Am I Four Today?

The question I've been hearing for many, many weeks. "Mom, am I 4 today?" The day FINALLY came and my kids turned 4 years old. Whew! Made it! And boy did we par-tay. A little too much if you ask me. This year I was feeling grateful I only have one BIG birthday to conquer.
The partying started in Twin Falls at Grandma's house. We had a little pre-birthday-and-thanksgiving party. It was especially fun to have my Grandma Chandler there with us. She is the sweetest ever and always remembers all of her 50 Great-Grandchildren's birthday. Seriously. I want to be like her when I grow up!!!
We also loved having Chan-Man with us. He is hilarious and always makes things more fun. He wanted to show how old he was too.

Classic Chandler face. :)

After Thanksgiving we headed back to Boise in time to catch the Polar Express!!! The boys have been saving their pennies and filled their piggy banks in hopes to buy their train tickets. Between the two of them they saved $25.00. Not bad, eh?! They were out-of-control excited to get on that train!

It left out of Horseshoe Bend and went over the river and through the woods...to Santa's North Pole we go! Literally. The ride was so beautiful.

This picture is of Carson as we were waiting in line to talk with Santa. His latest favorite is to act like "a Fred Meyer guy" or "a McDonald's guy." He was ready and waiting to take everyone's order.


They each told Santa that they wanted a train for Christmas. And they aren't referring to a wooden Thomas the Train. They want an actual train. "A big one Mom." Santa may not pull through this year. :)
And of course...what's a fun trip without some tears. Too much of a good thing isn't always a good thing. That's what having kids has taught me. Having fun is fun...but having order and rules and sleep is also...fun!

And now the actual BIRTHDAY.

We now have a horse...thanks to the Scout Auction. I'm trying to be happy about. :) No...he's darling. He's just big. Our house doesn't do BIG very well. He might be a temporary family member. Craigslist just might be calling his name. No really though. He made the birthday so, so fun. He was such a great surprise for the boys. We got him for a good price and for a good cause. He just better behave or he's gettin' the boot.
My sweet friend Stephanie was the cherry on top. She has got major cake skills and was kind to make a cake for the boys...yet again. Carson wanted a puppy cake and Cade wanted every cake on the planet and then would change his mind and want something different. He finally settled on a firetruck and then she added two Dalmatian puppies (complete with little hats). Perfect. Both boys were satisfied.
We ended their big day with close friends & family. Cute little Emery...one of our bestest friends. It. Was. Crazy! But we did it. Carson and Cade felt special and loved...and the Mom is alive and well enough to blog about it!

I can't tell you enough how grateful I am for my 2 sons. They are our little miracles. I read a beautiful article in this month's Ensign by President Henry B. Eyring entitled "The Choice to be Grateful." He shares an experience about having the opportunity to give a blessing to a pre-mature baby. He explains that, "More than giving a blessing, I received the blessing myself of a more grateful heart." He continues, "I gave thanks on the way home for blessings to my children that I could see more clearly were miracles of kindness from God and good people around them." He put to words so much of what I've been feeling..."gratitude for the miracles of kindness from God." My boys are exactly that. Though I am not a perfect Mother, and quite honestly...struggle in my role, I try to be grateful everyday for the two miracles in my life. They are full of light and help me everyday to become better...the person I truly want to be.
I love them to the moon and back.

A Little More Thanksgiving

These 3 had a great Thanksgiving just by being together. And it was even better as they ate Peanut Butter and Jelly with Jello for their grand Thanksgiving meal!

My mother has a gift for making things beautiful. There is always a wonderful atmosphere and feeling in her home. This might be what I love the very most about going home. Thanks to her, we had a lovely meal.

Not complete without a picture like this!
After we were nice and full, we headed to the canyon rim trail for a brisk walk. To no surprise, my Dad turned it into a big event complete with competition and LOTS of rules and regulations and a prize. We had a speed-walking race. It was awesome. And we all learned some new things about one another. We learned that Brittany has mad speed-walking skills and should go pro...and that she has quite the competitive spirit. We learned that Chandler loves to run and that Cade loves to take his time and stop to smell the roses...or throw rocks. We learned that Wynn will do whatever it takes to win, even stretching the rules a bit (aka cheating!). We learned that Lauren likes to bask in the wind and take glorious pictures, and we learned that my Dad doesn't have a competitive bone in his body and doesn't have a future in speed-walking!
Dad and Cade bringing up the rear!!!

And they made it!!! Aside from Wynn's sneaky moves, Brittany and Lauren came to the finish line with a pretty close tie. Unfortunately, we had to hit the road before the award ceremonies. I'm sure it was....long with debate :)!!!
Thanksgiving was wonderful this year. I had the opportunity to sing with the Hymns of Thanksgiving. It was such a blessing and made my Thanksgiving much more meaningful. I am grateful for so many things, music being close the top of the list.
Our conversation around the table was tender and wonderful. Reflecting with my family about all that the Lord has blessed us with reminded me of the amazing family I've been given. I can't express enough how wonderful they are and how grateful I am that they are mine.

