Carolina Taters

Thumbs UP!

2011-03-07T17:54:00.005-05:00

Really it is a THUMB!!!

Lunch Time!

2011-03-07T17:50:00.002-05:00

just chillaxin with my Sippy cup and nuggets!

GO PACKERS!!!!

2011-02-06T08:26:00.004-05:00

On our way to church - then on to cheer on the Packers!

Where, oh where, have all the blog posts been?

2010-12-29T10:41:00.005-05:00

It has become a regular topic of conversation in our home the past few months – What happened to our blog? It would be easy to say that life just gets busy, but it would be even more fun to take you on our magical journey that is our family. Teri was excited to be able to update the blog from her new computer, but Denim quickly put a stop to that idea by biting all the keys off the keyboard. As such, T said she is done, and it will now be Daddy's turn to update the blog.

Logan has been busy with school, 4^th grade is a tough one, but her teacher Mr. Nelson is a really awesome teacher, and Logan loves to go to class to see what he will come up with next. We finished her research project recently, and while it was a lot of fun (especially because it was about Spain) it was a lot of work. As parents we needed to remind ourselves that we had already done 4^th grade, but we still expected to get an A on this project. Gymnastics has started and it is a lot of fun, especially for Mom and Dad – we always knew that our Divine Miss La loved attention; little did we know that for an hour a week she would have an opportunity to show us her stuff. La is growing so fast, and she is becoming a grown-up very quickly. We love her tons, and we are excited to see all the new adventures Logan gets to experience.

Cooper is a full-fledged Kindergartner, I know this is difficult for some of you to grasp. He did do preschool for 4 years, and I think he was able to master those concepts after year 2. He has been a Wii Wizard, and teaches Dad new things on a daily basis. That was until Kindergarten started, and we can only play Wii on Weekends, and Track-outs, it seems like life is too busy to play video games. School has been a lot of fun, we have been worried that it will change our Huge Teddy Bear, but he seems to be able to make friends anywhere. He has gone to lots of birthday parties, and he has been able to save a few"damsels in distress" at school. Through frightening to hear that our 6 year old has girlfriends, it is enlightening to hear that he is a gentleman! Cooper is HUGE! He now officially weighs more than Logan and with doing gymnastics he is learning how to use that to his advantage. His coaches all love Cooper – they smile every time they say his name, and they work with him well. He is now able to do pull-ups. Something his Dad is still trying to figure out. Cooper has also started Basketball – he is pretty good.

He is able to rebound and shoot well, we have been practicing his dribbling, and it is a lot of fun. Cooper has picked up the football and can through a mean spiral.

And finally Denim – he keeps us as busy as we can handle, but he also provides the family with many smiles and giggles. Den seems to spend his days playing catch-up to his brother and sister. He continually does things that no "normal" 18 month old does. Denim has shown us how much of an artist he is, and all his spectacular tricks. Den runs circles around us with all his enthusiasm, energy and creativity. Denim has fallen in love with balls. It seems like it is a daily occurrence that he will bring a ball into dad's office to play catch. He has decided that he also loves cars, he is becoming a boy, he has had enough of being the baby!

He's Denim the Sailor-man

2010-02-24T15:56:00.007-05:00

Denim was channeling his inner Popeye and may have taken it a bit too far. On Friday Deej started running a fever which went on and on and on. On Monday, in addition to the fever, he woke up with thrush. On Wednesday, in addition to the now low grade fever, he woke up in a rash from head to toe. Saturday was the pinnacle of his symptoms. He woke up sporting a very impressive swollen eye that resembled a golf ball. (seen here sucking on a q-tip)

By Sunday evening (only ten days and no sleep later) Denim was finally feeling better, HALLELUJAH, just in time for Logan to start throwing up. HA HA HA (that's my crazy person laugh)!

Disaster Looming

2009-12-17T16:59:00.005-05:00

We were busy revamping our kitchen which involved freshly cut glass that happened to be laying all over the kitchen floor and power tools spread over the back deck, with two busy kids and one walking baby something was bound to happen.

Here is the scene setup. Jeff was outside routing out our cabinets so they would be ready to install glass. I had just got back from the store with the fresh cut glass and had laid it out on the floor to make sure they had done it correctly. Immediately, all little people in the house were attracted to the shiny breakables. So I was scrambling. I ordered Cooper on baby watch so I could move the sheets of glass from the kitchen floor onto the table in the other room.

Here is how the next five minutes of events played out. I was carrying one of the sheets of glass into the other room and didn't notice Logan standing on the counter, putting something in the microwave (never figured out what she was cooking). I heard Cooper hollering at me that Denim was half way up the stairs (of course). I told Coop just to follow behind him and I busted a move to put the glass in my hands down when Logan at that moment (she also did not see me) decided to jump off the counter landing on top of me and the glass. By some miracle I had just enough bounce with me and the glass and Logan that the glass didn't break and she didn't get hurt. Ha, disaster averted. I wound up with minor cuts on my finger tips were I was holding the edge of the glass so I ran to the sink to rinse them off when the thought occurred to me that I hadn't heard a baby cry so the climb up the stairs must have been a success ( another disaster sidestepped, I am one lucky gal). I ran up the stairs to grab some band aids for my fingers and check on the boys when I started hearing Deej fussing. I hollered to him that I was coming and double stepped it to my bathroom first to clean up my messy fingers so I could pick up the baby that was calling for me. I b-lined for the linen closet to retrieve the necessary materials when a curious image flashed before my eyes. In my mind I saw my sweet boys playing in the tub. I shook my head, what an odd thought , turned around and there it was. My five year old and my baby stripped of their clothes and in the bathtub with water in it. WHAT THE...

