the game of LIFE

We decided to play LIFE with our kids for the first time, hoping they would be old enough. It was so much fun!

Lydia won, big time. She chose not to go to college and became a professional athlete earning 90,000. Lucky. She liked spinning the wheel and getting kids, but didn't actually care about the money :)
Alex went to college and became a rock star... his choice :) He earned 20,000 a year and LOVED the money. He had no idea he was almost broke the entire time.
It's been nice and slow around here for the holidays. We've stayed inside a ton because I'm attempting to potty train Lydia (which I'll never devote a blog post to... hate it that much) but because we're inside the kids are literally jumping off the walls.

I love their face in mid-air :)

7 years

Before I get lovey about Dave in this post, I wanted to post some funny pictures we took. Our "new to us" computer has a photo booth on it. And Lydia, Alex, and I played on it for about 45 minutes the other day. These are some of the best :)

And now, about the love of my life...

Yes, it's been 7 years of marriage for us :) Do you like the picture? This is colored pencil :)

What can I say about this guy? Nothing that you want to read, I'm sure. But I will tell about our anniversary, if you bear with me :) He kept it a secret, because I LOVE surprises. We drove up to Estes Park and spent the night in the EXACT same place we spent our honeymoon! We even ate at the same neat little restaurant. It was so much fun to remember way back when. He's an amazing man, and I'm glad I still got him :)

Ho Ho Ho

Christmas was a quiet success at our home this year. Alex woke up at 7am but didn't want to look at the tree until Lydia was up. So I went downstairs to turn on the pretty lights while Alex woke up Lydia. They were very excited to see the tree, which I got on video. Good thing too, because I forgot to wait till Dave came down...oops!

A few of his haul, transformers and spiderman slippers :)
Lydia's big gift was a pink bike. We got it as a hand-me-down and it's just perfect. Summer will be outside for these guys. She just kept saying "thank you guys, thank you thank you!" It was wonderful :)

In the afternoon we had an annual christmas party at my parents house. This is the one time I see almost all of my family on that side, so I love it. There's a lot of loud laughing and ignoring the kids, and even more good good food. Merry Christmas everyone!

5

I didn't think I was that busy, but it's been a long time since my last post...oops. Anyway, Alex turned 5 on the 19th! We didn't have his party until the 21st so we couldn't say happy birthday to him until the party. I guess the cake and candles make it official, never mind what mom says :)

It turns out Al is picky about friends, I like most the kids his age but he's pretty nit-picky. While we're working on that flaw with him, he does have some amazing friends that are just joys to be around. His cousins, Elijah, Madeline, Jaxen, and some new friends Adriana and Jack. It was a very pleasant party (as 5 year old birthdays go :)
They were all scientist, so I made lab coats for them out of t-shirts. We did experiments and made things blow up, fizzle and change colors. We also let them make whatever "mixed" drink they wanted. Out of juices and pops, of course

I love this picture of Jaxen, no wonder Alex loves that guy :)
And Lydia always feels cool sitting next to Madeline. I'm so glad we have some nice older cousins here to show my kids the ropes.

And now on to Christmas! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

Gingerbread houses

Our annual tradition continues. Each year the houses get better and the kids eat less candy. We even got to show it off at our ward christmas party this year (there was a contest). Although we didn't even come close to winning :)

I wanted to put in a picture of Autumn, she's one year now and Lydia is starting to realize how cool she is
Melissa was getting rid of some clothes and gave us this kid scrub uniform. Jason (my brother) got it for his son when he was in medical school many moons ago.
Alex was wearing it while playing with Jason & Melissa's kids at grandma's house. Alex was screaming loud and so Jason came in and said "Alex, don't scream" and Alex held up his hand and said "excuse me, call me doctor" I'm so glad he said that to Jason, it made it that much more hilarious ;)

Earrings

When I was 7 years old my mom finally let me pierce my ears. She didn't want me to do it for all those adult reasons, i.e. big responsibility, permanently changing my body, etc. Anyway, she gave in and I got them pierced. When I was 13 they closed up because I'm allergic to all earrings besides the 14K gold posts...

I never really cared that they were closed, but I started getting the itch to have some more bling on my face :) So, last night I got them pierced again :)

It was really funny because at first she thought I was getting Lydia's ears pierced, then she thought I must be getting 2nd holes because what 29 year old doesn't have their ears pierced? It didn't hurt as much as I remember, I fainted the first time :) I also really felt like I should call my mom first and ask her, but I didn't...such a rebel :) Now with all the cleaning and "careful sleeping" I have to do with newly pierced ears, I totally agree that it's much too great of a responsibility for a 7 year old.

