Tate's Preschool Program!

Tate had his very first preschool program today! It was held at the Draper Theater. Tate was so thrilled that he "got to be on a stage and everything!"

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Oh what do you do in the winter time, when all the world is white?

Every year my parents neighborhood has a neighborhood party. Everyone brings canned food to donate instead of doing neighbor gifts. Each year, Santa arrives in a fun and unique way. This year he was preceded by his own marching band of neighborhood young men, then arrived in grand style in a Hummer. It's always fun to see what they come up with!

Max and Grandma visiting Santa

Tate and Max at Gardner Village seeing the elves. It was freezing, so we ended up seeing more of the cookie store!
Tate would stay in the snow all day--he loves it!
I know. I'm mean. Great blackmail when he's a teenager though!
Seeing the dinosaurs for the umpteenth time...
Max posing just like Tate did for his picture by the dinosaur. Please note the glass case behind and to the left of Max. In about a split second after this picture was taken he had walked around to the case. It was a few inches out from the wall so Max decided to scoot behind it. He ended up knocking the case over and creating a reverberating "thud" throughout the museum. A few ancient rocks took a tumble but seemed to survive. I'm beginning to understand those mom's who put their kids on a leash!

The Miracle of The Christmas Train (and other such stories)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to be home with family for the first time in 4 years. We loved it! The only thing missing was the "other" family we spent making in the time we were gone! Alas, the grass is always greener...

On Friday, Chad and Tate went to Home Depot to get a Christmas Train that had been advertised in the paper. The store was all out when they got there, but soon found another store willing to hold their last train for 1 hour. Within 15 minutes Chad and Tate had scurried to the store to pick up the train. Tate was ecstatic! A train just like Nana's! Unfortunately the local Home Depot Grinch (aka the store manager) decided that items could not be held on that day and sold it just as Chad and Tate got there. We had one very upset 3 year old! A couple hours later who should appear but Nana, with a toy train she had picked up a few years ago (unbeknownst to us) to give to Tate when he was old enough. Without knowing what had happened at the store, she showed up with the train and saved the day! It may not be a "real" miracle, but sometimes it's the little things that count.

Tate and the train

On Saturday I had the opportunity to be "Santa's Helper" and take pictures of little one's with Santa to benefit a local museum. It was so much fun to see each child's reaction to Santa. The Santa was awesome, and spent quite a bit of time chatting and joking with each child. He really was great. Tate was happy to talk to Santa...from a safe distance. Max was just completely unsure of what the heck was going on!
Tate and Max with cousins Jaxon and Lindsey

We traditionally put up our Christmas decorations on the day after Thanksgiving, but we were pokey this year and they didn't make it up until Sunday. The boys had a great time decorating the tree-or undecorating the tree-as was the case with cute Max. Their favorite part of course was making the train go in a million and a half circles underneath the tree.

My friend Ali sent me this tag, so here goes...

7 Things I Can Do...
1. play the piano
2. take a picture
3. make a great cheesecake
4. write a story
5. act out stories with my kids including the voices
6. pretend to be asleep when the baby wakes up at 2 am so Chad will get up :)
7. sew a straight line

7 Things I Can't Do...
1. convince Tate that candy isn't good for him
2. convince Chad of the same thing
3. carry a tune
4. keep my house clean for more than a day
5. dress myself fashionably
6. tolerate inhumanity
7. eat at least 3 vegetables a day

7 Things I always say...
1. That is NOT Ok.
2. I love you to the moon and back, and all around the stars
3. that's silly
4. Just try one bite, you might like it!
5. Yea! Good job going potty!
6. Shhhh....the baby is sleeping
7. Where's Max? Where's Max? (while playing peek-a-boo)


7 Things I Always Eat
1. apples
2. chicken
3. pasta
4. cereal
5. bread
6. grapes
7. junk

Tag Alison and Mandy!

Who Wants To Take Pictures?

So, when I say to my family "let's do some family pictures today!" I get met with the most incredulous looks. Seriously, even Max has learned to run when Mommy says the word "picture." Lucky for me they occasionally indulge me and even let me dress them in coordinated sweaters. Here are some of the results. My favorite thing though is that Tate loves to take pictures too. When you ask him what his name is, he replies "Tate." If you probe a little further for a last name he will tell you "Goeckeritz the photographer." I promise I didn't teach him to say that! I think it's pretty cute though!

Halloween and other fun times around our house!

We had a great Halloween at our house. The boys were not at all interested in trick-or-treating so we only went to two houses--and that was under duress! Tate was much more excited to give out the candy to the other kids who came to the door. Max knew there was a whole bucket of candy by the front door, and was confused as to why I wouldn't just let him eat it. I could see him doing the math in his little head, so we headed home with our 2 bags of m&m's and then proceeded to raid our own candy bowl (so much more efficient you see?)




Tate was a "Black Cat Creeping" (The title of his favorite Halloween book) and Max was the Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Chad as Napoleon from Napoleon DynamiteLindsay as Deb from Napoleon Dynamite
Chad and Tate standing by the enormous "snow bunny" they made together

Sheer joy! Tate spent three solid days out in the snow. We had to convince him on a couple of those days that he had to wait until it was actually light to go outside!

Max was so excited to go outside. Until he realized that snow has this one peculiar trait--it's cold. That was it for Max. He turned right back around and went back into the house. He loved watching Tate play in the white stuff, and laughed whenever Tate threw a snowball that splatted right against the window where Max was.

Going Private

Hi All,

After watching a particularly creepy segment on the new last night regarding blogs, I have decided to take this one private. To be able to see the blog you will need to have permission to view it--and to give you permission I need to have your e-mail address. So... please send your e-mail address to me so that I can add it to the list.