It took me a minute to fully comprehend the image in front of me, yet just a snap second to experience the full spectrum of panic. My five year old who still tries to convince me every day that he can't possibly get himself dressed somehow drew himself a bath; stripped himself of his clothes; and somehow stripped the baby of his shirt, pants, socks, onsie, and diaper (a feat that usually takes Jeff and I and a rigorous wrestling match to accomplish) and did it all in less than five minutes.

I grabbed the baby out of the tub, checked the temperature of the water (just right), the level of the water (not too deep). No visible injuries on the baby who was sitting wet yet content in my arms. Did we really survive this near catastrophe. Cooper then told me in his proudest voice. "Mom, I even saved his life because when I put him in the water he went all the way under and I had to rescue him." Ahhh, there it is.

KaBluey

2009-11-09T20:08:00.002-05:00

I was just running to Walmart for a second. See, I found Halloween 90% off so it may have been considered top priority status to some, not to all, to each his own. The evening plan involved Auntie Na coming over with her litter of little Na's and we were going to make mini pizzas and root beer floats. Not a bad FHE plan. Instead the evening went something like this:

As I was saying I was running out for just a second. Logan came home from school with the beginnings of a serious headache, so I had already soaked her in a vapor bath and stuck her in a dark, quiet room. Cooper and Max (who was at our house at the time) were in the bath, they were washed and playing with their new happy meal toys.

Cooper decieded to do an experiment to see what color towels turn when you put them in the tub. After several towels were added to the bath Max started getting crowded so he started dumping them out of the bath onto the floor. Vika was sent up to look in on the boys and slid through the river landing on her bum. Vika and then Sasha came running down stairs shouting something about "There's an ocean upstairs." So Jeff runs upstairs to deal with the inches of H2O. But, all the yelling encouraged Denim to also start yelling so Auntie Na picked him up, but in doing so DJ- grabbed a thing of water that was sitting on the counter and it dumped on brand new Baby Bella. Now two screaming babies...Meanwhile upstairs Logan starts really not feeling well. Do you know what this story needs, a little vomit or in this case A LOT. Of course, while Jeff is holding back Logan's hair so it doesn't get throw up in it (which of course despite all efforts it did) Shawna was doing some quick thinking of her own and grabbed a trash can and some of the towels used to clean up the two soaked, screaming children to catch the water now leaking from the CEILING!

I was only gone a second. On the bright side I got an awesome deal (4 shirts, 1 skirt, 1 pair of jammies, 2 colord hair sprays, 2 gallons of icecream, 2 pairs of socks, 1 pair of tights, 2 things of paper plates, and 20 halloween costumes for under $65).

There's my lady's man

2009-08-31T17:48:00.007-04:00

I think Jeff thought I was trying to take a picture, ha ha surprise! My favorite part is when he gives birth to Deej.

List Complete

2009-08-26T09:04:00.007-04:00

Well, my year's to-do list is officially complete!

Action item #1: Denim Jeffrey
After a very difficult and rather scary journey the little man arrived healthy and happy. A tad early yet a solid 7lbs 7oz. He finally chose his name as we were leaving the hospital. He is the twinkle in his family's eye. We are so glad he made it.

Action item #2: Jeff Graduates
It was touch and go there at the end. Jeff taking care of the children and mom. Here is a pic of him taking his last final with the baby sleeping in his office. It speaks volumes of the journey his degree took. Jeff I am so proud of you!

Action item #3: Logan turns 8
Logan was a little piece of heaven, perfect in white. I was so proud of her, she invited our neighbors to her baptism and they came. Aunt Boo spoke; Uncle Kevan and Aunt Brooke sang; Uncle Michael, Aunt Kendra, Dallin and Ella drove down; Grandma Tate flew in. It was very touching. Funny story, she also invited her third grade (sub)teacher, after only being in class three days. The teacher then told her that she actually goes to that same church too. Isn't that interesting, we had no idea. She also started the third grade and experienced Disney with Grandma and Grandpa. Big summer for LA!

First day of Third Grade

At her Baptism

In front of the temple

Action item #4: Cooper turns 5
After much deliberation we decided to keep Coop home with us for another year. As a bonus Coop learned how to ride a bike and got his first stitches.

We told him he needed to shave, because his stitches looked like whiskers.

Big and Busy in 2009

2009-01-15T14:04:00.006-05:00

Okay, so I fail to be diligent in my blog posting and we have so many things happening this year we might as well get it all announced now. Prepare yourself, when we make major changes, we do it big. Agenda items listed in Chronological order:

Action Item #1
Baby Boy Tate who has decided to remain nameless as of now is due to arrive the first of April.

Blessing dated for said baby boy Tate will be held April 12th at the Apex Stake Center at 9:30 am. This as always is tentative on several details IE. family travel schedules, Bishopric approval, and most importantly THE BABY'S ARRIVAL (small details). Make a note that April 12th is Easter Sunday!

Action Item #2
Jeff graduates from Colorado State University with his Masters in Business.

