Chad's 37th Birthday

So can I just say, WOW!! Chad is really, really old....ha ha but seriously, I'm only 2 years younger but 2 years is forever, don't-cha think? 

Ok, so I wanted to include a picture of Chad in this post since is about him, but this was the only one I could find of him without someone else, so here you go...a man and his horse.

This year I was determined that Chad would have a fun birthday, and what's more fun than yummy food right?   First thing in the morning, I went out and got him breakfast. at 

McDonalds
2 Bacon, Egg and Cheese McGriddles

(The ultimate indulgence with crazy amounts of calories) but soooo good.

Later, we dropped the boys off at Mema and Papa's and took a drive to Jordan Commons to watch

The Hunger Games

I've been eagerly awaiting the release of this movie since I read the book for the First and Second times.  It was so good.  I'm glad Chad let me choose the movie, which was my favorite part of the afternoon. 

We watched the movie at the new VIP theatre experience. The movie tickets cost a little more but they open up a nice lounge that you can sit in about an hour before the movie.  They have a VIP menu that you can order yummy food from, we chose the Mandarin Chicken Wrap with Sweet Potato Fries and a Diet Coke for me, and the Chicken Parmesan sandwich on Foccaccia Bread with Sweet Potato Fries and a Diet Coke for Chad.  When the food was ready they brought it into the theatre that had very nice leather reclining seats and a tray to put the food on.  They had a player piano playing some country songs, it was funny hearing "All my ex's live in Texas", and "Friends in low places" played on a fancy player.  The staff was awesome and kept asking if we needed anything until the show started then we enjoyed the show.  It was awesome! That was Chad's favorite part of the afternoon.


After that, we went out to dinner with my side of the family to get some yummy BBQ at

Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse

where we had Ribs, Pulled Pork, Hot rolls, Brisket, Sausage, Baked Beans, Coleslaw, Mac and Cheese, just to name a few things.  It was fantastic.  

Overall, Chad was seriously spoiled by all the good food and fun times.  Hopefully he remembers this and I get something similar for my birthday in a few weeks.

Family Pictures

So we just got our family pictures done on Saturday and I LOVE them!  Here are some of my favorites....

I love this family of mine and am so grateful for the opportunity to spend my life with them.

A Thankful heart for Answered Prayers

Ok, so I know Thanksgiving was a while ago, but with all of the craziness going on in our house, I thought I'd take a minute to share some lessons I've learned lately that I'm grateful for and to express my appreciation to my Heavenly Father for answering prayers.

I'm grateful for my sweet Tanner.  For the past little while I've had a hard time with Tanner, our energetic just turned 4 year old.  It seemed to me that he just did naughty things all the time to get my attention.  He fought every thing I asked him to do and I admit, I started yelling at him on a regular basis.  By the end of each day I was so frustrated and just didn't know how to fix things. I felt bad about yelling but just hadn't been able find any solutions.  I would get mad, the yelling would make him less cooperative and it seemed like we were at an impasse.

 I've been praying for guidance and felt prompted that I needed to spend more time with him, and really appreciate him and his little personality.  So instead of yelling when he took the couch cushions off the couch for the millionth time to make a "swimming pool", I decided that he could play with them and once he was all done he could help me put them back.  I decided that the thousand "wardrobe changes" a day was just his way of pretending and expressing himself.  I've really taken the time to get down to eye level with him and really talk to him about his concerns and I've made it my mission to see his absolutely amazing smile as many times a day as possible.  I've worked at being more consistent and making sure to give him positive reinforcement whenever possible.

The results?  It worked in ways I wasn't expecting.  My little buddy now wants to hold my hand as he drifts off to sleep.  He tells me he loves me more and is generally a much happier kid.  Other family members have noticed the changes in him as well. When I look at him now it's not with aggravation at all the things he's doing to slowly drive me crazy, but joy in his industrious playtime adventures.  I  cannot tell you how overwhelmed with love I've felt and I'm so grateful that my situation was important enough to my Heavenly Father that he guided me in helping Tanner.  I'm so grateful for his sweet spirit and for all the lessons he teaches me each day.  Our family would not be complete without my sweet boy and as I tell him at bedtime: I love him to the moon and back, to infinity and beyond forever and forever.

Grandpa Bill

I have been working up to this post since around the 23rd of July and finally feel like I'm ready to post it. 

On July 21st my Grandpa had a massive heart attack while attending a funeral.  His brain was without oxygen for 5-7 minutes but then the paramedics brought him back.  He was on life support, pretty well unresponsive for 3 days and on Saturday, July 23rd our family made the difficult decision to take him off life support.  I had the great privilege to say my final goodbyes and be in the room when he passed away.  It was amazingly peaceful and although many, many tears were shed, I'm grateful for the knowledge that he is now at peace and reunited with many of his family members he hadn't seen for many years.

