Tooth Fairy Mail Box

Since Spencer has his first loose tooth I thought it would be wise to make something to put the tooth in when it finally comes out.  (Spencer's up on a high loft bed - the Tooth Fairy might have difficulties being stealthy while trying to look under the pillow for his tooth.)

So off to Hobby Lobby I went.  (With Josh and Cole in tow.  You'd think I'd learn, but I don't.  Little boys + Hobby Lobby = BAD combination.  But I digress... and I try to forget about the incident.)

Anywho, this is what I came up with:

It's a Tooth Fairy mailbox!  Made from a small paper mailbox, some tole paint, a few stickers, and Modge Podge. (I had never used Modge Podge before.  I lurrve it and am itchin' to find myself another project to use it in!) I think it turned out pretty well.  Cute, but not over-the-top-girly cute, which is mostly what I found online when looking for ideas.

Now we just wait for that tooth.  Spencer's been working on it lately and it's starting to gross me out.  I vividly remember the feelings and sensations of having loose teeth; it's not pleasant.  But I also remember grossing out my mom with my loose teeth, too, so I guess I kinda have loose tooth karma.

WANT.

Family Pictures

While we were out in UT, Dad and Susie decided we needed to have some family pictures taken.  (Susie's niece generously offered to be the photographer.)

This was a good idea because it had been quite a while since we had had a nice family portrait.

This was also a bad idea because Josh was there.

This started off well enough.

And then Josh decided he needed to growl.

A few candids while we tried to get everyone situated and Josh to behave.

Poor Susie had the task of trying to get Josh to cooperate.

Finally, she realized there was only one thing to do.  (This is my favorite photo by far...)

Who knew Susie was so accomplished in the headlock arts?

So we decided to try some different poses.

There we go!  An actual decent picture!

Will wonders never cease.

Then it was time for some of just ElRay Roper's progeny.  I think my brothers look like they're sprouting out of me in this one.

Kevin practicing his GQ moves.

Ah, this one's much better.

And then I lost it.  (Lance made some joke about Kyle's hair (or the lack thereof, rather) and I just couldn't pull myself together after that.  I had actual tears, people.)

While I tried to stop laughing it was time for Dad and Susie.  I think this is the one that belongs on the mantel.

But they'll probably go with this one.

Then one with just the five Ropers.

And the two best-behaved Madsens.

After that we just played around in the yard and had fun.

Susie tried again, unsuccessfully, to reign Josh in.

Ah, there we go, maybe he'll be pleasant now!

Never mind.  That boy ain't right...

The photographer made it her goal to get some happy shots of Josh.  He's actually quite photogenic... when he doesn't know there's a picture being taken.  (Next year's pictures will be taken by a spy.)

Josh in his natural state: ornery cuss.

Fortunately, Lance knows how to deal with ornery cusses: beat 'em into submission.

The next Payton Manning? 

Finally!  Lance got Josh to smile naturally!

The end.

Cole's New Trick

Cole has a new trick. 

He likes to take his diaper off at night.  (Or maybe it's early morning - who knows?)  And then he likes to pee all over his crib.

And play in it.

I don't like this new trick.

Kick in the Pants

Josh's latest favorite thing to call people is "Kick in the Face".

As in today, when we were dropping Lance back at work after a lunch date:

Lance: 'Bye Joshie.

Josh: 'Bye KICK IN THE FACE!!!  Hahahahahahaha!

Or this little tidbit I heard in Cole's room today:

Cole: Baaah!  Daaddyyy daddddyy!  Aghwtnogjoslsg sdghosdhg. Yeah.

Josh: Cole, your name isn't Cole.  Your name is KICK IN THE FACE!!!!!! Hahahahahahahaha!

Cole: Hahahahahahaha!

Or my personal favorite:

Me: Joshie, please pick up your shoes and put them away.

Josh: No way, KICK IN THE FACE!  Hahahahahahaha!!!!

Me (completely kidding, of course): I'll give you a kick in the face!

Josh: No, Mommy-Kick-In-The-Face!  That will hurt.

We're not quite sure where he got this little ditty from.  The closest we can figure out is that he heard someone (probably me) use the term "Kick in the pants".  (As in, "I love that kid.  He's a kick in the pants!")

So far he seems to only use this term of endearment on family members.  So if you find yourself being christened "Kick in the face", try feel the love with which it is intended.

A Good Smack in the Face

Spencer has his first loose tooth!  It was the first thing he told me when he woke up yesterday morning.  He is quite excited, and, I think, a bit relieved.  He had always been a bit nervous about the idea of having a loose tooth.  Now that he does he can see it's not that big of a deal.