Graduation to be held in Fort Collins, Colorado on May 15th. Completion of the program is eminent, but actual attendance at said graduation is determinant on Action Item #1.

Action Item #3
Logan celebrates her 8th birthday.

The day of this joyous event will take place on it's assigned day established eight years previously on July 30th. Events associated with the joyous birthday are as follows: Logan's Grandma and Grandpa Anderson have announced that they are taking Logan and her other two cousins who are turning eight this summer to Disney World. This adventure (as the date is not yet determined by those involved) is assumed to take place around the 15th of the month of July.

Logan begins her first day of third grade on the 27th of July.

Logan's baptism date is set for August 1st at 9:00 in the Cary building. She would love for everyone to come and support her at such a big event in her life. A party on her behalf will take place directly following her baptism at our home. We would love for everyone to come.

Action Item #4
Cooper celebrates his 5th birthday.

Although Cooper makes the cut off date for starting Kindergarten by seven days, Jeff and I have currently decided not to send him until next year. That decision, like most others is determinant of Action Items 1 thru 3 not to mention the list of current possibilities. Either way a big day and a big birthday for our Coopster.

Possible Events (keeping an open mind about)
*All possible events and decisions thereof are subject to change at any moment*
There is a possibility that Jeff may change jobs this year (a result of action item #2). He has had a couple opportunities trickle in. Currently, taking into account his secure position with IBM and the instability of the economy we are leaning toward maintaining his current employment and all of the perks it offers (which are plentiful and hard to compete with). Fortunately, there is a lot of upward movement available at his company so staying doesn't negate forward movement.

We have also discussed the possibility of moving. We have found a floor plan we all really like that fits all of our needs that we are keeping an eye on (easy to do in this slow housing economy). We also are keeping an open mind about relocation if the package and benefits outweigh what we already have. We'll see. Currently, the baby's bed is set up and ready to go in anticipation of action item #1 (as much as I would enjoy trying to sell a home and move just before or just after having a baby...) We are currently watching this option, but not committing to it just yet.

Much on the calender. Much to think about. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Cooper Hit the Big 4

2008-09-10T16:37:00.004-04:00

True to tradition Cooper celebrated his Big 4 with three days of partying. His birthday theme this year was transformers--he knows the song, you should ask him to sing it for you (he also knows the old school Spiderman song). Too Cute!

He went for his yearly check up and he is huge. In the 85% on weight and off the chart on height. It gets really scary when you compare him to his sister (the seven year old):

WEIGHT
Logan: 50 lbs
Cooper: 40 lbs

HEIGHT
Logan: 48 inches
Cooper: 43 1/2 inches

That's right. Cooper is only 4 1/2 inches shorter than Logan. She can still take him though. It's not like Logan is small either. Her stats were all 50%, totally average. I am just thankful they are both healthy and very happy.

PS Jeff also rang in his birthday with a party, a banana cream pie, and a new pair of shoes. LUCKY!

Sweet Carolina Beach!!

2008-08-22T18:24:00.006-04:00

Here are some pictures from our week at Topsail Island:

Big Difference Second Grade

2008-08-18T17:46:00.005-04:00

Logan has started second grade with a big BANG. First to mention her list of accomplishments for the first week of school.

1. Lost her first tooth on the first day of school and the second followed closely behind

2. Turned seven after three days of partying

3. Started tying her own shoes (just taught herself one day, she's very motivated)

So far a fabulous second grade experience, especially compared to her not so fabulous first grade experience.

Let Us Compare:

First Grade...Came home crying from school her first day (which was her birthday) with her name on yellow not to mention the additional tears and red that followed her home later that same week. Her teacher was all business in an overcrowded classroom and struggled to figure out how to motivate or teach Logan. She had at least 40 minutes of homework each day starting with the first day.

Second Grade... Came home from school with a big grin. Fabulous teacher who understands how to teach little kids (learning can be fun). All happy stickers all week. Her teacher believes that your birthday is a holiday. She has fun Friday. Logan has minimal homework a day (20 minutes or less) and is provided time during school to get her homework done. She encourages parent involvement and communicates well with her students.

On a Side Note:

Logan had an interesting reaction to her teacher when she first met her at the meet and greet at the school. Jeff and I instantly liked her. She went out of her way to show Logan her desk and let her know what to expect. She was cheerful and energetic. Jeff and I could not have been more pleased. Logan on the other hand looked a bit apprehensive in the car on the ride home. After minimal proding she had two comments. "Mom, my teacher has brown skin, and I think she needs to shave her face." It took Jeff and I several minutes of staring out the window to come up with the appropriate response to her concerns. In the end, by the first day of school all concerns were forgotten and she rode the bus to school with room number in hand and a check to buy lunch. That's my girl.

Highlights from the 4th

2008-08-18T11:22:00.007-04:00

Accidental Poisonous Gas Contamination:

Well the fourth started off with a POOF. We were going to spend the day at the Kevan and Brooke Anderson's residence enjoying good eats and fire works with his and her family. What fourth isn't complete without homemade root beer provided by none other than our very own root beer master. So, we load the family and the big blue drink dispensor filled with root beer syrup into the van, made a quick stop at the store to pick up some dry ice, and we were off to Garner with root beer bubbling away in the back of the car. About ten minutes later I was chatting on the phone with Padre letting him know our ETA when I thought I must be really excited because I was out of breathe. Around that same time Logan starts complaining of a headache, Cooper starts nodding off and Jeff mentions to me that he must have really booked it in the grocery store because he is still winded.