Grandpa was an amazing man.  He had a massive garden each and every year that took time and effort to create.  He shared his bounty with his family and also with many of his neighbors and friends.

 He was very ingenious and worked hard to re-use things others would have discarded. 

He loved keeping track of how his investments were doing in the stock market, and even though we all tried to get him to buy a computer he refused and used the Wall Street journal and a pencil and paper to keep track of things.

  He took care of my Grandma, especially in the last year with all her many problems and surgeries she had because of her hip replacements.  He put her shoes on for her every morning. 

He LOVED good food and I was lucky enough to get his approval for my Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe. (I was amazed I got his approval, it was a proud day).  He LOVED Oatmeal Raisin cookies and when we were little took his with him to the ZCMI treat counter to get them. 

When I was 4, my mom was diagnosed with Cancer and my Grandparents took us in so my Dad could continue to work hard for the family while my mom went through treatment. I know having 3 little kids underfoot in his home was not easy but he never complained. 

Whenever he was ready to go home from a family gathering he'd make a little hand signal by twirling around his finger which meant "Wrap it up dear, I'm ready to go home".

When buying furniture he always saved up, bought the best quality and then would keep it forever.

He LOVED my boys, and when we would go visit he would often be found on the floor playing with Knights and shooting cannonballs with and at the boys.

These are just a few things I want to remember about the man he was. I'll miss you more than words can say Grandpa.  God be with you til we meet again.


George William Sleight 1932 ~ 2011 Our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, George William Sleight, age 78, left this life surrounded by his loving family on July 23, 2011. His service to his Heavenly Father will continue in the Gardens of Heaven.Bill was born October 22, 1932 to Karl Sleight and Blanche Bateman. He spent his early years attending schools and working on the family ranch and farm in Southern Idaho where he learned self-reliance and independence, and where he formed his lifelong work ethics. He continually strived to pass on these traits and serve as an example to his friends and family. Bill moved to Salt Lake where he worked at Hercules and then later began his lifelong career (40 plus years) as an engineer with Mountain Bell. He maintained his work friendships with a group of his "cronies" from work once a month for lunch. Bill started his family by marrying Donna Pearson. They were later divorced. Bill then married Ruth Hardy and was looking forward to their 38 year anniversary in August. He is survived by his loving wife Ruth, children; daughters Linda Shiles and Jeanne (Larry) Wehrli; son, Robert (Jaleen) Flygare; daughter-in-law Patti Sleight, six grandchildren; Jordan, Angela, Julie, Mark, Todd, and Matt and ten great grandchildren. Also, survived by siblings Clyde Sleight and Elaine (Marvin) McLean. Preceded in death by parents and son Craig Sleight Bill's hobbies and passions include hunting, fishing, woodworking, and most importantly his fantastic garden. Family members and friends were recipients of his wonderful garden and loving care. Bill was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and he served in various callings. He served an Inner City Mission with his wife Ruth as well as being a temple worker for ten years and found great joy in service to others. Services will be held Friday, 11:00 a.m. July 29, 2011 at the Holladay 4th LDS Ward, 4917 Viewmont Street, SLC. Friends may call Thursday, 6-8 p.m. July 28 at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, 3401 Highland Drive, and 10:00 a.m. at the church prior to the service. Interment: Holladay Memorial Park, 4900 So Memory Lane, Holladay, Utah. Online condolences may be made to www.wasatchlawn.com

Who Moved my Cheese?

This is one of those stories that I'm sure I may laugh about one day

To say Tanner LOVES shredded cheese would be an understatement.  He is like a mouse.  Whenever I bring cheese home, even if I try to hide it in the fridge in a deep dark corner (OK, so I don't actually have deep dark corners in my fridge but you get the idea) he will find it. 

Recently, Chad went to the store and bought large package of cheese with 8 cups in it.

 (Approximately an $8 value)

(I couldn't find a picture of the 8 cup bag so I put up 4 small bags for my illustration.)

That's a lot of cheese, we thought we'd be set for awhile, sadly this was not to be.  A couple days later Chad asked me where the cheese was.  I hadn't opened the bag but I had cleaned out the fridge the day before so I thought I had accidently thrown the bag away, and didn't think any more about it. 

So we went on vacation for 5 DAYS, came home, settled back in and I decided to dejunk the boys room.  To give you some background, McKay and Tanner have bunkbeds, with Tanner being on the bottom.  I looked far under the bed to the dark corners behind the big toys that are stored under there and low and behold what did I find?  The missing 8 cup bag of cheese.  It had fallen off the bottom bunk and landed in the perfect hiding place. ICKY! The package was still unopened, surprisingly it wasn't green but given a few more days I'm sure it would have been.  The bag had gotten extremely large and looked like it was about to blow.  (Thinking back, I totally should have taken a picture of it but you'll have to take my word for it.) I quickly threw it away and was very thankful that it hadn't exploded.  Can you just imagine the smell, I'm sure it would have been bad enough to lose my lunch. 

