Gonna Change my Blue Eyes Brown

I know that the song goes "gonna change my brown eyes blue", but my little Skyler did the very opposite. I have been looking at pictures of when he was little and reminiscing. Amazing how a new baby will make you remember when yours were little.

I have found some great pictures that I will post at a later date (like Skyler now, at 2, wearing the clothes that Domenic wore at 3 1/2? He's my big boy!)

But for now I am going to comment that Skyler was my only little one with Blue eyes, and yes they were blue for a long time. Now, they are brownish green, just like Alexis. See for yourself:

Then

And Now.

Be sure to enlarge the photos to get the full effect of those cute little eyes. Eye color is a funny thing isn't it!

Sledding

It is that time of year! The time when everyone goes sledding. I know that the world has posted pictures of their fun times, but hey, what can I say. It was the kids first time this year. (Yes, Alexis is almost 8 and this was the first time she has been) They have all loved it! The very first time that we went was in Price. Richard came with us. We went to Pioneer Park. It was AWESOME! Granted it was 18 degrees outside, but we were all bundled up and didn't notice. The sun was shinning too. It was so much fun! We were the only ones there. Wonderful! No fighting for a spot or worrying about getting run over (or running over anyone for that matter!) We went again a few days later. This time Dad, David and Jenny decided to join us. It was great times again! Even dad went down! (we got pictures in Price with the video camera and the 35, so I don't have any digital to add).

Later we went in Payson with the Callor/Maughan clan. Amy went down once, which was more than enough for her! The rest of us had a great time. It took us a day to find sleds though. Apparently you can't find sleds in Utah county. Brandon M. and Sara would race each other down the hill, though there was some holding going on :) Domenic was a maniac! He would troop up the hill and before we even had a chance to talk to him he had dropped onto the sled and gone down again. Skyler thought it was Awesome, and "Again" has become one of his favorite words!

We have been here at home too. There is an awesome sledding hill at an old shut down elementary school across the street from us. It was really fun, and the strairs made the trek to the top really nice!

This red hat is the special hat that Alexis made for her baby brother (the one that she made Christmas day from the stuff she got from Santa)! He loves this hat! He wears it everywhere, and again "My Hat" is one of his favorite phrases! He is crying because he didn't get to go down the hill when he wanted too! We had to wait for a sled!

Newest Addition

The Callor family is growing. Last night Aunt Amy had grand baby #6, Brayden Adamson Maughan. He was 6 lbs 15 oz and 20 inches long. He was born at 4:55 pm by Cesarean section, after a long hard day for Amy. Both are doing well and everything is hunky doory! He is super cute and the kids were way excited for a new baby to arrive. We were glad that we could be there to meet him and to support Amy and Brandon! Congrats to the new parents!

Cuddle Bugs

My babies love to "camp out"! To them, camping out is throwing blankets on the floor in the front room, or downstairs and just sleeping with someone. They are social sleepers. We have tried to separate them into their own beds. We have decorated each one of their rooms so cute! And yet they still want to sleep together. I have decided that it really isn't worth the stress to try to make them sleep alone. Won't they be sleeping with their spouses for most of their lives? They have just been prepared early! This is a picture of them this morning. They "camped out" on the sofa. They have so many blankets and stuffed animals. My little cuties! They try to get Skyler to camp out with them and he is into the idea at first. Than I turn off the lights and he realizes that he is shoved between two people and he's done. He is not a co-sleeper. He loves to sleep in his very own bed! (a later post will show his new birthday bed!) We do try to make camp out days only on the weekends, mainly Friday and Saturday night. That way it is more exciting for them. They look forward to it each week!

Thank you cards

We sat down and wrote thank you cards for family home evening the other day. Alexis wrote all of hers! You go girl! Domenic signed his name to his. We were going and going, writing and writing, when Domenic says "I need to write a thank you to Santa!" He grabs a card and draws a picture of the things that he got from Santa (namely his toothbrush, his spidey transformer, and his Batman/Superman cape). What a sweetie! I even mailed it off to the North Pole. I bet the postal workers think that some kid got is request list off either way too late, or way too early for the next year! I am proud of him!

The Golden List

In the book that I just finished reading, The Ultimate Life, one of the tasks that Jason had to complete was to prove that he had a grateful life. He started the habit of "The Golden List". Each morning before he started his day he would picture in his mind a giant golden tablet and written on the tablet was the 10 things that he was most grateful for that day. In the book Jason actually wrote his list down in journals every day. I am not that good, but thought that I would write my list down for today!