DING. I can sometime switch into frantic mode really quickly. In this instance it just took one glance at the AC set to recycle. In no time I had air off and the windows down before Jeff even knew what was going on. Yes, we were pumping dry ice gases into our car and I thought it smelled great, like root beer. Live and learn. No harm done. We eventually made it there a little rough around the edges but in one piece.

Cooper's Flies

I was not here for this incident, but it has been recounted to me by several people, I choose to recap Aunt Brooke's version.

While at out fourth of July celebration the Anderson's provided a lovely barbecue meal. Cooper wanted to eat outside so Jeff made him a plate set him up outside and went back in to get himself some food. Several people ventured out to the deck at the same time to find Cooper covered with flies. I am not talking about one or five flies we're talking twenty. To his stunned audience all he says is "These flies like me". What else can be said.

Fireworks on the Fifth

After a fun and exciting fifth of July that included a surprise sixtieth birthday for Padre, and family fun time at the pool, and unwrapping and putting to good use Padre's new Wii; we decided to cap off the evening with the Holly Spring Firework extravaganza despite the forecast of rain (which it eventually did). Holly Springs went all out for the event and had tons of booths with crafts for the kids to do. At one of the booths Cooper got a little scissor happy and somehow cut a huge chunk out of my finger. With all the blood and ooze Cooper started getting really upset. Jeff must have been crafting with Logan and Brooke's sister Jasmine, but I finally found Aunt Brooke and Uncle Kevan by this time with blood running down my hand and Cooper in tears. So Kevan the ever handy policeman says he will track down a band-aid for me. We were standing next to a fire truck when Kevan comes running back with an ambulance in his trail, lights blazing. Cooper went hysterical. A total freak out. So the ambulance people jump out and start grabbing for Cooper trying to figure out what is wrong with him. After several frantic minutes it is finally communicated that I just need a band-aid for a cut finger. Ha Ha Ha!

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

2008-06-12T21:23:00.005-04:00

Cooper spent this entire spring obsessed over all things creepy crawly. He had worms, snails, rolly pollys, grubs, ladybugs all as pets. He spent long hours in search of lizards and frogs. He seems to have a very smothering affection. So far he consistently loves all of his pet to death. We have shed many a tear over a lost or deceased creature. I'd like to congratulate myself on being quiet tolerant of all things slimy and dirty, needless to say we washed our hands a lot.

This summer on the other hand has mostly been devoted to the swimming pool. He seems to be a fish in water. He decided this is his year for the deep end and has already accomplished that and the summer has only begun. His new trick is doing flips in the air when Daddy throws him up. It is very impressive (and a little scary to watch). That kid and dad combo can get some serious height on those toss-ups.

Logan chops it off!

2008-06-12T20:57:00.004-04:00

Logan came home from school one day and said she would like to cut her hair short. My reply to her, without hesitation was "Get in the car." and away we went to the beauty salon. Deep down this was a very hard Mommy decision for me. Logan has beautiful thick straight brown hair that always looks gorgeous. I love brushing her hair and doing it up pretty every morning and playing with it. Unfortunately, she does NOT love me brushing and playing with her hair thus the lack in hesitation. We have recently had one too many boo-hoos shed over the brush and no-tangle spray that I think we all felt the need for a drastic change and drastic it was.

Logan talked to the hair dresser about what she had in mind. Her hair dresser explained to her if she went Victoria Beckham a-line bob, she would have enough hair to donate to kids who don't have any hair and need wigs because they are sick (ie: Locks of Love). She was totally into that. The one thing Logan has in abundance is compassion. So, TaaDaa......
She loves to tell people she donated to the "Make a Wig Foundation." Ha Ha Hmmm
I love my grown up little six year old. Isn't she beautiful

Big Fat Scardey-Cat

2008-02-23T10:18:00.009-05:00

Last night (or rather early this morning) I was reading an intense last part of a scary book when I heard three car doors shut in a row. I immediately recognized one of them as our van door. My very first thought was, "Oh my goodness, someone is breaking into our car!" My second thought was, "What stupid ding-dong would break into a mini van. And, hello, I am sitting right here with the lights on. Serves them right, nothings in there." So I hit the blinds to make it look like I was looking out the window at them. Ha, silly fools.

Only then...the mood changed significantly when I heard my gate open and I swear I heard them on my deck. I was downstairs, by myself, at 2:30 in the morning, with my family asleep upstairs. I was trying to figure out how loud I could scream for Jeff without waking up Cooper, yet with intensity enough for him to know to bring a weapon (ie. the Mag Light hidden under our bed for just such an occasion). You could say there was plenty of adrenalin pumping. Then I very clearly heard, "turn off the lights and go upstairs." You didn't have to tell me twice. I was more than happy to oblige.

By the time I got upstairs, I was still pretty hyped from the event, but had all but convinced myself that I had made it all up. That's what you get for reading an intense book, in the middle of the night, by yourself. Without even a glance out the window (way too freaked out) and still suffering from a bad case of insomnia, I climbed into bed with Jeff and forgot about my runaway imagination in his safe and warm cuddles (blissfully distracted). UNTIL....