EEG

The test I took after the last post was an EEG test. It's such a funny test, and I keep trying to remember to take a camera, but always forget. So here's a picture of what I kind of look like during the test...

photo courtesy of wisconline.com

Although, all my cords are different colors and I have hair :) During this test you lay on a really comfortable bed in a dark hotel-like room. You have to blink a whole bunch of times, then you keep your eyes closed while you make yourself hyperventilate, then a strobe light is in your eyes for like 3 minutes going faster and faster, and then you try to fall asleep.

The reason this test is funny is because of how it looks, and that it seems like they're just playing with you the whole time. That's how all of neurology seems to me. They make you stand on one foot, and then they kind of tap little places to see if you fall. I think they go back to their office and just LAUGH at all the silly things they made me do :)

Anyway, my test is over and I don't know the results. But, I did get to sleep last night, so I'm a happy camper! Happy thanksgiving!

Scary movies, anyone?

This was the only picture I could find of me looking scared, but...
I must be 8 years old again

I'm scared to look out the windows, I don't want to be close to under my bed, I don't like walking in the dark, and I have the TV on just for company. Why? I did something dumb.

I'm staying up late for another test tomorrow morning. I went shopping at midnight (it wasn't nearly as fun as in college, but I did sing to the music for old times' sake :), and then I rented a movie. Dave likes most movies, but he HATES scary movies. So I decided to rent one. I just finished. It's 2 am and I'm scared! I should've gotten someone to watch it with me. I still have 45 minutes until I can go find comfort in my bed, until then I think I'll waste time with facebook...

Alex

Alex has always sounded older than he is (not acted).  He even defined the word "omnipotent" in primary when he was 3.  Today we both have colds and were sniffing.  He said, "mom, let's make a nose band"  Recently he's started to put his gift onto paper.  This was my birthday card this year...

I know you can't read that or see what it is, so I'll explain :)  It's a rocket ship, with a man hanging off it, and then his name up at the top written pretty fancy.  Then he had Dave write this, "Dear Mom, We're going to have a blast birthday party. Happy birthday!  I love you"  Hallmark, here we come :)

    Alex and Lydia have also starting taking pictures.  Thank GOODNESS for digital.  Anyway, I found this one on the camera today...

That little temptress :)

Snow

We had our first big snowfall this winter, about two days before halloween!  This was the first day, the second day it snowed all day too, but there was only about 6 more inches

I LOVE the snow.  It makes everything so quiet.  We played forever outside, and when Dave came home he helped the kids make a hilarious snowman (sorry, no pictures)

And of course we went sledding. Lydia is a trooper, she walks up the hill all by herself, always face plants in the snow, usually can't see because of her hat, and never complains.  She just says "let's do it again!".  Alex is finally starting to get steering down, which is better for everyone on the hill :)
Luckily it was mostly gone by Saturday night, so trick-or-treating was still a success :)

Halloween

We had a halloween party last weekend and got to dress up :)  Here is snow white and peter pan 

We also had to make a "spooky" dessert.  We chose eyeball cookie balls :)  Dave was really good at making red veins on the eyes.  He said it's from practicing in his youth
Right now there is about 2 feet of snow outside, and it's still snowing.  I'm not sure trick-or-treating will be happening...maybe just to grandparents :)

"Hi HOO!" It's home from work we go...

All our work was at home lately, but we are done! Yipee!!!!  Here are some hard to see before and after shots.  And the most work you can't even see, which was the roof.  But Dave and I have successfully re-roofed, re-painted, and re-built our deck.

  Here's before (about 3 years ago when we first moved in).  I was prego with Lydia here :)

And here is after... tada!
My favorite part is the deck, we put solar lighting on the posts, and I'm finally not scared to have my kids up there alone, there's no way they could fall through or under that thing!
Now Dave has the remodeling bug, and I'm milking it for all it's worth :) 

pum'kin pickin'

We went to Anderson Farms again this year, it's so big, with so much to do, that I convinced Dave to skip work a little and come along :)  Outside the corn maze

Bored Jaxen, and Alex copying him :)
Our pumpkins... My niece Madeline always tries to find the biggest, and she found a WHOPPER this time.  My brother is making a new rule that you have to be able to carry your own...he almost hurt himself
classic picture, no matter where :)
Our kids first funnel cake...Lydia didn't understand how to eat it
I also got my own seat in the water barrel train... I was the only adult on it.  And I'm really sad I didn't get any shots of Autumn, she's adorable as always :)  Jason, Melissa, and Grandma Marty came along too, but they don't seem to make it in our pictures...

