compared to a baby rhino crying for it's mothers...i got it.  in that moment i changed.  the uncontrollable laughter filled my belly, and i believe i will never be the same.

"LA-HOOOOOOO!!!!!"

every time tyson doesn't have preschool and we drop the older three off, he immediately asks to go somewhere.  the range isn't too broad, rachael's, gramma PJ's, gramma lando's or amy's.  most of the time i tell him no.  sometimes he'll tell me, "but i have no one to play with."  i told him that i would play with him, his reply, "no...i wanna play with a REAL kid."

on wednesday we're driving home from dropping the kids off, and our conversation was a little different than usual.  it went a little something like this;

t-    mom, can we go to rachael's?
m-  no, not today
t-    why not?
m-  cause i wanna go home
t-    but, (long pause) rachael's reeeeaaaally my mom
m-  whaaat?
t-    yeah, cause we're the same age
m-  oh really???  rachael's 30, you know.
t-    rachael's 30?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!  *gaaaaassssp* (you know when you suck in a bunch of air as noisy as you can? yeah, it went a little something like that.)
end of conversation.

speaking of tae kwon do...easton broke a board last night!  it was pretty awesome to see the look on his face right after he did it.  a combination of shock, like he couldn't believe he just did that, and a generous dose of confidence.  it was literally like i watched a boost of confidence materialize before my eyes.  pretty awesome moment.  i sense this will be a good sport for him to be involved with.  to watch him do his punches and kicks while shouting is hysterical...he gets so into it.  i will be sure to bring my camera and post some pics soon. 

you know when kids get lyrics wrong???  example; michael jackson's 'smooth criminal' and 'billie jean' can be heard being sung by graycie as 'eddie are you okay, are you okay eddie?' and 'cheetah cheetah, is not my lover' nothing funnier, right? well, except maybe when your husband sings the lyrics wrong.  the song 'naive' by the kooks goes, "i know, she knows that i'm not fond of askin'" but steve sang it the other day like this; "i know, she knows that i'm not from navaskin"  i looked at him and just started laughing.  classic.  he tells me now, that i know, he's not from navaskin all the time. 


here are some photos i adore...............



the kids' great GREAT aunt jay.  she would always stroke their cheeks and say an italian nursery rhyme called mishula (sp?).  i loved this lady and think of her often.

one day...

one day, my kids won't care if buzz is on their cup, or spiderman is on their bowl...until then i'll enjoy every bloomin' second of it.  like when they fight over who gets the baseball mitt bowl (speaking of which, i haven't seen in a while) , or when they complain, "i had to have the puppy bowl last time" yep...i'm soakin it up.  it has been peaceful though lately, as they are currently enjoying their new plate sets from Christmas.  although it gets annoying at times to listen to the kids argue over who gets what plate or bowl, i have to appreciate the simplicity of their lives.  after all, in the blink of an eye...right?

 What is he devouring?  Gramma Lando's enchiladas.  We took a couple home after Sunday's dinner.  He is a big fan...to say the least.  Notice the licking of the plate, yeah...i didn't even have to run it through the dishwasher. 



You hear that???

my house is quiet.  it's just me and tyson...and you know what?  he has no one to fight with.  the other three are back to school.  needless to say, they were thrilled...

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go get 'em kids!!!

Resolution?

Resolutions? Yeah, not really my thing.  I hate failure, and let's face it...resolutions are the perfect set up for failure.  But I just read Rachaels new post...and I gotta say, I'm inspired.  It's true, this year has passed with so many amazing and wonderful things that have happened and it's a shame that my blog has little to show for it.  The whole reason I started bloginatin in the first place was to journal and eventually publish this shiz to have forever.  So although I am not a fan of resolutions, of any kind, I figured I might just have to make this one exception.  I am not as ambitious however, as Rach is to blog every day...good luck with that.  But, to blog more often seems more attainable to me.  So there it is, my official resolution; to blog "more often." (I refuse to specify what that means)

Here are a few things from 2010 to get this back up to date...well, somewhat. 

 *Steve has become more involved in Krush hitting camps.  He plans on growing with the company in hopes of eventually doing this as a full time gig.  He also, had his first year as the Chiawana Riverhawks JV baseball coach.  Holla

 *Trenton graduated pre-school...for reals, and is having an awesome year in kindergarten.

 *Another fantastic season of sports.  Easton is still passionate about baseball and taking advantage of having Steve as a full time coach at his side. 

 *Graycie dominated as goalie this year in soccer.  She has such a competitive edge, and it is fun to watch her grow in this sport. (until she can play volleyball, that is)

 *Trenton started playing teeball for the first time.  And as boring as this 'so called' sport is, he kept me entertained with his frequent posing for the camera and "water breaks"  (this usually meant he wanted to see if Gramma brought any snacks)

*Easton turned 10! Graycie turned 8! Trenton turned 6! and Tyson turned 4!

*Steve and his buddy coached a tournament team that took us on an awesome trip to Seattle. 

 *We (Me, Steve, Kimmie, Easton, and Tyson) went to a Mariners game.

 *Nothing like being at a ball park. Nowhere else would I pay 6 bucks for a bottle of water.

 *We went to Eugene to an Oregon Ducks game.  "OOOOOOOOOOOOHHH"

 *Steve took me to Safeco for Mothers day. :) Easton got to bring his friend Tra for his birthday too.  We ate at the Cheesecake factory...my first time.  (won't be my last)

                                     
 *Another AMAZING family vacation to the coast.  Something we look forward to every year.  This vacation never disappoints.  Is it June yet???

*We had an awesome camping trip to Lake Roosevelt with the Reids.  We swam, tubed, played games, hiked, roasted marshmallows, boated, and chilled around the campfire.  A perfect camping trip.  Oh, and I took some senior pictures for Makenzie.  (Did a little trespassing, but got some awesome shots.)

