Traditions

I was talking with a few of my "friends" today about the holidays and traditions. I am always looking for cute traditions to incorporate with my own. I love traditions. I think that is part of the reason why I love the holiday season. So, if you have any you would like to share I would love to hear them.

A Good Laugh

Try calling this number for those of you who are into psychology. It is hilarious! 650-388-1117

Go Cougars!

At the last minute we decided to go to the BYU vs. Air Force game. One of the perks of being military is that our tickets were $5 and we were 3 rows up off of the field. I know, it must make some of you sick to your stomach, this is a rare moment when I can say haha. We packed up the whole family (no small task) and went to the game. We all had several layers of clothes on, kind of making us look like umpa lumpas but hey the only guy I have to impress is my cute husband. I love the Air Force games because you see so much patriotism. My eyes have been opened since we moved here and have been so affected by the military. You start to have a little more pride in the USA and a soft heart for the families that serve in the military. I know, some of you must be thinking well that is probably because you are in the military. Seeing families torn apart because of a war, men and women being sent home injured or worse, or just young people/families enlisting to make something of their lives you gain a new respect. So, when you see the jet planes fly across the stadium its not too far of a reach to think of them oversees on missions. When I hear the national anthem played, I think of soldiers like my neighbor across the street who has been gone from his family for over a year for the 3rd time in 5 years and I am grateful for our freedom. My boys love to see all the soldiers dressed in their different uniforms. Tyler knows exactly which ones are Army and he will tell me there is someone like daddy. I especially love going to games to watch Matt's face lite up. He is so happy when we are there and it makes my heart happy to see him happy. I enjoy the games too. I think I have myself convinced that if I go back to get my masters degree they will definitely let me on the cheer squad and I will be living the life!!!! I mean who wouldn't want a post baby body girl pushing late 20's in a short cheer skirt? I'm sure I am every guys fantasy!!! The boys had a great time. For the most part they did great. I mean you can't really expect to take 3 small boys to a cold football game and have them be perfect the whole time? Talan saw the Cougar mascot and was convinced it was a lion. So, Tyler would cheer go Cougars and Talan would cheer go lions. We made quite the cheering squad. We met up with our friends Jeff and Julie Jorgensen their son, (Matt's claim to fame that he knows a BYU player) Jan Jorgensen plays defense. We stayed after in the bitter cold to talk with him. It is amazing how tall and big those guys are. From the stands I think most guys think, I could play better, I could take him with 1 arm behind my back but, when you see them face to face I think most guys have a come to Jesus moment and re-think their lofty ideas. Jan was so nice as always. Jeff and Julie are truly special people, we are lucky to know them. Since the Cougars won it made it a perfect family memory.

The Dreaded Halloween Day Comes Yet Again

I have spent most of my life, as a mom, in tears at Halloween. It sounds so dumb but, it has usually ended up with children in tears, often not wearing a costume, much anticipation deflated. I always had such a hard time because I would look forward to seeing my child dress up and go trick or treating and it wouldn't happen. As a mom with a child with Autism you have to set standards low. If I have learned one thing that is it. So, my standards were low. We had our Wall E costume and Tyler loved it. Talan decided he wanted to be Jay Jay the Jet Plane so I searched for hours on the Internet. Leave it to Talan to choose a costume that is no longer being made. So, after bidding on multiple costumes on EBay I finally won one. It came he loved it, we were good to go. So, we wake up and go to Dunkin Donuts. My kids love Dunkin Donuts. There are only 2 in all of Colorado Springs instead of 2 on every corner like in Boston so it is a treat for my kids. We get dressed and drive there to find only about half of Colorado Springs is there getting donuts. The line went clear outside around the building. And I just saying, its in not a great part of town, there were weird people twitching in line, and it was all I could do to stand in this line with my 3 little youngsters. But, we did it. We got our orange donuts. Tyler had downed about 3 donuts before he realized that all the other children around were already in their costumes for the day. So, the idea hit him he needed his costume. We rushed home to grab the kids costumes so we could go to Barnes and Noble for reading time. Ty got dressed up and was happy as a clam (how do we really know clams are happy? Just wondering...........) I got out Jay Jay and here come the water works from Talan the child who I don't have lowered standards for. He refused to put on his costume that I spent hours getting. So, Tyler trick or treated around Barnes and Noble and Talan just put a candy bag in people's faces. We ran home for a little down time when Tyler said,"mom where is your pretty princess costume?" I said, Ty I don't have a costume and he was so sad. So, I put on my old cheer outfit. Lets just say I don't know how I wore that short of a skirt that many times in high school. Its probably because now I have more junk in the trunk then I did then!!! And, now having 3 kids the outfit didn't quite fit the same but it zipped which is all that mattered. Oh well, hopefully i will never see those people again. We met up with our neighbors and went trick or treating in old town Colorado Springs. It was almost like a carnival/parade. It was a blast. Tyler had so much fun. Talan pretty much stuck to the stroller and refused his costume for the day. Matt unfortunately got off late so he came straight from work to meet us still in uniform. While it may look like Matt got dressed up he didn't get to which if you know my better half you know he was disappointed. All in all, my Talan wouldn't dress up, Tyler had a blast, Trevin was a very cute and happy fireman, and I relived my past. What could be better?