Now...let the birthday festivities commence!!!

Thanksgiving Girl-i-ness (yes...it's a word!)

Something happens inside of me when I get with my sisters. I try to resist and act really mature. But who am I kidding?! I turn into a teenage girl again. It's true...and fun. I want to do girly things. Things that probably happen during every BFF sleep-over. This time it was extra exciting because of Brittany. Did I mention that my younger brother Luke is engaged? He is marrying Brittany Hobbs in December. My older brother is also married to a Hobbs gal...Natalie. Natalie and Brittany are sisters. Crazy right?! My only two brothers will be married to sisters. I told Natalie that it really isn't fair that she gets to have an actual sister as a part of her in-law family. It has been fun to watch this all happen this last year (extra fun for Aaron and Nan, of course). Anyway, we had the perfect excuse to be girly. We planned a hair party with the bride-to-be. It was awesome. Brittany has lots and lots of THICK, gorgeous hair. This was no easy feat to get it all up. In fact, when all was said and done we played "guess how many bobby pins are in Brittany's hair." She took down all of our guesses and then meticulously counted them as they were pulled out. Ready for the grand total....93. Holy bobby pins!

And then it kept going. I made Lauren sport the halo.

We took a walk/speed walking race on Thanksgiving Day. I started with some pics of Lauren's hair and it all went down, I mean up hill from there. She couldn't help but to pull out some model-esque poses. I can't look at these without busting up.

To top it all off, we gave each other manicures. We even got Grandma in on the fun. After some begging, she gave in and choose a sheer gloss.
I love having sisters and I love that they are my best friends. Spending time with them is something that I get giddy about...teenage girl! The two days I had with my family for Thanksgiving was just what I needed.
I will now try to sleep and push away all of the emotions I am having as my boys will wake up as FOUR-YEAR-OLDS!!!

Sweet Skills and a Dog

I'n gonna eat you!

Funnies

We've been growing Cade's hair out. I'm a fan. He has good long hair...it just lays nice. I spiked it up out of the tub to let him see his funny long hair. He looked at himself and did his best to not show any amusement...tried to hid his smile. Kind of like he did for these pictures.

And then, of course, Carson followed suit.

Lately, I feel like my boys' brains are transparent. They say exactly what they are thinking and are getting to an age where expressing themselves is not an issue. Nope, no problems there! They both just talk and talk and talk. To anyone. People love them because of how much they talk and take interest in others. Their curiosity keeps growing and the questions they ask are just cute. They want to figure out EVERYTHING...which leads to LOTS of questions.

Today, Carson asked me how the clouds come up. "Hey Mom, who makes the clowns up? Who does the clowns?" Umm...Heavenly Father makes the clouds come out. "Mom, what he do it wif? How He do it? Wif a button Mom? He just push a button Mom?" I just had to laugh. Classic Carson thinking. I tried to tell him that Heavenly Father doesn't use a button but he wasn't having it. Button it is!

Later in the morning while the boys were playing in the bath tub, I asked them what they wanted Santa to bring them. I ask this a lot...because I never really get answers...so I keep trying. They just don't get stuck on things. They will see movies and toys that they love (I keep walking down toy aisles with them) but then they never think twice about them again. They don't dwell...they just easily move on. So I made a few suggestions, which they were both fine with. But then Carson quickly started asking more classic questions. "What car Santa have? What kind his car?" I explained that Santa doesn't have a car but a sleigh. Carson just stared at me with his big blue eyes and said quietly..."Santa doesn't have a car? But Mom that makes me so so sad." For the first time, I also felt a little sad that Santa doesn't have a car. Poor, poor St. Nick.

Cade is Mr. Independent (during the Primary Program he stood up, looked at the Primary President standing next to him and said into the microphone, "I can do it by myself." And he did...perfectly!) and he has fully embraced the land of "MaKE BeLIeVE." I love to watch him play pretend...because I can remember doing the same thing. And he can stay in that world all day. His darling (girl)friend Sage has helped in this department. She has shown him the ropes and I am so grateful. Cade is always telling me who to pretend to be and the things I should say. "Okay Mom, petend you are Grandma Tucker and I am a dog...but I'm sad okay?" "Petend I am a monster and you are Mrs. Patricia...okay Mom?" We have long, long conversations in his desired fashion. He is testing my own creativity and imagination!

He and Carson love to play Primary. They stand up on our stool and say random phrases and prayers into a "petend" microphone. And then they stand up on the coffee table and belt primary songs at the top of their lungs and address each other as "Sister Tucker." Awesome.

People always say how wonderful it is to view life from a child's perspective. How very true this is. We are sure enjoying our boys. They are at such a great age right now...I want to freeze them in time.

Looking at them reminds me daily that the Lord loves me.