I couldn't really see it jiggle, but I took his word for it.  I figured we had at least a few weeks before it came out.

And then Joshie punched Spencer in the mouth.

You read that right.

I wasn't there, but apparently there was some scuffle down in the basement over a toy.  Joshie has something of a short fuse.  And lately, his way of dealing with that is hitting.  (Hitting things, hitting toys, hitting brothers, hitting Mommy... Why yes, there have been a lot of time outs in our home lately.  Why do you ask?)  Spencer was probably being obnoxious enough that Joshie decided a good smack in the face was in order.

I'm not saying that hitting is ever right.  But I'm also not saying that Spencer is entirely blameless.

Anywho, poor Spencer came melodramatically crawling up the stairs, bawling, with a bloody mouth.  Josh had hit the loose tooth just right.

The tooth is now jiggly.  I suspect Joshie inadvertently sped up the date of the Tooth Fairy's first visit to our home.

Now to find and/or create the perfect tooth pillow/pocket/box and decide just how generous this fairy will be.

Fill In The Blank

Today I was at the kitchen table helping Spencer with his homework.  Josh was sitting across from us doing his own "homework" and Cole was walkin' around into walls and stuff.

Several of the math problems Spencer was working on had blanks, so we would read them out loud as "blank".  (Such as "______ is 1 less than 9.)  (Answer: 8.  Just in case you needed the help.)

After several minutes of this Josh interrupted.

Josh: Mommy!  This is a blank!

At which point he winked at me.

Me: Wha...?

Josh: This is a blank!  Not that!

This time he double winks. Emphatically.

Me: Josh, what are you... (at which point it dawns on me)  Oh!  You mean blink!  You're blinking, not blanking!

Josh: No.  This is a blank.

He blinks.

Me: No, that's a blink.  You blink your eyes.  You fill in the blanks.

Josh (in that voice that only means "I will NEVER give in, no matter how wrong I am"): No.  I blank my eyes!

Me: Right.  Then get back to blanking your eyes.

Which he did.

That kid cracks me up.

Haircut!

I got at least 8 inches chopped off yesterday.

So far not a single person in my home has noticed.  (Or at least mentioned it.)

That's because I live with a bunch of testosterone-laden heathens.

That's okay.  I'm more than enough girl for them!

Top Ten Lists

Monday was Lance's and my 10 year anniversary.  Crazy.  In honor of this momentous occasions here are a few top ten lists I just threw together I've been working on all week.

Top Ten Reasons I Didn't Blog About Our Anniversary ON Our Anniversary

1. I was exhausted from yet another day of unpacking and cleaning. 
2. I was still frazzled from taking three kids to the school's open house.  (Seriously, school, you couldn't have the open house just a little bit later so that the dads could come home and watch the youngest kids?)
3. I was pretty sure no one would notice.
4. We had already celebrated with the cruise in May.  Did it really need another blog post?
5. I was too full from the oh-so-fancy anniversary dinner we got from Jimmy Johns. Yum.
6. There was a pretty good Seinfeld rerun on at the same time I supposed to be blogging. (Not true.)
7. Lance and I spent most of the evening getting my plants out of our bathtub (where they had been put for safe keeping) and into the kitchen and living room.  It was a bigger job than expected.  (True.)
8. I was too busy trying to explain to Spencer and Josh what an anniversary is and why they should care.  (They didn't care.)
9. I was too busy trying to prevent Cole from falling to his death down the stairs, which he thinks he can descend by just walking forward.  (Seriously, Cole, you can't walk 35 inches without wobbling and you think you can walk down the stairs?!)
10. I was too busy making out with Lance.  (True or not true?  You decide.)

Top Ten Things I Remember About Our Wedding Day

1. Waking up in my aunt and uncle's unfinished basement.  It was, apparently, the only place in all of Utah County where I could be alone for one more night.  And I was grateful for it!
2. Eating cold cereal for breakfast at the kitchen counter with my 8 year old cousin.
3. Indulging my mom in the bridal room when she wouldn't stop messing with my dress and trying to make sure that it was all perfect.  It bugged me, but I wisely decided to let it go!
4. Sitting with Lance in the Celestial room all by ourselves.  For quite a while.  We began to really wonder if they had forgotten about us, it took so long!
5. Not being nervous at all - until right before the ceremony took place.  And then being perfectly fine again once it was over.
6. Getting sunburned during our photo shoot outside after the ceremony.
7. Lance misplacing his keys.  We were getting into my parent's minivan with my 16 year old brother when he realized he had a spare. Auspicious beginning to a marriage, right?
8. Wanting to go watch X Men between the wedding brunch and the open house, but the show times online were wrong so we missed it.  We wisely took a nap instead!
9. My dad being late to the open house because he was golfing.  Mom was not amused.
10. Lugging our bags up a rather steep staircase at the bed and breakfast we were staying at that night in Midway, while the B&B staff just watched. Great customer service there.  (Can you sense the sarcasm?)