What makes us smile

I had to write down some cute stories about my kids.

  Lydia calls kleenex "bless yous".  I smile every time she says it.  She also knows the words to all the popular songs that we listen to in the car and sings them out loud.  Sometimes I am allowed to sing with her :)  (but usually not...)

Our whole family went to the $1 theater and saw "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs".  It's not a great movie, not even good.  But Alex really gets into all shows, and with the big screen he really feels like he's there.  At one point in the movie A T-Rex is stomping around the ice age looking for her kids (long story).  It's the first time we see the big dinosaurs in the movie so all the ice age animals are scared and hiding.  At one point there's a little deer (or it's ancestor) and it's trying to run, and then decides to hide.  The T-rex leans down and looks right at it (just like Jurassic Park) and Alex suddenly stands up and SCREAMS a high pitch horror movie scream.  The whole theater laughed as I quickly covered his mouth and sat him down.  We're still laughing about it now, I guess the big theater might be too much for his emotions :)

Circus

Al's preschool had cheap circus tickets, so we all went!  Here we are early, we were told you could see the animals up close...but you couldn't.  The clowns were funny though

All my pictures are bad, and I didn't get any pictures of the most exciting acts because I didn't want to take my eyes off the stunts.

They've put a lot more acrobatic acts in the circus from when I last saw it (which was when I was 7).  The focus definitely isn't the animals anymore.  They still had elephants, horses, zebras, and tigers.  The tigers were so scary that I could barely watch.  I was just holding my breath for that crazy man in the cage with 9 full grown tigers.  He's weird.

  It was fun, and really long!  We also got free comic books about elephants from the PETA guys protesting outside :)  Great day.

La Dolce Vita

We went to the Italian festival!  Every year this gets better, mostly because the kids get older :)  I have absolutely NO Italian blood in my veins, but I've learned all the words to "Funiculi, Funicula" thanks to Dave, so I feel very authentic :)

Face painting on the arm (doesn't get in your eyes that way)  Alex the dragon warrior, and Lydia the butterfly
Flag throwers, they're amazing.  But those outfits looks SO hot.
Lydia and Al also helped make "little feet merlot"  So, they stomped some grapes.  Only kids can do it, kind of like child labor except they volunteer.  I don't know how excited I am to drink (if I did drink) merlot that was crushed by children's feet.  Those feet are dirty!
They had a blast.  It looked like so much fun that I really wanted to jump in, except then it would be "big feet merlot".  Doesn't sound as tasty.
Lydia slipped and fell in the merlot :)  It was such a fun day, and a great break from everything going on in our lives.  Thank you Italian festival!

Steamboat

Labor day weekend is traditionally the Mauger family reunion.  We used to go to Moab and mountain bike, but we're getting more kids in the family and that vacation is losing its fun :)  So, this year we went to Steamboat.  We stayed in a really big cabin (more like a house) all together, so we got to know each other pretty well :)  It was a true cabin with taxidermy and antlers all over.  The owner was also kind of obsessed with santas...weird.  Anyway, here's Lydia playing on her new best friend, the bear skin rug.  (I was completely grossed out by this)

Steamboat is a tourist town, so we had a BLAST!  Here we are at the "Wild West Air Fest".
Lydia and Alex getting outfitted in town, it's cowboy/ski country.  So she's sporting the latest in pink boots and hats :)
We went to a stock dog show (like the movie "Babe")  Here's Daniel & Michelle with Steve's little guy Weston
And Steve and Kass
We also went to a bull riding competition which was SO much fun!  I had no idea.  Alex and me were screaming all the time whenever the bull would come after one of the rodeo clowns.  People did look at us weird, so Alex decided to really give them a show.  I couldn't upload the video so if you want to see it... go to YouTube and type in "Alex dancing at the bull riding competition".  It's sideways because it was taken with my cheap camera, which apparently can't edit itself :)  but, it's hilarious.  We'll show you pictures of our home when it's all painted and roofed, should be soon!