Day O Fun

Tyler had Thursday and Friday off from school last week. So, I wanted to try and make it fun. It isn't too often that we have time to kill and fun Holidays around it so, I thought lets make the most of it and live it up. We woke up and went to pump it up with our friends Chase and Aiden. It was so much fun! I swear I could play there for hours without the kids. They would bounce from blow up thing to blow up thing laughing and giggling. It is one of those rare moments where you feel like a really good mom. You know when all those worries, guilt for cleaning too long or talking to your sister on the phone too long all go away and you feel like your kids really love you. I also took Trevin down the slide and he giggled. I thought I might get a nap out of everyone afterwards but no, I was not so lucky. Then we went to the zoo. If you ever need a good work out go to the Colorado Springs zoo pushing a double stroller with a baby strapped on you. It is almost all uphill in the mountains, lets just say certain muscles were beyond burning. We got to hand feed the giraffes and the birds. Talan was afraid the giraffes would eat his hand so he kind of threw the cracker at it instead of letting the tongue come out and grab the cracker. Any who, it was cute. Rumor has it that all zebras have the same number of stripes...... Fact or fiction? Look it up! Anyways, it was a long fun filled day.

Happy Apple Farm

Having just moved here from Boston, we are missing certain things that Boston had to offer. Most specifically besides friends, the apple picking. My family really loved picking apples. It was such a fun tradition, if you have the opportunity by your house you really should try it sometime. So, we found Happy Apple farm in our area. It advertised apple picking, pumpkin patch, hay rides, etc. So we pack the whole fam damily up and drove there. Well, the trees didn't have apples, and the pumpkins were sparse but it was still fun. We walked around and let the boys choose there pumpkins for Halloween. Tyler kept looking for Spookey the square pumpkin but did not find him. Every time we tried to guide the boys to a certain pumpkin they yelled at us and said, "NO!!!! You said we could pick which ever one we wanted." So there you have it, we were overruled by a 5 and 2 year old. Talan absolutely loved the hay ride. He thought it was the next best thing to chocolate milk! The best part for me, the kids got free candy bags with sour licorice in the them! Yum yum.

Tyler's Fall Party

Ty was looking forward to his "Fall Party" all week long. He kept reminding me day of that I

needed to come to his classroom with cupcakes. It was really fun to go in and participate in his party. His face lit up when he saw me, Tyler and Talan. I hope the day never comes when he is embarrassed to see me at school. He is so proud of me when he sees me he tells everyone around who I am and sometimes asks his friends to move so I can sit with him. His teacher is so kind hearted and sweet. She has cute catch phrases like make smart choices with your body, and she says soar in 4, 3, 2, 1 and like magic the classroom is completely still and quiet. It is quite the magic trick. I wish she could come and teach my kids at home. They would be whipped into shape in no time! Tyler kept going through the food line but so many things had chocolate he only ended up eating 2 cupcakes but he was still thrilled for the party. The top picture is of Tyler and his friend Brennen. In the bottom picture Tyler is standing in a white shirt second in from the right.