December Phone Pictures - lots of fun things

On December 1st, Jack (our Elf on the Shelf) showed up and brought the boys some Elf pajamas...which he may or may not have scored at an after-Christmas sale at Target last year for suuuuuuper cheap. ;)

With Jack in the background (on top of the cabinets over the microwave):

 (This was taken with Curt's new phone--he's had an iPhone 4s for almost 4 years, and he finally upgraded to the 6s with an awesome Cyber Monday deal. He's loving having a more updated phone) :)

After going back and forth with different ideas of how to make our Christmas season more meaningful, we had a special Family Home Evening at the beginning of December where we talked about the true meaning of Christmas, and we decided as a family to do a "Christlike Christmas Challenge." We came up with lots of simple ways we could all be more Christlike, and put the ideas in a jar. Every day in December up until Christmas, we drew a paper out and focused on being more Christlike in that way for the day. It actually worked really well! It was simple enough that we were able to stick with it every day, but it was meaningful enough that I felt like it made a difference. We really enjoyed it, and it might have to be something we repeat again next year. :)

One of the Christlike Challenges we had was to write someone a nice note. When I asked Calvin who he wanted to write a note to, he said Bill & Jaimie. And then he dictated this letter, word for word, haha:

Just sharing a sucker, No big deal. (one of their favorite things to do, haha)

Tucker is trying to take after Curt in making awesome pancakes. 

This is a minion he made all on his own--super impressive!!

We didn't get a picture while we were there (hence the stock picture...), but we went up with my mom to the Festival of Trees for the first time at the beginning of the month. It was pretty amazing! The boys, however, were not super impressed, and spent most of the time complaining about having to walk so much. Next year I think we'll leave them at home. ;)

Curt & Tucker putting up Christmas lights:

Curt harnessed Tucker to the roof just in case he slipped, and when I went to take the picture, Tucker wanted to make sure the harness was covered, because he was embarrassed by it. ;)

Swap night with the girls. We did personalized homemade pizzas, and everyone loved it!

Tucker finally lost his top front tooth! It had been loose for a long time, and we begged him to not pull it out before family pictures. At thanksgiving he went around and got pledges from us and Curt's parents to see how much we'd pay him to not pull it. He kept it in, and he made $5! He lost interest in his tooth, and it stayed in for another few weeks. Then one random day before school he realized it was SUPER loose, and Curt tried to pull it a few times, but Tucker said he wanted to wait until later to pull it. So of course, he pulled it out himself as soon as he got to school--the little stinker! He was super excited that he pulled it out himself, and that he did it at school. And holy cow--the hole in his mouth was SO much bigger than I thought it'd be! How is he this old already?!

Jack the Elf had to leave a note for the boys letting them know they needed to start acting a little better if they wanted any Christmas presents (we had some major whining, fighting, and disobedience going on!)

Sometimes I like to sponsor myself with chevron... ;)

December was definitely the month of Selfie-Shirts. With our kickstarter funded (thank you to everyone who supported us in that!!), we/Curt were swamped with shirts we had to make and ship before Christmas. We (I say "we," but mostly it's Curt) were able to buy a new vinyl cutter and heat press with the kickstarter money, which makes everything SO much easier and better quality!

We turned Collin's room into the "Roffice" (room-office) as we affectionately call it, and Curt has one side for his desk and shirt setup, while Collin has the other side for his bed and desk. They both do a good job of making it work. :) I don't know if I've ever talked about the fact that Curt is working from our basement again, but we love it! (minus the decrease in money, haha)

This is the desk Curt built back in October after he finished at Adobe:

And this is the view of Curt's "office" part of the room, taken from Collin's bed:

Anyway, back to making Selfie-Shirts, Curt would design and cut the faces and then stick them on the wall before he heat pressed them all to the shirts. This was just the beginning--there were a ton more. Poor Collin had to live with random people's faces on his wall for a little while, haha!