This morning, we woke up to police, and all our neighbors convening in our alley. At least eight cars had been broken into, including ours. The police were called, reports have been taken, there is damage involved, CSI took finger prints, crime tape. Especially with a brother who is a police officer, you think I would have called the police last night. Yet no, I did not. I have lots of guilt due to that minor detail. My neighbors are not entirely happy with my active imagination that materialized itself into reality without a single superhero gesture to save the day from me. No, I chose to listen to my big tall voice, get my tail upstairs and sleep in sweet ignorance. Hmmm, maybe next time.

A Little Boy's Right of Passage

2008-02-23T10:01:00.007-05:00

Cooper + Daddy's Screw Driver + Window =

Cooper in front of a mysteriously broken window in Daddy's office.

All he can tell us is the screwdriver hit him in the head.?

Grocery Shopping

2008-02-18T20:49:00.005-05:00

About every week&1/2 our family makes a trip to BJ's Warehouse to load up on milk, juice, bread, eggs ie. the staples. Well, on Monday a trip to said store was inevitable when Sunday evening my sweet sis-in-law Brookilicious brought to our attention that the cupboard (and refrigerator for that matter) was bare.

So the story goes like this. Coop and I headed to preschool in the morning, La off to school, leaving Jeff home at work, all aware of the serious lack of food in the Tate home. After preschool I finally concented to the obvious knowledge that I was going to need to drag my very tired little boy to BJ's now because we needed to be back at Logan's school by 2:30 so we could hear LOGAN DO HER READING PART IN THE SCHOOLS BROADCAST (this event deserves caps because it was so cute, she did amazing and I got a little tear because I am the proudest MaMa in the pack).

SOOOO, I try to call Jeff as I am running out the preschool door to let him know I am taking a side trip on the way home, only to find out that the phone downstairs was left off the hook and consequently dead. Not willing to go upstairs and get the other phone, I decide to call him from the cell on the way. Well, once on the road I realize that the cell was left in the church bag from yesterday. Great. The trip is still on, I will just go really fast.

Unbenounced to me, at this same time Jeff is desperately trying to contact me. Turns out, he noticed I forgot the cell phone, and in an effort to be the sweetest husband in the world was trying to contact me at preschool (again the downstairs phone was dead) to tell me that he went to BJ's for me. What an awesome guy.

To make a very long story short or excessive as this case may be. Our double trip to the warehouse store won us:

10 gallons of milk
6 pounds of bananas
5 dozen eggs
6 loaves of bread
7 jugs up juice
5 boxes of juice boxes
10 pounds of chicken

FYI: Not funny at first. A little bit funny now!

Holiday Highlight

2008-01-30T20:44:00.000-05:00

I know for most, the holidays ended some time ago. Well our family takes vacationing seriously. In fact up until last week we were all still sleeping in, snacking all day long and wearing jammies past noon. Of course all things must come to an end and for our family reality hit painfully on Thursday, January 24th when everyone
returned to school, homework, bedtimes, early mornings, dishes etc.
So, some highlights are in order and no better place to start then at the beginning. This story begins with one completely amazing guy named Uncle Jesse and involves one crazy trip to Utah one month ago (Dec. 18th to be exact). Because this trip was so action packed, I will spare you the minute by minute and draw your attention directly to my favorite top five:

#1 Singing karaoke
-These pictures speak for themselves. As a side note, I found out that I don't sing on pitch ever, and I don't know the real words to any songs. Who knew.

#2 Tubing down the giant mountain of terror
-After one trip down the mountain I was convinced that this was not appropriate for a three year old. Of course, by the second time Cooper was begging his uncle to spin him (Jesse agreed that this was a great idea of course), as if plummeting to his death head on wasn't scary enough. All anyone on that mountain heard was my earpiercing scream "JESSE!!!

#3 Christmas Eve snowstorm doing donuts (our first white Christmas)
-Christmas Eve was at the movie theater. Uncle Jesse cleared it out early so we could goof off. We hooked up the playstation to the big screen and played some games while a kid movie was playing in the other theater. We had to excuse ourselves early, having little kids that needed to go to bed. The snow was coming down pretty hard and Jeff used this time to enlighten the children on the backwards donut. This was a first for me, in the end I'm a chicken and squealed louder than the kids.

#4 Midnight stealing of the polar bear
-It was only our second night when the first big snowstorm hit. It was like we had never seen snow before. To say we were excited is an understatement. Jesse had to work the midnight movie, so it was some time in the AM when Uncle Jesse came home like Santa Clause bearing gifts of snow boots , gloves and hats from the 24 hour Wal-mart. Like all well thought out plans, this story not being of one of those, we decided that PopPop's yard ornament polar bear needed to go on a trip. In fact we came up with this elaborate plan that not only involved minor kidnapping, but also framing both of Jeff's sisters in the process. It was genius. So Jeff and Jesse snuck over to their parents house, took the bear, left a ransom note attached to a stuffed polar bear of Jayne's and placed the stolen item in Jana's yard. We could think of nothing else as ransom (clear thinking does not happen at that hour) so we fittingly chose two dozen donuts as a ransom price to be delivered at high noon in the skate park parking lot where the original donuts where made while the thievery was taking place. There may have been a black ski mask involved in this story. Wish I got a picture.

