Little Boys

Little boys come in all shapes and sizes,
Shy and adventurous, full of surprises,
With misshapen halos and mischievous grins,
Small dirty faces, and sweet, sticky chins.

They'll keep you so busy, and yet all the while
Nothing can brighten the world like their smile.
And no greater treasure has brought homes more joy
Than a curious, active, and lovable boy!

Wintertime Blahs!

Boredom is not something I am very familiar with.  However, every winter it seems to creep silently back into my life.  This year it has crept in very early. 

It is nearing the end of the term and most of my classes are working on final projects or reviewing for finals.  In teacherland this is usually a very welcomed thing.  Right now I just can't seem to find anything to entertain myself while my students work. 

Don't get me wrong, I have plenty to do.  I need to make Christmas candy, I have toilets that need cleaned, and Christmas shopping to finish.  None of that can be completed sitting in front of this computer monitor though. 

I won't complain too long about boredom because my mother will tell me to get up and do something for someone and the fact of the matter is, I just dont want to. 

Do you think my boss would mind if I broke out a bunsen burner and started boiling up candy in my classroom?

To Everything There Is A Season

Ahhhh....the infamous Sunday mornings.  At my house, they are usually full of chaos and confusion.  I am counting down the days until our meeting schedule switches to 9am.  I know some of you may think I'm crazy, but the way I see it, if nobody wakes up until 7, and we have to be at church by 9, that cuts Sunday mornings down to two hours.  I can handle two hours. 

I have decided that nobody should have to raise a 17 year old and a 3 year old at the same time.  That is just natures way of being extremely cruel.  If one of them isn't bossing you around, the other one is.  And both of them do it with about the same mentality. 

Bryce and I had to be at the church early.  Our first counselor to the bishop called us and asked if he could meet with us.  I think the Bishop has officially assigned us to him.  I tell Bryce all the time that the bishop doesn't quite know what to think of me.  I'm half Deana, and half John.  For those of you who will know what that means, you know what that means!  I think that he feels I suffer from bipolar disorder.

Anyway, it had been the morning from hell and Bryce and I were bickering on our way into the church.  Anyway, frustration is one emotion that I handle with tears.  So as we get to the office, I am bawling my eyes out and feeling like quite the idiot. 

So after ten minutes of making sure I'm not having a complete meltdown, the first counselor begins to talk to Bryce and I about a calling.  To make a long story short, by the time we were done, he never even asked us to serve.  I think he could tell that I was officially MAXED OUT! 

The moral of the story?  Maybe I'll play the lunatic card more often!

Baby It's Cold Outside

I left my home this morning at 4:55a.m.  If that wasn't punishment enough, I was on my way to the gym (insert groan here).  Still, that wasn't the worst part.  As I drove by the bank on my way, I noticed the flashing billboard reminding me that I was awake at a time that I didn't know existed with an A and an M behind it.  Still, it got worse.  4 degrees.  I mean really, can that even be considered a temperature?

After my obscene workout at an obscene time of day, I finally made it to work and was sorting through some pictures when I ran across this torture:

These are my fabulous friends wasting the day away last March in the Mexican Riviera.  I couldn't bear to experience my pain alone so I sent them all  a copy.  The subject line said,  "What are you doing today?"  The body of the message read:  "Whatever it is, it's not this." 

The worst part is....there is no trip planned for this year.  Twist my arm guys....twist my arm!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

You have not experienced Disneyland until you have gone with Grandpa John! A three year old? No problem. Hold 'em tight on Space Mountain. And that's exactly what we did. By the way, the 40" height rule can be bent if you are 38 1/2".

We spent fall break in Disneyland with Grandma and Grandpa and had a blast.  It was Payton's first trip on an airplane and she loved it!

The first day we arrived it was a little bit rainy.  On the Disney website it said, "If it rains while you are in Disneyland, consider yourself lucky."  We loved our rainy day.  There was nobody there and it doesn't really rain in California.  It's more of a mist.

Occasionally Grandpa let us go on some of the little kid rides.  Grandma and Payton are now officially space rangers.

Grandma and I just about got kicked off of Main Street USA for running, but Payton was FIRST in line to meet the princesses.  If you want a heads up on how to make this happen, let me know. We were successful!

The boys loved California Adventures.  We "Soared over California" several times.

No trip to Disneyland is complete without the family picture with Mickey.

So much to blog about.....so little blogging!

Okay, so obviously school started. My goal was to update our blog as soon as I got caught up at work. Well guess what? I'm still not caught up but I thought I'd update anyway. Fall has been crazy at our house as usual. Although it is my favorite season, it also seems to be the busiest. We love football and have spent many hours at games this year. Corbin played on both the JV and the Varsity teams this year, Bryce coached an 8th grade team, and we had season tickets for BYU. One week I physically attended SIX different games. That doesn't include our beloved Cowboys that we watch on tv. That's a lot of football for one mom. In addition to standing on sidelines, here are some other things we have been doing:

The 4th of July was spent in Idaho with the cousins. We also took the kids to the Tauphus Park Zoo one day.

Corbin sitting on a chicken....not sure why!

Bryce, realizing he is getting old!

Bryce and I celebrated our 5th anniversary in St. George. We went to the Tuachan Theater and saw Annie. I loved it, he survived it.

Before school started, mom and Payton fit in a few more goofing around days.


The annual tradition for Labor Day? Onion Days of course. You can't be a resident of Payson and not attend Onion Days.

Grandma Deana has even gotten in on the Onion Days tradition for the last three years!

Cameron John got his Aarow of Light award. Way to go buddy!

Fall came and with it the yummy food, colors and activities. We always take the kids to the pumpkin patch in Santaquin.

Dad and his girls!

The boys had their pumpkins picked out pretty quickly.

Payton, however...not so fast. So many pumpkins...so little time!

Her biggest challenge was choosing a pumpkin she could carry.

Finally, the perfect pumpkin!

The thing I'm most excited about this fall: Payton started DANCE LESSSONS!!!!!

And Bryce's biggest event: His team went 13-0 for an undefeated season! Go Cowboys!

(Is there any other name for a football team?)

Aaahhh...finally a girl!

Although I have thoroughly enjoyed my boys and all the "boy things" we've done over the years, I decided officially today that every mother needs a girl. Oh yeah, and did I mention...we LOVE SUMMER!