As you can probably guess, I was not happy, that not only had we wasted $8, but that it could have easily been a disastrous mess that I would have inevitably had to clean up.  I had a talk with T-man, letting him know why bringing cheese into his room was a really bad idea, and also that if he wanted some cheese all he had to do was come ask me and I'd get it for him. He seemed to understand, but then again, he is 3 so I guess I'll be double checking the side of his bed every day for anything he may have snuck in there.  I'm also going to be on the hunt for a fabulous REFRIGERATOR LOCK.  Any suggestions?

"Please, call me Woody"

If you've seen Tanner lately, more than likely you've actually seen Sheriff Woody from Toy Story. Woody is his alter-ego, like Clark Kent turning into Superman. A few neighbors have said Hello to him, just to be told politely, "Please, call me Woody". When I call him by name to ask him to do something he looks at me and says, "I'm not Tanner, I'm Sheriff" or "I'm not Tanner, I'm Woody". Woody has been spotted on the playground, at the grocery store, at the local Costco, taking and picking McKay up from preschool everyday, at Grandma Karen and Grandpa Toms, at Mema and Papa's, and of course all day at our house. Previously Tanner was not much for wearing clothes and would take them off as fast as I put them on, but if he has his costume on, he generally stays dressed. Now, just imagine how hard it is for me to pry it off him to get in the wash...close to impossible but usually when he's sleeping I can hurry and stick it in the washer so it's nice and clean when he wakes up. Also, as Woody, Tanner loves to sing the "Woody's Round-up" song from Toy Story 2, and will put on an impromptu performance at the drop of a hat, (Woody's cowboy hat of course), As of yet, I haven't been able to get it on video so you'll have to picture Tanner's rendition as related by Mama:

Woody's wound up, come on time to play

with Jessie the yodeling cowgirl

Yo-da-le-HEEEE-who

Looky looky that's me

he's the wootin-ist, tootin-ist, cowboy in the Ild, Ild 'Est (wild, wild west)

Woody's WOOOOUNNNND-UP

After he sings, he tips his hat and takes a bow, followed by his hand on his hip and a gigantic smile.

                                       

Oh how I love this boy. It is so cute to watch him "in character" and I just can't wait to see what he comes up with next. So, if you see our little Sheriff around town, feel free to say hello, he may even tip his hat for you.

All caught up-10 new posts

So I'm finally caught up!! YAY!! 10 new posts...I vow to never get that far behind again.

Big boy Underwear

If you've talked to me lately, you know how frustrated and fed up I've been with the fact that a certain 3 1/2 year old still was not potty trained.

 He mentioned we didn't have any pets and I told him I'd buy him a fish or little frogs (the only pets I'd allow in my chaotic household.)  I tried bribing him with candy, new toys, a new costume, anything I could think of. 

Now, peeing in the potty came easily when he wanted to do it, which was sporatic but for some reason, he absolutely would not, and you could not make him poop.  He didn't want to sit on the toilet...the seat hurt his bum or so he said. 

Anyway, last week he came in my room and announced he "pooped in the potty", to which I unbelievingly responded, show me.  He marched me into the bathroom and proudly with the flourish of his hand showed me the potty that did indeed have some in it.  We cheered and did the "high 5" and the yay for Tanner dance, but having not actually seen him doing it, I wasn't 100% sure it was his...I thought it could be McKay's.  So he wore big boy undies for a couple days and pooped in them 4 different times, I wanted to scream and can tell you that I didn't feel bad one bit throwing the grody underwear away, I mean, come on, YUCK!! Well, we kept him in his big boy underwear anyway and finally it seems to have clicked, and we haven't had any accidents in about a week, so I'm officially calling him POTTY TRAINED!!! YAY!!!  Every time he goes, he comes in and demands I come see it.  He still won't sit on the seat, but sits on the rim because he says it doesn't hurt his bum...I say whatever he wants since I don't have to change any more poopy diapers.   

I did learn a huge lesson about Tanner.  HE ABSOLUTELY LOVES PRAISE!  Now, I knew this about him, but didn't really think about it in terms of potty training.   He didn't care about any of the things I tried to bribe him with, he responded best when he got genuine one on one attention and recognition for a  job well done.  It is so true that what works for one child doesn't necessarily work for another.  Potty training clicked for McKay when I threatened that he'd have to wear Pink Princess Pull-ups if he peed in his underwear and that's all it took.  Hopefully Grant will be much easier to train than the other 2 but I seriously doubt it.  Oh, Potty-training, one of the absolute worst jobs of parenthood, I'm glad you've come and gone again.