Top Ten Reasons I Love Lance

1. He's a computer GENIUS!
2. He knows when I'm about to lose it with the kids and then takes over.
3. He has a quirky sense of humor that matches mine perfectly.
4. He works hard to keep me in this extravagant lifestyle to which I have become accustomed.
5. He is a worthy priesthood holder.
6. He took me on a cruise.  True, I did all the planning and research and work for it to happen; but he let me do this, and that made me extremely happy.
7. He takes care of Cole during the second and third hours of church so I don't have to deal with him while I'm in Primary.  (And by take care of Cole I mean wrangle.)
8. He bought me a house.  Sure, it created the most stressful 6 week period of my life (and that's sayin' somethin', considering I have three little boys, one of them being Josh), but I'm still glad we have the house.
9. He says his phone is better, but secretly knows that mine is. ;)  He also brainwashes Spencer about why Windows 7 is better than any other Windows version out there, and teaches Josh how to kill zombies on computer games.  I'm sure he is already working on teaching Cole some valuable life skills.
10. Um, have you seen how hot he is?

Top Ten Memories (That Just Popped Into My Head) in Our Ten Years of Marriage
(This list is by no means exhaustive; there's a lot more stuff that has happened.  I just didn't think of it now.  Or wisely decided not to include it.)

1. The time we hiked The Narrows in Zion National Park.
2. The week we spent in San Diego for our first annivesary.
3. Sleeping on the hide-a-bed in our living room in our tiny first apartment because the air conditioning unit only cooled that room and it was something like 292 degrees at 11pm.
4. Driving from Utah to Indiana in a Uhaul with a 6-month-old Spencer in between us.  And promising each other we would never make that drive again.
5. Stuffing towels into the window of our bedroom in our grad school apartment because it wouldn't close all the way and it was approximately -129 degrees at 11pm.  (This was before the extravagant lifestyle came into effect.  I am happy to report that all of our windows have been able to close since then.)
6. Lance telling me that he thought we were having another boy right before I went in for my ultrasound for Cole.  Me thinking the exact same thing right before he said it.
7. Going to Cedar Point with Kyle and Kevin.  Not our most romantic anniversary, but that didn't matter because it was AWESOME.
8. Putting in that back yard to our first house.  (Hauling out the rocks, hauling in the dirt.)  Sure, not my happiest memory - but I'll certainly never forget it!
9. Spencer breaking his arm when I was around 7 months pregnant with Josh.  And then having to sit out in the hallway with Lance, listening to Spencer cry while they reset the bones.  I'm pretty sure they made us both leave because they thought I was the crazy pregnant lady.  I probably was in that situation.  Also not the best memory, but also something I will never forget.
10. Pretty much the entire cruise.  When I'm stressed and need to go to my 'happy place' I just think about all the fun I had with Lance and I feel better. 

Cascade Springs & Canyon Picnic

Whew - last Utah trip post.  Finally!

The day before we went home we went to Cascade Springs with Lance's parents.  The weather was absolutely perfect and the scenery was pretty.  The boys were hyper and grouchy, but that's pretty much normal whenever we travel.

Just to prove that we actually went. :)

There's something about bridges these boys just love.

Checkin' out the lower springs.

Walking with grandpa.

A self-portrait.  Because it was a Tuesday.

This kiddo is such a good little traveler!  He just chilled in his stroller most of the time.

Spencer showed off his mad reading skills at most of the signs.  His correct pronunciation of most of the geological terms was actually quite impressive!

We asked Vigo to take a picture of just the two of us.  I had to crop out the fighting children. :)

Chillin' on another bridge.

I asked Spencer to pose for a picture.  This is what I got.

Josh was actually in a pretty good mood.

He even let me hold his hand sometimes!  (I think he was a little nervous.  This was after Spencer had fallen and skinned both of his knees pretty badly.)

Joy and Viggo

After Cascade Springs we went on a picnic up American Fork Canyon.  We had a picnic table right next to a stream, and the boys had a fantastic time throwing rocks into the water and getting filthy.  (I never did get a good answer as to why Lance decided to dress them in white that day...)

Awesome scenery, right?

Little boys in their natural element - near water, dirt, and rocks.

Poor Cole was strapped in his stroller, despite the fact that he quite vocally let us know he'd rather be down by the water with his older brothers.

More bridge action.

Chuckin' rocks.

Check out the dirt mustache on that kid.