*One of the senior pics.

 I got to experience Pike Place Market...for the first time.  I loved everything about it.  Next time I would like to experience it sometime other than SeaFair.  It was so packed, which made it hard to truly experience it with four kids. 

*Steve and his Mom were more than impressed with the size of the pots.

 *We survived another year at the Halloween store.  Holy crap, the things we do for Christmas money.

*Graycie got baptized!!!!  A long time coming, but it finally happened, and it couldn't have been more beautiful.



I can say without hesitation that the most AMAZING event that took place in 2010 was my Mom surviving a brain aneurysm.  Yep, that's right...she's a rockstar!!!  She shocked everyone (including her neurosurgeon) at how quickly she recovered from this.  I believe she has a super healing power of some sort...in fact, I'm sure of it.  No one, recovers like she did...no.one.  Talk about 'count your blessings' I am so grateful and relieved that things worked out the way the did.  I have a renewed faith in the power of prayer and priesthood blessings. 

2010 definitely gave us a ride...one I won't be waiting in line to ride again.  Onto the next I say, onto the next. 

New Traditions...

Rachael had told me about these "magic beans" that grow amazing and wonderful things.  I thought this would make a great Easter Eve activity, so I searched high and low to find somewhere to buy these elusive "magic beans."  It wasn't until Steve and I were out getting a few last minute Easter items that we stumbled upon a merchant who happened to be selling them!  There were four in a bag and for only $5.00!!!  I was elated! 

We got home and told the kids that we bought some magic beans and if we planted them the night before Easter something will grow by the next morning!  So they got out their pots, filled them with soil and planted the little beans. 

They were all very excited and had a ton of fun contemplating what could possibly grow overnight.  The general consensus was a special kind of Easter flower.   What actually grew was.................shocking................

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It was priceless having the kids come running into our room the next morning shouting, "lollipops grew....lollipops grew!!!"  

Easton and Graycie's wheels were sure spinning.  They did a little investigating and found the seed was still in the pot!  Easton said to me, "Mom, did you put those lollipops there? The bean was still in there and it's weird that there were no roots."  After a long pause on my part he continues, "Well maybe it magically opened up and then the lollipop came out and then it closed back up again."  The conversation was left at that.  This kid loves to believe...and I love that he loves to believe.  Graycie just said, "It's kinda weird that the bean is still there." and that was that. 

Regardless of if those magic beans were in fact magical or not didn't matter at all.  Every one of the kids asked if we could do this again next year.  This marks a ginormous success in my book, and so...a new tradition is born.

just a little sap

I've been thinking...a lot lately.  I try not to cause it always leads to...more thinking.  I don't really have time to be all philosophical.  It just takes too much of my day.  However, sometimes I just can't help it. 

One of the things I've been thinking a lot about is emotions.  And the array of them I seem to be feeling lately.  We have been talking in church about agency and opposition.  It is imperative to have both in our lives.  If we did not know dark, we could not know light.  If we did not know sadness, we would not know gladness...and so on.  This is the same with the rest of our emotions...I believe.  Early on in my marriage I struggled...a lot.  Those who know me, know this.  It's no secret that marriage is hard.  I feel bad for those who go into it thinking that making vows to one another equal happy ever after.  The truth of the matter is, it totally can be...but not without working your "ask" off for it (as Tyson would say.)  It's not a given, to say the least. 

But my 'cup half full' outlook is this;  I am okay with having my 'off' days, because it makes my 'on' days that much better.  I feel that when you love someone with everything that you are, it is only natural for that same person to drive you in.sane.  I fight more with Steve than I do any other person in my life, because I love Steve more than any other person in my life (and he leaves dishes in my room.)  The same goes for every one of my children.  Easton, for instance, can push my every button, by doing absolutely nothing at all.  (Mainly when we are trying to get ready school, and he is doing...absolutely nothing at all.)  I have learned so much in the past 10 years.  I've learned how to live with someone, how to fight with someone, how to love someone with everything that I am.  I love Steve more today than I did 10 years ago...not that hard.  But I also love Steve today more than I did 5 years ago...now that's saying something. We're not perfect...I wouldn't want to be, we keep it interesting with our imperfections, for sure.  But the magnitude of love I feel for him I don't believe would be possible without the grueling death matches along the way.  Some may disagree, but for me, this is my belief. 

I could go on and on about how 'in love' I am with my husband, but I am sure Amy and Rachael are already holding back the vomit, so for their sake I am trying to keep this to a minimum.  I talked to Rachael on the phone this morning only an hour ago and was complaining about Steve and some  of the things he's been leaving around the house lately, but then as I sat here on my bed and I got to contemplating, I felt blessed.  My marriage is amazing.  I know, gag right?  I don't care.  I feel like I hold back my feelings, because the norm is to talk about how crappy your marriage is.  I can have those conversations too at times, trust me.  But I feel blessed that I can say that overall my marriage is unbelievable.  That I can honestly say there is no one that I'd rather spend my time with.  I feel like I have the whole package.  Because without the bad, you can't have the good.  So I've taken it all.  I am grateful to be married for time and all eternity, because as I've said to Steve before...that's how long it's gonna take to get this right. 

shampoo shortage

There seems to be a shampoo shortage at our house.....always.  It's not a mystery as to why.  All of my kids love bubble baths and when left unattended use any means possible to create one.  You get the picture.  Santa left these guys each a bottle of shampoo in there stockings.....and we've already had to buy more.  And yes, we're out again!  This time I got some pictures.  The culprit caught.  He was not too happy, however, that I was taking pictures, and not helping him with the de-bubbling process.  All I have to say is, "Well.....that's what you get."

(the pictures were taken after the water had been drained)