Santa and the Polar Express

This year for Christmas Chris' Mom bought us tickets to the Polar Express in Williams, AZ. It was so fun. We were able to go with Chris' cousin who has 3 little boys, so that made it even more of an adventure. She also gave us money to but some new Christmas pjs for the occasion. Tate's were so funny. Az you can see, they were these dorky striped pants that kind of reminded me of an elf. I thought they were so great. Tanner's were the footy ones and on the side that you can't see they have a picture of santa and say, "Santa's helper" or something like that.

So for the ride you get on the train and they start by giving you cookies and hot cocoa. Then they read they story "The Polar Express." By that time you have reached the "north pole" and Santa comes on board the train and gives each child a bell. Basically the night follows the plot of the book. Everyone is dressed in costume and the car is all Christmasy, so it makes the ride even more fun for the kids.

Before the train ride we also took a horse drawn carriage ride around downtown Williams. Tate loved that. He is still obsessed with horses.

The boys:

The conductor walked through our car:

The cookies

Waiting for Santa to get to Tate
Santa and his gift to Tate

My first Triathlon

Hello. I finished my first sprint Triathlon. I have wanted to do one for a while now, and then when my friend Mary Anne did her first one in July I was inspired! There was some girls from church who were doing their first one at the same time, so it was fun to have them there to ask questions and everything. Two of my room mates from EA were there as well. They both CREAMED ME. But we won't talk about that! :) I am already plotting how I am going to improve my time next year. I see how they can be addicting like people have told me they are!

Girls from church:

For some reason I was really concerned about what I was going to wear. I didn't know if I should wear a swimsuit and then throw clothes on over and then I didn't know how I would wear a sports bra too. So you see it was quite the dilemna. I ended up getting these Nike quick dry clothes that I swam in, and then just threw a shirt on to bike and run. (Sports bra built in) I was happy how that part worked out.

The breakdown:

Swim-400m 10:44

Bike-10.3 miles 54:20

Run-3 miles 28:01

Total- 1:33:05

I wasn't quite as fast as I wanted to be. I wanted to finish under 1:30, but I have some adjustments that I think would take at least 10 minutes off my time. For one, I had a mountain bike. All these people kept passing me on their road bikes. It seemed they were pedaling not nearly as hard as me and going significantly faster! Frustrating.I think that would shave 10 minutes right there. And I just need to run faster and swim faster. Sounds genius, eh?

I hear there is one in Pima on April 30th and May 1st. I think I will do that one. Any one else want to join? Party in Pima!

Swim:

Bike: (I can't get over how cool I look)

Run:

Friends Kristal (on left) and Marlee (the ones that creamed me) Ok, well Marlee had a baby in Sept. so she did a relay and only did one segment, but she would have creamed me. Kristal got 3rd overall for our age group. She kept telling me how out of shape she was and how she hadn't trained. :)

I would like to thank my sponsor and my photogtapher:

And thanks to my mom who ended up watching the boys that morning!

It was seriously fun and I am already looking forward to another. It was the perfect excuse to have to get in shape! It was annoying some days to think "I have to go swim today, or I am never going to be able to do the triathlon" but in the end I am so glad that I had that extra incentive.

Halloween

Halloween was like 3 months ago. I do want to document the event, though, because someday I aim to compile this.

First of all, I LOVED my little puppy dog. Tate was Nacho Libre his first halloween and the next year he was yoda, so I have never had a cuddly halloween character to snuggle. I thought he was so cute. I especially loved his little ears and tail.

Tate was cute too, just not as cuddly. My little cowboy:

The Thursday before Halloween we went with my parents to a trunk or treat. Chris and I went as ??? Squints and Wendy Peffercorn. I want to try again next year, but find a red lifeguard suit or something. I think it would be better. When I look at the pictures of myself that night, I realize that I indeed was not meant to be blonde or have long hair.

My mom and her two grandbabies:

For Halloween we went to Pima. We had never been there for Halloween, and it was really fun.

This is the family:

They had a couple of little carnivals that Tate loved. It is so fun to watch him now that he is old enough to do this kind of stuff.
My little guys:
Before we went out at Halloween night we carved our pumpkins at Grandma Smith's house.

Tanner is such as funny mess!

It probably looks from this post that I favor Tanner. For the record, I love both my children equally.

Litlte Obsessions

Lately Tate has been obsessed with people "workin" and "helpin" He is so eager to help and is always wanting to "go workin" A couple of weeks ago he was with me in the kitchen and he started emptying the contents of the spice cupboard into the microwave and he kept saying he was "helpin' make dinner" A couple weekends ago Chris put winter seed on our yard and Tate stayed out there all day doing exactly what Chris was doing. It resulted in seed spilt all over the wrong places and other equally frustrating things, but I know he just wants to help!

He still is relentless with Tanner and is always bothering. Today Chris found himself saying to Tate, "Don't sit on your brother's head" Then Chris observed, "Isn't it sad that we have to tell him not to sit on his brother's head?" He likes to sit on him too, like he is riding a horse or something. AND he ALWAYS wants to "westle Tanna" A few weeks ago Tate started watching some MMA on YouTube with Chris, and he loves it. We had to stop letting him watch it because he was becoming obsessed, but he still tries to wrestle Tanner all the time and put him in choke holds with his legs. It is actually really funny. Tanner has this distinct "Tate is bothering me cry" so if I hear that coming from the other room I just have to yell, "Tate, leave your brother alone" or "Stop bothering Tanner" Then Tate will usually come in and tell me "I helpin' Tanna" Yeah right.