#5 Logan's Pierced Ears
-While at the mall one night, Logan and Grandma decided that the time had come to get our little Miss La's ears pierced . I put on the brave face at first, she was so cute. The whole family gathered to support her. Aunt Jayne and Aunt Jana were both there with Kinley cheering her on. Jeff was a little freaked out about his baby getting holes put in her ears and he quietly excused himself. After one ear, Logan got a big grin and cheesed it up for her supportive family, until she caught sight of mommy with tears in my eyes and the crying really started. Don't worry, the second ear finally got pierced, but this time with much effort and on mom's lap holding on to her tight. (We also got to meet our kids new cousin Camdyn for the first time on this shopping trip. She was an instant hit with the family and hopefully will keep her dark brown hair. This is good news for Logan as she has been the only dark brunette out of her 15 cousins thus far.)

TO SUM IT UP:
Thank you Jesse for such a fantastic memory for our family and for making Jeff happy.

THE WEDDING:
Yes, after much skepticism, we did make it to Kevan and Brooke's wedding with a couple hours to spare. It was beautiful. Please visit the Brookilicious blog to see the fantastic photographs of that beautiful day. My notes on that day; it was interesting going from 4 degees in Cedar City to 75 degrees and 100% humidity. I think my hair suffered from shock. The kids did great considering they had four hours of sleep and it was an all day event. I am so glad we were able to be there.

A SIDE NOTE
Our family as a whole visited the dentist 9 times in January. On a plus note our teeth are all very clean. What more can I say.

Great Grandma

2008-01-30T16:47:00.000-05:00

Cara decided that we were taking entirely too long posting , so she blogged a couple shots for us. Thanks girl, you take good pics.

I love you!

Merry Christmas to our Dentist

2007-12-11T22:21:00.000-05:00

Well, our little Miss had to have some serious dental work done today, unexpectedly. On Friday she complained that her teeth hurt, and again on Saturday, and Sunday, and on Monday I called the dentist. They got her right in Tuesday morning. Jeff took her in because I had preschool. Well, routine visit it was not. That teeth clenching girl had broken all of the fillings loose in her mouth, again. Yes, that's right, again!! This is the third time our little grinding princess has had to have these teeth fixed in three years.

This time they replaced them with the super duper expensive resin composite fillings, they don't use on children because of it's price. Don't worry, our dentist is pretty decent and didn't charge us for the fillings.

On a less pleasant note, he did charge us for the emergency "little kid" root canal that he had to do. It is specifically called a therapeutic pulpotomy. Which means that she had a nerve exposed so they had to do a procedure where they deaden the exposed part, still saving the rest of the nerve. NICE!

2 1/2 hours in the dentist office with her Daddy (so much for a quick lunch break). What a day. By the way, they expect payment at time of "unexpected" procedure. So I say Merry Christmas Dentist, get yourself something real nice.

My poor Lolly. She has had so many dental problems and they are all still baby teeth. YIKES. Hope she doesn't need braces.

An End to Cheerleading!

2007-12-05T21:32:00.000-05:00

This summer Jeff and I took our Holly Springs Parks and Recreation activities catalog and let Logan pick out something she would like to participate in. She chose CHEERLEADING. We thought it would be super fun, maybe she would learn a cheer or two. Maybe she would even get to do a cheer at a game, how fun. And, how economical? They practice twice a week as the other teams only practice once. Twice the activity for the same price, yeah.

Like deer caught in headlight we had no idea we were signing up for a lifestyle. It all began the moment we signed her up. Jeff thought he would head over there early, because we were up and it was on to do list for that day, why wait in line. He called me from the cell at the rec. center and said there were about a hundred people standing in line ahead of him. Don't worry, though, we made the team, our friends who were in line 2o people behind us didn't.

We went to the parent information meeting and were handed a list of items Logan needed. I was confused, what were these dollar signs I was seeing. I don't even have shoes that expensive. And she has to keep her shoes in a box and only wear them on game day. AND, her team is a traveling team. There was an away game every other week and every game cost money to get in. Oh, and the weekday practices weren't 45min to an hour, but an hour and a half on a school night. T his was a bigger donut then my tummy could handle. At this point not making the team didn't sound like such a negative, BUT there was a sparkle in my little girls eye pleading with us to continue.

We stated out with two practices a week as we had planned, THEN the games started. Every Saturday she had a game, which lasted three to five hours depending on travel time. Then competition practices began AND community events. And of course her team made it to the playoffs. By the last month, she had practice on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, an event on Friday and Saturday and I told them we would not be able to make it to the Sunday practice (thank goodness for the Sabbath).

I'll be the first to admit it was a little much. T hen a magical thing happened. Competition arrived. In the spirit of cheer it was a huge deal. Their ponytails had to be at the same spot high on their head, their uniforms pressed and identical, their shoes polished, everyone wore matching pink lip gloss. They had to be dropped off at the crack of dawn somewhere in Zebulon. I wasn't allowed to walk her in, she had to be escorted by a coach. We weren't allowed to see them all day, and yes it took all day.

I will tell you this much...after working so hard...my little cheerleader walked onto that court beaming with pride and confidence. I can't tell you much about her routine that day 'cause this mama was CRYING her eyes out.

Sorry so long. When I blog I mean it. La's team took second in the region. Mom and Dad are in love with Cheerleading. She still has a viewing party sometime and a parade this weekend. The uniform gets turned in next week. Cheerleading, what a rush. After all was said and done, Daddy asked his little girl if she was going to do it next year and she replied, "NOPE!" Dad's decided she doesn't need to decide now, she'll come around.