Some of the finished shirts:

It was busy, but Curt had a lot of fun making them. 

We also got our website up and running: www.selfie-shirts.com

Tucker's first snowman of the season:

I was able to go to a baby shower for my friend/old college roommate, Sara, and it was SO FUN to have all these girls in town together so we could all catch up!!

We went to the Shops at Riverwoods to visit Santa...and this is pretty much exactly how we imagined it would go:

Poor Bronco was NOT happy. :(

Tucker & Calvin sure loved Santa though!

The best family picture we could get:

It was freezing cold, but the lights were gorgeous! My mom came with us, which was fun. Things like this are so fun to do having her live in town! 

Oh Calvin! He had just ONE bubble gum sucker, and he somehow managed to get it ALL over himself. This picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice--it was all over his face, his hands, his shirt, pants, etc. He will always and forever be our messy child. But we love him for it. :)

I had to document this conversation I had with Tucker as we were driving home after school one day. 

T: I have a full-on crush on Lilly now.

Me: Oh really?!

T: What! She's just so cute! I can't hardly stand it!

Me: What are you going to do, now that you have a crush on her?

T: I feel like I need to just chase her around. That's what boys do when they have crush's on girls.

 Haha, I was dying! I totally remember having boys chase me around in 1st grade--how is he this old already??!!!

One of the other things that took up a lot of time in December was emptying my sister Kelsey's storage unit. She was going to move out here last winter, and my dad was kind enough to pack up & drive over all of her stuff...but she unfortunately never made it. Curt & my brothers moved it to a storage unit at the beginning of the year, but we couldn't afford to keep paying for it anymore, (and unfortunately Kelsey is not in a position to be able to come get her things), so we had to go through everything and figure out what to do with it all. This costume was one of my favorite things we found--Bronco is SO adorable in it!!

On the Friday afternoon after school got out for Christmas break, the boys and I put together this gingerbread house to display at our ward Christmas breakfast the next morning. I usually don't enjoy doing gingerbread houses very much (the OCD part of me wants to take over and make it perfect--which is not possible with kids!), but this came in a kit which made it quick and easy. And I was proud of myself for letting the boys the boys decorate it 100% on their own. :)

Totally random wall-sit competition after dinner one night, haha. I lost (we're not going to talk about it...), and Tucker won with 2 minutes 8 seconds!!

Curt thought this was the most hilarious thing ever--Calvin's shirt says "Boy Genius"...but he put his pants on backwards, haha. (And he insisted on keeping them that way all day!) :)

Caught red-handed!

I'm so sad we didn't take any pictures, but I had a very fun last-second girl's night with my friend Nora at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Concert the weekend before Christmas. Her brother-in-law plays the organ for the MOTAB, and they had some extra tickets at the last second, so she invited me to join her while our husbands stayed home with the kids. We were able to sit on the floor--about 20 rows from the front at the Conference Center, and the music was amazing!! Afterwards we got some dessert at a little bakery up in Salt Lake. It was a very fun and memorable night!!

Staying in town for Christmas meant we essentially had an extra week to get ready for Christmas, which was awesome! We've had a ton of random tiles in our basement ever since we moved in, and I've always wanted to do some sort of Christmas tile to give out as our neighbor gifts. This year we were finally able to do it! I designed this & Curt cut it out of vinyl, and...viola! 

 The boys and I delivered these to our nearby friends one afternoon a few days before Christmas, and it was so fun. Usually we're rushing around at the last second trying to deliver neighbor gifts before we head out of town a week early, so it was nice to be able to visit with people and see them just a few days before Christmas--for whatever reason it made it feel much more Christmas-y. :)

Jack the elf didn't do anything creative this year as far as hiding spots go, but on the last night he was with us, he decided to go out with bang! We he fashioned a little trapeze from our ceiling fan & hung out in the middle of the room with us all Christmas Eve Day. The boys loved it. :)

And Curt loved taking a picture of me trying to stage the above picture, haha:

