Monet in the making

Lately when Ryan goes to the daycare at the gym (to see the "buddies," he calls them) he has been painting with watercolors. Yesterday he really wanted to paint but didn't get to. So today while I was out and about, I was really brave (and nice) and purchased a new set of Crayola's finest for my boy. He was so excited. So I put on a superbig t-shirt on him and put him in the high chair so he wouldn't ruin our dining set. I am pleased to say that it wasn't a total disaster like I was expecting. He didn't even get any paint on his shirt. The colors did get a little mixed up and he wanted to drink the water and lick the brush, but I can deal with that. Still working on staying in the lines and keeping the colors separated, so instead of being a Leonardo, he's more of a Monet right now...

Sorry

So I haven't posted anything for awhile. We've been a little busy. Doing what? I have no idea. Somehow the time seems to fly by so quickly, but if you ask me what I did at the end of the day, I wouldn't be able to tell you. A couple of highlights over the past couple of weeks:

- We celebrated Dave's 30th birthday

- We went to the parade to celebrate the Utes 13-0 season

- Dave put up more shelves in most of our closets, giving us ssssoooo much more storage space

- We added more to our food storage

- Ryan is mostly potty-trained with the #1 thing (still has yet to poo in the potty)

- I have a new helper to help me clean the potty

Here's some pictures.

Happy Holidays a little late

Okay, so I'm a bit slow to give the old Holiday report. To apologize, I'm treating you to Ryan's version of Jingle Bells:



This year was full of some new traditions, with Dave's parents being home and my grandparents getting old. We started out the holiday celebration at Dave's parents house. It was priceless to see Ryan open his first present. He was so excited to play with the new tractor set that he didn't want to open any other presents. But we convinced him to do so. After all of the present opening mayhem, Ryan had fun playing air hockey against his cousin Ben. Fun to watch. Later that evening we went to my grandma's house for the German feast. She says this is probably the last time she'll do it at her house because our family is getting too big and she's getting too old. Christmas just won't be the same without it.

On Christmas morning, we woke up to a big snowstorm and wondered if we would get to leave the house. After we opened most of our presents, our parents all came over to our house for a yummy crepes breakfast. Luckily, my mom and dad had enough room in their 4-wheel-drive sleigh to take us back to their house for dinner and more presents. It was the funnest Christmas we've had in a while. It's so much more fun when Santa comes to your house and brings toys.

For New Year's Eve, we went to watch the Utes beat Gonzaga! The next morning, Dave left for New Orleans for a good time at the Sugar Bowl (pictures and report to come soon, right Dave?). Go Utes!

Our week in review

So here's what we did this week:

Sledding

Visiting the jolly ol' fat man

Not pictured: shopping, shopping, more shopping; wrapping, wrapping, and more wrapping; washing 5 extra loads of laundry because Ryan is having more potty failures than successes (I think we're running an accident:success ratio of 5:1); shampooing the carpet due to the aforementioned accidents; Ryan getting wild and crazy at the ward Christmas party; and last but not least, stuffing ourselves silly with all of the extra goodies around the house. I love the holidays!

A start

I've been wanting to potty-train Ryan for a long time. Back in April he was very interested in the toilet, so I got him a little potty. Then he wasn't interested. Then a couple months ago, he went pee in it a couple times, then got really mad every time I tried to take his diaper off to put him on the potty. He cried and said "Diaper on!" So I let it go and decided he still wasn't ready. Well ready or not, I've decided that I'm ready!!! I guess this is just going to be a battle of who's more stubborn. Dave would say that one's a toss-up. But as you can see from the pictures - I won! Ryan went in the potty yesterday morning and this morning. Now I just have to take that next step and let him finish out the day in big boy underwear...

Feliz Navidad

Last week, Dave and I continued our new tradition of escaping the cold weather. While Ryan stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Pulsipher, we spent the week in Cancun and had an amazing time. We mostly relaxed on the beach (which still stands as my #1 beach pick, if you go to the right place). We also snorkeled off the Isla Mujeres and spent a day at Xcaret, a nature/ecological park. Definitely the most relaxing vacation we've taken!

Happy Thanksgiving

Okay, so I'm a little behind. I am aware that Dave's favorite holiday was almost 2 weeks ago. We've just been so busy digesting our food that I haven't found time to post. This year, we did double duty on Thanksgiving because Dave's parents are back in town. So we started the feasting at his parents' at 1:00 and headed over to my parents' at 4:30. Don't worry - we ate full meals and them some at each place!

For those of you who have ever experienced eating with Ryan know that it is a battle to get him to eat anything other than cereal, pasta, and veggies. But thanks to some creative trickeration (thanks sportscasters for inventing that word) by Dave, we sneaked in some yams and turkey. Ry thought it would be funny to show us his food and growl during the entire meal. Wonder where he learned that?

And here's a picture of Dave eating his 5th or 6th piece of pie that day.

And of course we finished off the weekend by decking our halls and trimming the tree for Christmas.

Hitler on Recent Holy War

So it's the day before Thanksgiving and I just don't feel like doing too much at work, so I give you another great video for you viewing pleasure:

The Hoff

My friend Derek has officially ruined my day by posting some lyrics to a song originally made in the 1960s and remade by the Hoff. I'm sure most people have seen it already, so hopefully watching it again will make your lives as bad as it just made mine as I rewatched it. If you haven't seen it, well, enjoy! (If you liked this one, may I also recommend viewing his remakes of "Secret Agent Man" and "Jump in My Car")

3 years

This week marks my three-year anniversary with Wal-mart. That means a replenishment of vacation days, sick hours, and personal days...and one full year closer to complete retirement! Woohoo! Reflecting back on my last 3 years, I thought I'd share some of my favorite things about working for Wal-mart.


* Getting to see a mullet or wife-beater shirt almost every time I work.

* Listening to the 80's butt rock music that my cashier insists we listen to every time I work

* Having patients question why every prescription we fill isn't 4 dollars

* Hearing a 10-minute-long story about someone's extreme constipation

* Telling parents that it's not okay to drug your new infant just to have them sleep (unless you're on my flight, then I'll supply you with the good stuff)

* Having a patient ask my advice on a product, then not take my advice "because Oprah said..."

* Telling patients that "no habla espanol."

But I think my favorite thing is telling people that yes, I did, in fact, go to college for 7 years just to work for Wal-mart! Hey, for %^ bucks an hour, you would too!!