Here is a terrible shot of competition. We were way up in the stands and to the side, so a decent shot didn't happen. Thank goodness for the dress rehearsal so we could get somewhat decent photo documentation. In this shot Logan is the lift team to the right.
Here is a picture from her rehearsal. La is in front right, knee up. For most of the routine she was the dead front center girl. As a completely biased mother, I say they put her in front because she was the cutest cheerleader. A little eye candy for the judges!!

Three Year Old Cooper

2007-11-15T17:08:00.000-05:00

We took Cooper to get his official three year old picture taken on Wednesday (Logan gets her pictures taken at school now). Well, the little man glued himself to Mom, which made getting a happy picture of just him more difficult. SO, we decided to embrace the Coop. We threw a white t-shirt on him and tattooed his arm with a sharpie. Thus, the impromptu Mom and little J picture. Don't worry though, when he thought we were finished, we put his shirt back on him and, with Mom inches away, Dad started throwing a baseball. That's when our ball loving party guy broke out of his shell, as seen doing one of his famous victory dances. So in one sitting we captured his two personalities, CRAZY MAN/MAMA'S BOY.

PS La's picture turned out great too, we'll send it out with our Christmas cards if you haven't already gotten one.

AARRGGHH

2007-11-02T18:09:00.000-04:00

Here are our little pirates. The one shot is of them dressing up for trunk or treat at the church. Cooper was not feeling well so he wore his new 'do' business. Don't worry, he was feeling much better by Halloween when he got his spike on. The hair was cut with a bit of humor, until we realized how well it suits his personality (refer to previous blog entries for recent examples). The threes have really helped that little man break out of his shell and now he has a Mohawk to match.

Halloween this year was like going out as teenagers. We started out at 6:00 with our friends the Longs and their two children (who are the same age as ours). At our first house we had already added our neighbors and their two girls to the bunch. By the time we hit the bottom of the street some friends of ours had called and drove over to meet our group. We rounded the corner and went about a block, when the cell rang again and we picked up our final family of the evening and their two boys. Thats right, five families, eight adults and ten kids. That's when the adventure began. For whatever reason, the crew thought I was leading the pack. BUT, as we all know, I have a terrible sense of direction. By 7:30 I had wondered us into a totally different neighborhood. I think our kids logged 3 miles walking that night. They got the mother load of candy and finally arrived home at 9:00 (that's right, on a school night). It was a blast, we hit some of the coolest houses. One house had turned their garage into a spook house for kids and adults. We ran into a house that inflated a giant bouncy + slide in their yard for the kids and were making their own cotton candy. By 8:30ish we were still blocks away from our house, so some of the group caught a minivan back to our house and the rest of us (with older kids or a wagon) decided to huff it home. So Jeff threw our kids in the wagon and sprinted. We were laughing so hard it was hilarious. Us and our little kids, out late with all of the teenagers, making noise and causing havoc. AWESOME! The tater tots are still trying to recover, but in all a good memory.

Pillage and Burn (as Grandma Tate says)

2007-10-15T22:06:00.001-04:00

Have you ever seen 31/2 pounds of hot chocolate mix
in the hands of one three year old?

WELL, NOW YOU HAVE!I am amazed at how silent one little boy can be
when motivated by a curious mind.

By the way, that does NOT come out of carpet.

Tag...Your It!!!

2007-10-11T21:47:00.000-04:00

What I was doing 10 years ago: I

Ten years ago I was a newlywed in college. We had a little tiny puppy named Bruno living in a basement apartment at Grandma's house.

What I was doing 5 years ago:

Five years ago Logan was a year old, our dog was five. I worked part time and Daddy and La shared some QT on Saturdays.

One year ago:
One year ago La had just started Kindergarten which proved to be nbd for La and traumatic for Mom. Coop had just turned two and loved his mommy. I was helping my mother teach preschool and J was working full time from home for IBM. PS Bruno was becoming an old man at almost a decade old.

Yesterday:

Yesterday, as you heard, La had some oral surgery. Her twelve year molar formed on her baby tooth so the little tooth had to go and she got herself a little "mouth jewelry". So, we tried to have a down day, which in this house is sometimes impossible. That "down" day yesterday was followed twelve hours later with a set of fevers (I guess a fever bug is going around), where upon I attempted to have a second "down" day. All I have to say is it will take me a week to dig out the house from our "down" days. I guess down for two little people is 110% on for one big person.

5 snacks I enjoy:
As Connor calls them "emmies" , chocolate ice cream shakes, I love candy/gum, I'm a sweets kind of gal, I also love to eat cereal as a snack, tropical chex mix, rice cakes (the whole bag in one sitting), etc. Nothing too heavy, and nothing too light.

5 things I would do if I had $100 Million:
I would love to build an environmentally green house (paid for in full with cash, how fun would that be), I require someone to cook all of my meals and someone else to do all of the housework. I also insist on vacationing with the whole extended family, because why have a good time when you don't have your family there to share it with you.

5 places I would run away to:
I love beautiful, scenic, tranquil places, where one could clear their mind. For me this includes the mountains, the ocean, rivers, sky; BUT realistically is usually my shower or my bed.