*I also want to point out that all of our Christmas presents were wrapped and under the tree by the 23rd. One of my worries about staying home for Christmas was that I would put off wrapping until the last second and be up late on Christmas Eve trying to finish it all. WELL, I may have been up late on the night of the 23rd finishing it all...but I finished before Christmas Eve, which was my goal! :)

As soon as Christmas was over, I was ready to put all the decorations away ASAP! Christmas was fun and great and wonderful, but I was ready to have a clean and organized house again. I remembered at the last second to take a picture of my new subway art display before I put it all away. This is mostly for my own benefit so I can remember how it was set up for next year. :)

Bronco was so funny--he somehow fit himself in this tiny little box & was just happily playing

as we were putting decorations away:

My mom's main Christmas gift to all of us was to pay for us to go to the Living Planet Aquarium together on the Monday after Christmas. It was such a fun thing to do all together!

4D Movie Theater:

(we were all trying to act nonchalantly, even though Bronco had just dropped a stink bomb and stunk up the whole theater...!)

We got dinner at Dickey's after the aquarium, which was the perfect ending to the day!

The last few days of the month were mostly spent doing a little family room makeover--separate post to come! But we also fit in a few fun activities:

Playing in the snow & building another snowman:

Bowling with the Nielsens (Tucker & Calvin's friends from school) at BYU:

Bronco was devastated that I wouldn't let him hold the bowling balls & 

he spent the whole time trying to touch them all, haha:

We had a fun little New Year's Eve party with the Bellows...but that will be another post coming soon. :)

Tucker Funnies

- Tucker: "I just really don't like her voice, Mom." Me: "Why?" Tucker: "Because its a pink voice." Me: "It's a pink voice? What does that mean?" Tucker: "That's a girl joke."

- (while reading scriptures with lots of scripture language that we had to explain what it meant--"why weepest thou?", etc) Tucker: "Is he talking in Spanish?:

- "If I were a Lamanite, I would be a great Nephite because I have the moves of one." (then proceeded to do karate moves, haha)

- "Calvin is so funny, Mom. He thinks he's a Lamanite!"

- (as he's watching me exercise) Tucker: "Why is exercise so important?" Me: "Because it keeps our bodies healthy." Tucker: "And so if we don't exercise, our bodies will get squishy?" Me: "Exactly." :)

- (seeing a lady smoking) "Is that lady steaming? Because I see steam coming out of her mouth." (I haven't had the heart to correct him on this one yet...so he still calls it "steaming" instead of "smoking"--too cute to change!)

- Tucker: "What street is this that we're driving on?" Me: "State Street." Tucker: (as we pass another street) "Is that one called Curvy Street?"

- (jumping on a trampoline) "Mom, I can jump much higher than Calvin, because when I was a little boy, I ate meatballs!"

- (while reading a story about a bear named Honey) "That's Dad's name too!" (because I call Curt 'Honey' sometimes, haha)

- "Let's just go to the doctor & ask her to put a boy baby in your tummy!"

- (a few weeks after the previous comment, after I told him Heavenly Father was the one who decides whether you get a boy or a girl baby) "I know how they can get pregnant. They can go to the temple!"

- (while he & Curt were playing) "Dad, pause! Pause! I need to tell you something!"

- (in the middle of throwing a tantrum in the car--we were driving just around the corner & he wasn't buckled in his car seat yet) "I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!"

- "I need to read the constructions." (instructions)

- (during FHE after talking about why Heavenly Father made the earth & animals, etc) "This is a hard one that an adult has to answer. Why did Heavenly Father make me fast, like as fast as a cheetah? (pause) Because he wanted me to have joy."

- "I have a great idea for America's Funniest Home Videos! If someone tooted really big & it made their diaper fly off!"

- Tucker: (very sad) "I miss my rollie pollie. He was my friend!" Curt: "What was his name?" Tucker: "Ummm...Dammy." (sounded really bad...)