1. I am grateful for my best friend, Brandon. How lucky am I that I fell in love with such a great man!

2. I am grateful for my wonderful children. Yes, they can be annoying at times, but I love them with more love than I ever thought my heart could hold!

3. I am grateful that we have a warm home to live in. I would hate to be homeless.

4. I am grateful for my weight. Strange, but for today, it is a sign to me that we have enough to eat each day, and that I am truly grateful for.

5. I am grateful for my senses, sight, touch, hearing, taste, smell. I love to experience new ones each day.

6. I am grateful that I can sew. It is a good talent. I am glad that my mother put me in lessons when she did.

7. I am grateful that I can read, and that there are good books for me to enjoy.

8. I am grateful that I have a testimony. I know it could sound hokey, but in this trying time I am so glad that I have a knowledge that Jesus is our Redeemer and that he will come again.

9. I am grateful for my calling. It is the best one in the church. I am the primary chorister.

10. I am grateful for my family and friends, all the people that I still keep in touch with, however infrequently. I love blogs because then you feel just a little closer to those who are far away, or busy!

There you have it! My Golden List for today. I am sure that each day will change, but for now this will do! Hope that you all can find and contemplate your Golden List too!

His favorite place

When ever I am on the computer, blogging, doing email or whatever, this is where Skyler is. He loves to climb into the little space under the desk and just lounge out. Sometimes, if I am on during the afternoon, he has even fallen asleep down there. He gets excited and asks "my spot, my spot!" when he sees me sit down to the computer. Cutie!

Look What I Can Do!

Look at what my big boy has accomplished this week! Go Domenic Go!!

Civic Duty

Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I had to serve on Jury Duty. It was a most interesting experience. I was called for this entire week, but was only required to serve for one day. I had to call in each night to hear if I was to report the next day or not. It was hard to plan things around the uncertain. I hated not knowing if I would be available one day or not. Plus, Brandon had to be "on-call" so that he could watch the children while I was gone. What a crazy escapade! We survived though, Brandon even made it to the very important meetings that he had planned yesterday. I am free for 2 more years, though I am not going to hold my breath.

Brandon was called 2 years ago. Many didn't know, but Skyler was due on the 2nd of February and Brandon was supposed to serve for the 4th-19th of February. We of course requested a dismissal, could you imagine me trying to handle all the kids by myself with a new baby? He got a 30 day extension, but wouldn't you know it. It turned out that he couldn't take time off at work; we got 1 full day. The rest of the time he could only take half days, and than to put the icing on the cake on the 12th of February the infamous Trolley Square incident happened. Guess who had to be in charge of that? Yep. Weird. I guess that we were supposed to learn from this experience. To tell the truth, we got on fine, though I was sleep-deprived for awhile. Alexis made it to school each day, and Domenic, Skyler and I would take naps while she was at Kindergarten. I think that we are always given the strength that we need to overcome any trial.

Temple Square

I know that Christmas has come and gone, but I would feel ungrateful if I didn't post the pictures of the lights on Temple Square. They really need no explanation, so enjoy! We went with Brandon's family at the first of December. His sister, Melanie, and her family were down from Washington so we got to go with them. This was one of the last times that we had with Brandon's Dad before he headed out to Sacramento California to start his new job! It was cold, but still very lovely! One silly thing to mention, Domenic is wearing the inside of Alexis's coat because while he remembered his gloves, boots, snow pants, etc. he left his own coat at home. He thought it was in the van! OOps!

2nd Grade Christmas Party

I was the room mother in charge of the 2nd grade Christmas party. We had some fun little activities for the children to do on their last day before the break. I took so many cute photos, but than lost one of my SD cards; the one with all the pictures on it. I was able to get a few on another card, so I only have a few pics. The children were able to do Cloves and Oranges, and we read them the story of the Christmas Orange (if you aren't familiar with this story you need to be!), they made candy cane mice, the cutest marshmallow snowmen you have ever seen, and did relay races with straws and Christmas cutouts, oh, and you can't forget the doughnut eat! Hilarious! and so much fun too! I had Christmas music playing in each area for added fun, lots of help from other parents, and we got 95% of the items needed donated! It was Wonderful! I couldn't have asked for a better turn-out, and I think that the kids had fun too!