Thanks!
Linds

Autumn leaves are falling down!

We are quickly learning that one of the grand chores of being a homeowner is raking the leaves. Our boys love this! We rake the same pile of leaves over and over into the same patch of grass and they never seem to tire of jumping into and throwing the leaves.

The Necklace

I have a necklace that my parents gave to me last year. It is a silver circle and on the outer edge in very small writing are the letters "CTR" (Choose The Right.) Tate was asking me about it the other day and I told him about the letters CTR and that it helped me remember to be nice. Last night and today he has kept asking me why I'm not wearing my necklace, and very matter of factly telling me I am "so mean" (when I am in fact being extra nice!) Well it finally clicked in my somewhat slow brain--he thinks that I can only be nice if I have my necklace on--like it holds all of my "nice" superpowers! So next time you see me, I'm sure I'll have on my "nice" necklace!

If You Go Down In The Woods Today...

Today was absolutely beautiful outside! After church, we decided to head up the mountain to see all of the fall colors. It was so worth it. The boys had a wonderful time running around and climbing on all of the boulders. Max doesn't miss a beat. Where Tate goes, he goes-and Tate was everywhere!

Oh quick side note: Tate was throwing a fit the other day and I had put him in his room for a timeout. This is what I overheard "My mommy is so mean. She is just so so mean. This makes me sad. My mommy is so mean, I just want a new one." This probably should have made me feel bad, but I just thought it was so hilarious!

Chad and Tate at the top of the "ginormous" rock

Chad and Max jumping from boulder to boulder

My little guys

The whole crew!

Our two little mountain climbers

Well life just keeps plugging on around our house. We are still working on moving in, but have things pretty much tamed at this point. The boys are doing great. They both slept through the night last night--hurray! In the 15 months since we had our cute Max, this is a first!! We debated about putting them together or in separate bedrooms. We finally decided to try separate bedrooms and see how they did without the other one. The first few nights were hard (Tate would tell us he wanted his "Moosie") but things have ended up working out great. The best part is that Tate can have all of his special toys in his room, and can shut the door so Max can't get into them.

Chad and I are doing good. Chad loves the work that he does and is thrilled that he has a garage to go out and tinker in. I'm still up to the usual. My little photography studio is doing well, and I've recently started a creative writing class. That's it from us!


Life is complete when there is a cement truck next to your house!


What's up mom?
Puddin' Head Max

House!

Chad and I bought our first house and moved in last Saturday. We are loving having a wonderful yard that the boys can run around in! I think it might take us a few years to get all of the boxes unpacked, but oh well! Here are a few pictures--

Plums and other updates from our house...

9-16-08
The cute house we are renting has several fruit trees and a grape vine. I got adventurous and decided to try making my own grape juice, and some plum jam. It turned out really yummy! Tate had a great time helping me pick the plums. He kept going one step higher on the ladder, then he would tell me "it's okay Mommy, I'm a really brave guy." It was cute!


Max has learned a whole bunch of new tricks now that he is mobile. His favorite is to climb! He was pretty proud of himself when he made this drawer a stair!
Oh my, bet you can't tell we're ever silly at our house!Tate has decided that his "most favoritest" thing is to play this little guitar we bought for him in Puerto Vallarta. He loves to rock out in his bedroom while jumping on his bed!

The library by our house had a pajama story party last night. All of the kids came in their PJ's for songs and stories. It was really fun!

Labor Day Weekend

9/1/08

We had a great holiday weekend. We went up to Chad's parents cabin with Chad's sister Tanja, her husband Ryan, and their two kids Jaxon and Lindsey and Jaxon's friend Collin. We had a great time! The kids had a blast running around and acting crazy. I even got up early on Saturday to run in a 10k race in Heber. It was a beautiful run through the valley and up into the mountains (although I quickly learned that mountains have hills--go figure!)

On Saturday afternoon we spent the day at a Sheepdog Competition at Soldier Hollow. Our favorite part was watching the "Splash Dogs" competition. The dogs would run off a ramp and see how far they could get. It was such a hoot to watch each dog-some ran right off and others would run to the very edge and then stop and look at their owner like "you've gotta be kidding me!" The boys had fun watching all of the dogs and even petting a few. Oh, and we also saw a duck herding competition. We could hardly believe that these dogs could actually herd the ducks, but they did!

Tate is loving playing the piano

Duck herding!

Max at the dog show

Flying doggies!

...and some not flying doggies!

1st Day of Preschool!

Today was Tate's first official day of preschool. I have to admit that I am a total sap. I got teary eyed this morning as I watched my "baby" hop out of the van with his book bag and blow me a kiss goodbye. I love watching my little guy grow up, but sometimes I think it is just too fast!



Max wasn't quite sure what was going on when Tate left. He kept pointing to Tate's carseat and saying "Tuh, Tuh" (his word for Tate.) He kept looking at us like "uh guys, I think we're missing something here." I think he enjoyed his Mommy and Max time when we got home. He loves to gather several books, pile them on a chair, and climb up and read. Then when he is done reading, we have a grand game of throw-the-book-and-watch-Mommy-pick-it-up!

Preschool!

8/14/08

It is preschool time for Tate! We went to orientation today. His teacher's name is Miss Marci. Tate is soooo... excited! He played outside on what he called "the coolest playground." It really is great. We are excited for him, but are a little shocked that we have such a "big" kid!

Ready For School! Standing in line with his class

Splashing in the water table
Tate Playing in The Fort