- (after randomly shouting out "no" every few seconds) "Do you know why I keep saying "no"? Because my brain keeps making me think about a girl movie!" Then he wouldn't tell us which movie--he insisted on whispering it to me. "A princess looking for a rabbit."

- "I don't smell the yummy scent of the crab that people like to eat."

- "If Calvin was a bird, he could go poop anywhere!"

- "Why is it called Las Vegas? Is it because no one can find it?" ("Lost" Vegas, haha)

- "I'm just so grateful that Heavenly Father created tissues to wipe our noses, so our snot doesn't run all over the place."

- "I was very brave. I think I have a brave monster in my belly."

- (While watching me do a workout video--referring to the ladies on the video) "Mom, why are their bodies smaller than yours?" (awesome self-esteem booster...)

- (after seeing a very large woman) "That lady has GOT to have a baby in her belly!"

- "Mom, how are you going to know how to stop having babies?"

- Me: "I'm sorry you're not feeling well." Tucker: "I forgive you."

- Mortifying parenting fail: (while talking with Curt's parents over Skype) "Look what my mom showed me!" (...and proceeded to stick up his middle finger) **In my defense, one day he was asking me what each finger's name & purpose was. When he showed me his middle finger I just told him it was really bad & not to do that. I'm not sure why he decided to show Grandma & Grandpa...but he was very embarrassed & felt really bad when we got upset with him & reminded him how bad it was.)

- Tucker: "I do NOT like to look handsome." Me: "Why?" Tucker: "Because that means I have to put on button clothes."

- "Mom & Dad, when the baby comes out, can you take a picture when they cut the baby's antenna?" (he meant umbilical cord, haha)

He is currently in love with the Imagine Dragons song "Radioactive" & his favorite thing is to dance around in his underwear & lip sync to it. We figure this will be a good video to show his future wife, haha:

Oh Tucker, how we love you!! Thank you for always making us laugh! :)

Tucker Funnies

- “Mom, do sharks not get to go to heaven because they don’t make good choices?” (because they kill other fish…)

- (looking at our wedding pictures) Me: “And here’s Mom & Dad kissing.” Tucker: “Oh, Mom, I thought you were eating Dad’s face!”

- “Mom, you’re gorgeous! Cause you have long eyebrows!” (he meant eyelashes)

- “Mom, your hair looks like a spider! Or like a bunch of brown snakes on your head!”

- “Mom, having a little boy in our family is like having a mud puddle!”

- Tucker: “Holly, can you move Calvin?” Me: “Why did you just call me Holly?” Tucker: “Cause that’s what Curt calls you.”

- “Everyone has two heads. Their real head & their forehead.”

- (after holding an acorn) “I need to wash my hands. I just touched squirrel slobber.”

- (prayer before leaving to drive to Colorado) “Please help us to drive soonly so we can get to Colorado soon.”

- (while Curt & I were cutting onions) Tucker: “Can I have some milk & some onions?” Curt: “Some muffins?” Tucker: “No, some onions.” (and then he proceeded to eat raw onion pieces…)

- “We have to be really still. Don’t move any bones.”

- (listening to the Christmas song “Noel”) “This is my favorite song—No Elves.”

- “When I grow up, I want to dance for people!”

- “Mom, can I live the rest of my life without a shirt on?”

- “Mom, I think my heart is beeping fast because I'm a little bit scared.”

- “Mom, I'm a little bit nervous to tell you what I want for breakfast. I think my heart is telling me not to tell you.”

- “I just wish I was a football player right now, Mom. Cause I'm a great pusher.”

- (while I was doing a hard exercise) Tucker: “Mom, that's easy.” Me: “Do you want to do it with me?” Tucker: “No, I'm just telling you.”

- (praying) “Please help there to not be any storms so our technology doesn't go out.”

- (watching Curt text a funny picture to Collin--he saw the Twitter symbol) “Dad! Send it to a bird!”

