Beiber Fever

Emily got several Justin Beiber Valentine's cards from her friends. Gavin found one and here's the conversation we had:

Gavin: "Mom. Is this Justin Beiber?"

Mom: "Yes. What do you think of him?"

Gavin: "Weird. He looks like a French kid."

Mom: "A French kid? What does a French kid look like?"

Gavin: "Like Justin Beiber."

Duh, Steff. I should have seen that one coming.

OCD?

I would never call myself an obsessive compulsive person, but doesn't everyone have their little quirks?

Take for instance the kitchen cupboards and doors. They are meant to stay CLOSED when not in use, right?

Or maybe the stereo in the car. When flipping through channels, you happen to come across a good song on one of your presets. Doesn't everyone have to push the preset button, even though the radio is already on that particular station?

But the one thing that really gets me is the towels in the bathroom. My rule is, if it's hanging on a towel rack, other than the hand towels, it's for decoration only. NO exceptions. Each member of the family has their own hook with their own towel hanging on the back of the door. Lately, a certain member of our family has struggled with that concept. My towel hangs over my bathrobe, and he has the one on the other hook. It's been that way for 15 years. I have noticed lately when I get out of the shower, my towel is wet. I have tried everything to solve this problem, even going as far as switching hooks. But to no avail. My towel has been wet every morning for the past week.

Last night, Travis came to me and said, "I think you have OCD with the towels." I laughed hysterically. And couldn't stop laughing. And laughing. Because it's true. Is my obsession so obvious to everyone? I asked him why and he said, "Because I have gone through 6 different towels this week already."

I kindly explained to him that I did not care to put the same towel that he used to dry his butt with on my head. And laughed some more. I'm still actually laughing right now.

So, what's a good solution? I guess just change ALL towels right before I shower. Hence, 6 dirty towels every day. Will it work? Time will tell.

One Smart Muffin!

I tried to pull a fast one, but Emily was too smart. The kids LOVE blueberry muffins for breakfast, and we probably eat them twice a week. I was feeling a little thrifty and decided to buy the Jiffy blueberry muffins for around 80¢ a box. After we finished breakfast, Emily asked how much the "other" muffins cost. I told her around $2.50 a box to which she replied, "Oh good. I have enough money to buy some of the yummy muffins."

No more "other" muffins for us. It's tough to pull one over on Emily ;)

Skiing

This is the first winter that I haven't wished away.

I think it's due to my new found love of

SKIING!!!

I have not been skiing in 15 years. I had forgotten how much fun it really is. I took Tyler to Snow Basin on New Year's Day, and he did great! It was so much fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

He did so well, that I decided that Emily could join us the next time we went. I cannot believe the natural talent these kids have!

When we stopped for a lunch break, we ran into one of Emily's best friends. She had lots of fun skiing with her friend for the rest of the day.

We went for a third time this past weekend. They have made so much progress, and we got a TON of skiing in. We were all exhausted by the end of the day.

Hopefully we can make one more skiing trip before the end of the season! Why didn't anyone tell me how much fun I was missing out on? I love it :)

A few cuties from Kate.

Mom: I love you, Kate.

Kate: I love my blankie, Mom.

Kate: I need my sippy cup.

Mom: What do you want in your sippy cup?

Kate: Marshmennows!

That's my kind of girl :)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning is so exciting! I still get just as excited as the kids do, and find it hard to sleep. We told the kids that they had to stay in bed until 6:30, so we got a wake up call promptly at 6:31.

Looks like Santa made it to our house:)

Kate was not super happy about waking up so early, until she saw that her stocking had been filled.

The kids must have been very good this year, as they got most everything on their wish lists plus a few extra surprises!

Emily and Tyler both asked for a DS and spent lots of time playing!

Are you surprised that a Harry Potter wand was on the top of Gavin's list?

Kate was loving ripping the paper off of her presents.

This shirt just screams Tyler!!!

Emily with Kate's Zhu Zhu pet. She liked her sister's better than her own. Oops!

Sing-a-Ma-Jigs for everyone!

Look at the eyes on the kids in these pictures. There is, indeed, something magical about Christmas!

Gavin really wanted Tangled characters. I thought that was such an interesting choice! Come to find out, it was really just the horse that he wanted.

Kate loves her baby.

And Gavin loves his Webkin.

Tyler was really excited and could hardly wait to give his gift to Travis. He worked really hard getting this #1 dad key chain just perfect.

We had a really fun and relaxing day. We had Grandma and Grandpa Paul over for breakfast and spent lots of time playing with toys and games.

After Kate's nap, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Shorty's house for more fun!

Harry Potter made an appearance at the party. Gavin was so excited when Ty and Jess gave him this Harry Potter gear. He is now convinced that he looks EXACTLY like Harry.

Tyler loves to organize his gifts before he has to put them away, and take a picture of them so he will never forget what he got that year.

Gavin thought that was a great idea!

What a fantastic Christmas! We are already counting down to next year!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The kids decorated the tree all by themselves this year. All I did was string the lights. A little cluttered and unorganized, but that's what it's all about :)

Here they are with their favorite cookies that they chose for Santa. Kate missed out on frosting the cookies. She was too tired and went to bed early.

No post is complete without something silly about Gavin. The kids insisted on 8 carrots for the reindeer. Gavin caught Travis eating a carrot, to which he replied, "DAD!!! YOU ATE DIXON'S CARROT!!!!!"

They are all ready and excited for Christmas to come!