Despite these stories, they really do get along pretty well. Tate just wants to play with him all the time, and Tanner is not quite old enough to keep up. Tanner is just starting to crawl, but before he was so capable of getting around, Tate would pull him around by his legs while Tanner was sitting up. He would say "Scoot Tanna" And Tate would scoot him wherever he wanted to take him. Tanner actually loved it. That is how they ended up under this end table one day. They both thought it was so cool to be under there together in what Tate called his "house"

We moved Tanner into Tate's room at the beginning of the month. Tate is still in a crib, so now there are two cribs in there. It has been an adventure. As I type they are both supposed to be taking naps but I hear them cackling at each other.

For Melanie:
A little obsession I have had recently is Goodwill. I love that place. I got a dresser there on 50% off Saturday a couple weeks ago, and then when I went back to pick it up on Monday I found this fabulous quilt. I made this headboard (see the picture) a month or two ago, and I was going to make a quilt that kind of went with it, but I kept putting it off because I basically don't really love huge projects like that. So it was wonderful that I found this quilt and I think it really goes with the headboard pretty good. My bedroom is still a work in progress. But I am excited to actually be making a little progress! In the dresser behind all the drawers we found a couple of old pictures and things that belonged to the previous owners. I just love how things at Goodwill have stories and character to them. And most of the time they have so much potential! It is a treasure hunt every time.

So anyway, about this quilt. I took it to my mom's house to wash it in her big washer and my aunt was there too at the time. My aunt said that this pattern is called "double wedding ring" Look at all the tiny pieces that were quilted, can you believe that? I bought it for $8. It actually sickens me to think that someones grandma spent literally hundreds of hours on this thing and I bought it at Goodwill for that price. Our guess is that the grandma died, and then the owner of the quilt no long felt guilty giving it away. The fabric is a little funky. It is made out of "double knit polyester" (I think that is what my mom called it!) You know that kind staight out of the 70s? So supposedly this quilt will last forever. Or so my mom says.

I had a suggestion that I take it to the state fair and see if I could win a blue ribbon for it, but I decided against it! :)

Sparky and the Lightrail

We have season tickets to ASU football so we decided to try out the light rail. I liked it. It was nice not having to find parking, and not have to hike to the stadium because the light rail drops you off right there.

Sparky scared Tate. He is going to be a mess on Halloween. He even freaks out when he sees the Chick-fil-a cow.

When we were leaving the stadium Tate got his hand stamped. He thought that was so neat. I would catch him staring at it all the time until it wore off.

I would do it again. Next time we try the light rail I think we will try to go to downtown Phoenix. There is a stop right by the Phoenix art Museum and a stop at Chase Field. It was around $3 for an all day pass for and adult. Anyone want to come?

My Spiffy Boys

Tate has been talking so much lately. He repeats everything you say, which can get a little freaky when you realize what comes out of your mouth, because your baby is repeating it! I love his little voice. We taught him his last name this week...and he thinks his name is "Tate Spiff" :)

July..in Retrospect

 Trip one: Round Valley

We started the month by going to Round Valley for the 4th of July. Chris' parents go every year, and we have been once or twice, but not since Tate was born. I love the celebration. The weather is so beautiful, too. Chris was actually born there and lived there until he was 6 or 7, so when we go we stay with some family friends. Both my boys love horses. I love the picture of Tanner. (Both of them, actually.) These first two pictures were at the parade. (Tate's first, I think.)

The next thing I did is I went to "Wicked" at Gammage. It was fabulous. I went with my mom and sisters on my sister's "golden birthday" on the 17th. I stole these pictures off my sister's facebook, so I think that's why they are a little small. Here we are making our "wicked" faces.

The next day (18th) my little Tatey turned 2! It was such a fun day. We decided to just do things that he would like all day. We started the day by going to the pool. After that we found a babysitter and left Tanner and took Tate to his first movie. We went to the dollar theatre and saw "Earth" Tate actually did pretty well. The movie had animals and fish and stuff, so that helped hold his attention. The popcorn and soda probably didn't hurt, either. That evening we went to my parents house and had carne asada burritos and tacos for dinner, (chris' choice) and then home made ice cream (my choice) and cupcakes. We ended the evening with a little dance party. Tate is starting to talk so well. He calls candles "happy birthday to yous"

He didn't want to leave the theatre and was a little grumpy about it. 

Trip two: Pima

We went to Pima for their 24th of July Pioneer day celebration. We also celebrated Tate's birthday with the family while we were there. Chris and his Dad won blue ribbons at the pioneer day family rodeo for team roping. Chris and I, and then Chris and his dad did an event where they rope the horse and then I run and grab this ribbon that is tied to the horses' tail and take it back to the announcers stand. We didn't win, though. :(  It was quite an adventure, nevertheless. 

Chris' mom had a "mqeen" cake made for Tate. He loved it. Mater and McQueen are his favorites. He has never been into stuff like that until about a month ago. The butter cream icing was heavenly.

The end.