- “I think I got the answer to how the dinosaurs died! I think a big giant came when they were sleeping & ate off their skin & left their bones. I think I got the right answer with that!”

- "Mom, I just feel like making bad choices right now."

- "I have a new family motto. Smiths don't try to kill sharks.”

*Weird foods he would choose over mac & cheese, pizza, or chicken nuggets: raw onions, dry oatmeal, hard boiled eggs…crazy kid!

Crazy positions he's fallen asleep in during quiet time lately:

Funny Preschool Paper:

Oh, how we love Tucker!!

Funny Friday: Tucker Funnies

Here's another round of Tucker funnies from the last few months. It is hilarious to hear some of the things that come out of his mouth! (and some of the things he does!) We sure do love this kid! :)

- "My underwear is stuck in my bum, Mom. It's REALLY stuck in my bum!"

- (Crying after being put in time out) "You hurt my happy feelings! You're not supposed to hurt me--my body is a temple!"

- Curt: "Do you know what a bear hug is?" Tucker: "Like a hug with bare feet?" (then he wrapped his feet & legs around Curt's neck)

- (Trying to pull his pants up) "These pants are like freaking out! They don't want me to pull them up!"

- "I need a rubber band aid." (took me a minute to realize he was asking for a rubber band...)

- "I have a fever in my armpits. See? Check, Mom." (I take his temperature under his arm)

- "You know how to say 'yes' in Spanish? Like this. .......No problem!"

- (Sitting on a plastic easter egg) "I'm sitting on my egg, Mom. Keeping it nice & warm." (pause for a few seconds) "Look! It hatched! It hatched into a baby Tucker!"

- "Mom, you just lost your privilege of doing dishes."

- Tucker: "Will Karli be there?" Me: "No, I think Karli is doing something else today." Tucker: "But I feel in my heart like Karli will be there."

- "Mom, I like long things. Like long whales and trains and sharks. Things like that."

- "Whoa Mom! Your hair is curly today! Did you put bubbles in it?"

- (Overheard after Tucker & Calvin took a bath together) "You see, Calvin? This is called a nipple." (Curt was definitely the one who taught him that word...not me!)

- Tucker: "Just a second, Mom. I have to go get rid of something in my bum." Me: "Do you have to go poop?" Tucker: "Yep! You guessed it!"

- "You are a spector from the Gods, Calvin." (randomly quoted from the "Testaments" movie we watch on Sundays--it took me awhile to figure out where on earth it came from!) 

- Tucker: "Mom, what are animals' names?" Me: "Animals don't really have names. Like lizards are just called lizards--they don't have names like we do." Tucker: "Mom, but Jesus knows their names."

- (In the middle of the night) "Mom, my bed just fell over & it surprised me!" (apparently he had fallen off the bed...)

- One of the times my family came out to visit, Collin brought a muffin. Tucker really wanted to eat some of it, but it was time for bed or something, so we just told him it was Collin's special diabetes muffin. (Collin has diabetes.) Tucker did end up eating some of the muffin the next day, however. A week or so after they left, Tucker had the squirts (as Curt likes to call it...). Tucker then proceeded to tell us, "You know why I have diarrhea? Because I ate Collin's diarrhea muffin." And now any time he's sick, he blames it on Collin's diarrhea muffin. :)

Instead of afternoon naps, Tucker now does "quiet time" in Curt & I's room (or in any random room at my mom's house in Colorado) Usually a few times a week he'll end up falling asleep...and sometimes in the craziest positions!

And my absolute favorite...INSIDE a tall clothes hamper!

He also decided to put on Curt's clothes one day:

And then Calvin's clothes (& socks with sandals) another day:

(Love the ultimate nerd look. And what made it even more funny was that Tucker seriously thought it was HIS shirt--since he & Calvin have the same shirt)

And then another day during quiet time he decided to bite (and by default, BREAK) a flour balloon:

All you can do is laugh!!! :)