5 TV shows I like:
Well without cable...lately I'm a flipper in the evenings, I watch them all

5 things I hate doing:
I hate "destroy mode." That's when I am busy cleaning one thing while my beautiful babies are creating huge messes elsewhere to surprise me. I recently recall Cooper going into my bathroom, emptying four new bottles of shampoo on the shower floor and did I mention there was a box of cereal involved. Good times!

Dirty dishes. I don't mind the clean ones, but those dirty ones I could do without. AND not to to be incredibly redundant, I could do without hearing my alarm go off on a cold winter morning when the sun is not even up yet. (Thanks Cara and Kendra for bringing up that painful memory) PS by alarm I mean a small person prying my eyes open demanding hot chocolate.

5 biggest joys of the moment: I get the biggest warm fuzzy every time my little ones see me and their faces light up. Same holds true for my big one. That fuzzy can last me all day.

I now have to tag 5 (or so) people: HAHA....YOU'RE IT!!!

Holly Springs Gold Homecoming 2007

2007-10-11T16:14:00.000-04:00

Prepare to laugh out loud........Our La is the ponytail second from the far right , on the back row. You will see that she rocks the house all the way down with her own arm interpretation. You can also see the Father/Daughter team in action for a brief moment.

Saturday was Homecoming for the HS Yellow Jackets. It was a great afternoon, and to cap it all off, we were on TV. This is a broadcast from the Local NBC Affiliate, for the Pint-Size Pigskin segment they did. The clip is below.

We were also able to enjoy the neighborhood fall festival. Only this year, it felt like a summer festival. They even had a water slide - in October. The kids totally did, and got soaked, La and jC had so much fun. From there we raced to the game so we could make our grand entrance.

Logan had her oral surgery - one of her molars was pulled yesterday, and she is doing well. It is a monster tooth to look at. La was so excited for the tooth fairy to come, but she was also amazed to have some Teeth Jewelry. The Dr. put in a spacer to help La's mouth keep form. She was out an running in no time with her friends. She also had to call Grandpa and Grandma Anderson to come over and have a movie night... They watched Barbie: Island Princess. La is our supercharged girl.

Enjoy the video - we sure did - Teri could be heard laughing throughout the house.

Busy Days

2007-09-14T15:32:00.000-04:00

Family, School, Chores, Church and CHEERLEADING -
Throw into that, the basic things or eating, sleeping and the remaining normal day activities, and you can wrap up our day last Saturday.

We started the day running, having had a long night on Friday due to a Pep Rally for the Holly Springs Yellow Jackets - of which the Divine Ms. La is a member of the Cheer Squad. It was a great time at the park, a great time that was had, dancing, playing chase with the football players, and all the Pizza we could handle.

Saturday started with a bang, the Holly Springs Ward, won their 2nd game of the year. A 100% increase from last year as we only one once. From there it was a race home so that Dad could get started with School. Once that was done, we tried to clean house as fast as we could so that we could go and visit the Cousins. Dallin, Ella and Brody were able to visit from Georgia. We were able to play for a little bit, and remember just how much we miss our cousins. Michael and Kendra were here as well, and it was great to see them as well.

Once we got our Cousin fix, it was a race to the football game. Logan was excited to wear her Uniform, and it was a great time. It was a little difficult to see Logan's brand new Cheer Shoes (completely white) get dirty. This is probably due to both of her parents being a little nuerotic, Dad with the Shoes, and Mom with getting things dirty. To end it all off, the HS Yellow Jackets beat the Wendell Rams 28-27, and it was all due to the spirit and cheers provided by our little cheerleader. She is such a cute cheerleader, it was the first time Dad was more focused on the Cheers, and not on the game - I mean how coud you not? Look how cute she is.

We miss all of our family - we are grateful, that the Anderson's have moved a little closer, so we can atleast see them occasionally. We are glad that the Kiggins are happy in Charlotte, and the Flanagans are at least within drivable distance. The Tates in Utah - well, thank goodness for the Verizon inNetwork.

See the pics below - Logan is so cute, and Cooper was hanging with cousin Brody at the football game.

Our USG Kids

2007-09-05T11:02:00.000-04:00

Well, here it is 2007 and we thought that we might as well sign up to blog - if for nothing else, we can post some pictures for Grandma and Grandpa. A lot has happened to these NC Tates thus far in 2007, Logan is in the 1st Grade, Cooper is starting preschool TODAY, and even Dad has caught the school bug from the kids and is pursuing an MBA from Colorado State University. Teri is also very busy as she starts school today as well, only she is much smarter than the rest of us, as she is actually teaching.

We have been able to go take our first trip to an Amusement park, remodel our bathroom, and still have time to go to the pool a lot. We have also rediscovered the joy of Disney's Cars. Cooper knows all the names, and he has a few cars that he may or may not let you play with. Logan is a big reader, and we love that she can read Cooper stories, and she can read Mom and Dad to sleep. Logan has also started CheerLeading - she loves it. She cheers for the Holly Springs Yellow Jackets, and we have our first game on Saturday, but even before that, we have a a PEP RALLY!!!!!!!! Can you believe it, she is only 6, and we feel like we have a highschooler. Stay tuned - we will post pictures from that as well. We stay busy, but we have lots of fun.

We love our family, and are excited to see who we can, we sure miss the Tates/Millets out in Utah, but we are grateful for the phones.

Please give us a call - we love to hear from you. To Grandma and PopPops - this pic is for you - aren't they so cute?