Santa Claus is SCARY!

While my Mother and Grandmother visited us in Salt Lake City (which was wonderful!), we took one afternoon to head to Park City. We were excited to find there was a special visitor there. This picture will surely be a great family heirloom.

Thanksgiving and Muma's 80th Birthday!!

We had the great fortune of spending Thanksgiving in Santa Rosa. Yes, that includes Scott. Thanksgiving was lovely and delicious, and we even picked up a few bargains on Black Friday. The highlight of the trip was Muma's 80th Birthday Party on Saturday, and it was a fabulous event with family and friends, featuring authentic Australian gourmet (complete with Bangers, Lamingtons and Pavlova) and some memorable Karoake performances. (My cousin Nathaniel learned the hard way never to challenge a music major to a karoake contest...). It was just so wonderful to see everyone. Thanks to all who were there, we miss you!

Where does this come from?

The other day Ray asked me if the speck of dust he found was a molecule.

We also had a conversation about coals. It went something like this.

Mommy, what are hot coals? (Coals are what is left when a fire goes out. We also use coals to burn in our BBQ).

Do coals glow? (Yes, when they are hot).

But when you pour water on the fire, it goes out and the coals are not hot anymore. (That's right)

What are coals made of? (Well, that depends on what you use to make your fire. I think coals are mostly made of carbon.)

Oh, that's right Mommy. Are coals dirty? (Yes, usually.)

Are coals greasy? (No, I don't think so.)

Bicycles are greasy. (........)

It doesn't get any better than this.

I can't express how excited I am about this concert. Not only do I get to sing with the chorus in one of the greatest classical works ever, but in the same concert the women sing in Debussy ~ La Damoiselle élue, which is so beautiful. To top it all off, my Mom and Muma are coming all the way out here to see it! Awesome.

Pumpkin Patch

From October 16th - 28th, Raymond, Thomas and I visited Grammie, Grandpa Tim & Gigi in Santa Rosa. I was treated to almost 2 weeks of babysitting and pampering, so I could go to the Symphony, the Theater, High Tea, go shopping and enjoy many other events and culinary treats usually reserved for the elite (or at least those without young children.) One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the Adobe Pumpkin Patch in Petaluma, which was the greatest pumpkin patch ever. It had piles and piles of pumpkins in various hues, a castle, a corn maze, hay rides, animals a barn full of flowers and decorations, cut outs for pictures and more. Ray and Thomas loved it, and so did I!!

Halloween

Despite being a last minute affair, the Rock Band/Guitar Hero party on Oct. 29th was a great success, and fun was had by all. Raymond wanted to be a knight for Halloween, so it only made sense that Thomas be the dragon that is slain by the knight. Thomas was not fond of having the dragon on his head. Raymond's helmet was made by Scott. We went trick-or-treating with a group of small ones from the neighborhood, and we had to work with him to make sure he didn't ask for chocolate at every door.

T-Ball!

Raymond had a wonderful time playing t-ball this fall. He became quite good at hitting, but preferred digging in the dirt to outfielding. Thomas took every opportunity to escape onto the field.

Work 'em while they're young.

Child labor laws don't apply in our household.

Check out these guns....

We visited Grandma and Grandpa Kuhni today, and had a great time. At one point Raymond was having a discussion with Grandma Kuhni about some toys which were in the garage. Grandma Kuhni was explaining to Ray that they couldn't get to the toys right now because they were underneath some heavy cases of water. Ray lifted his arms into the classic "muscle" pose and said, completely deadpan, "I can lift it, I'm strong. I've been working out at the gym."

How to know if you have to go....

After a wonderful evening of steak, crab and cake for Scott's birthday, Raymond, Candace and I were sitting in the kitchen waiting for Ray's oatmeal to cool. Suddenly Ray looked up and said, "Oh! My bum is talking to me. It's tooting. I need to go poop!"

Newport 2008

This is a little late but here it is....the Newport Beach 2008 Slideshow!

We had a wonderful time, and can't wait for next year.

Congratulations Scott!!

Scott rode the 2008 LOTOJA this Saturday and he did an amazing job. He finished 12th in his class, and 415th overall (out of 1259). He completed the 206 mile course in 10:56:10.987. It was an exciting adventure for all involved. On the 2nd supported feed zone he arrived about 2 minutes before us, due to the fact that we did not get gas the night before only didn't run out due to divine intervention. Raymond was stung by a bee, and I filled water bottles while driving. Kelly had to withdraw after 80 miles because of the tendonitis in her knee so it was nice for me to have help for the majority of the race. I'll post some pictures soon. Three cheers for Sko!!!

I am now Teaching!

LOTOJA

For those of you who were not aware, Scott and his sister Kelly will be participating in this year's Logan to Jackson Bicycle Race on September 6th. This little event requires them to subject their rear ends to 206 miles of pain in a single day. Myself and the boys will be acting as their support, provided that things like diaper changes and tantrums don't get in the way. To learn more about this sanctioned form of torture visit: http://www.lotojaclassic.com/

Three cheers for Scott & Kelly!!

Photos from June & July

Here are some of the highlights from June & July.

Photos by Amanda Jane

My wonderful friend Amanda took some pictures to commemorate Thomas' first birthday. I think she did an amazing job. Thanks, Amanda!! Happy Birthday, little T.

Durufle Concert

As I mentioned in a previous post I will be singing with the Utah Symphony for a performance of Durufle's Requeim. Here's the link!

http://www.utahsymphony.org/concert-detail.php?id=137

NOW I'm laughing.....

Ray, Thomas and I went to the mall with Sydney last week. As we are heading to Newport Beach in a few weeks, Sydney and I were both looking for swimsuits. After choosing a few we headed to the dressing rooms. Thomas sat on a bench and Ray was in the stroller. Sydney and I each tried on a suit then exited the room to show each other. We then returned to our dressing rooms. We tried on another set of suits. This time, as I was returning to the room, Ray discovered he was not strapped in, and he bolted. He ran into the store as fast as he could. I called to the worker nearest to us that he was leaving, and that I would be right there. I asked Sydney if she could take Thomas, but she was completely naked in her room, so I threw on my shirt and chased after Thomas, who had by now crawled halfway out of the store. I could see the saleswomen herding Ray and headed that direction. He is fast. They herded him towards me and I almost caught him, but not quite. He ran all the way out of the store (into the mall) and I followed. Of course, the alarm went off, as the suit I had on was tagged. A few feet out of the store I caught him, and dragged him back to the dressing room, where a worked had a bag of popcorn to give him as a way to keep him still. Can you picture it? Me, half-naked, carrying Thomas, chasing Ray, who of course is laughing at the top of his lungs.

I did not buy the suit.

Happy Birthday to Thomas!

We had a little party for Thomas' 1st Birthday on July 9th. It was fairly sedate as Thomas was in the throes of what turned out to be Roseola. This might just be the least enthusiastic consumption of birthday cake of all time.

Not for the faint of heart

As we were driving back to Salt Lake from visiting St. George for the weekend, Ray decided he needed to go number 2. So we stopped at a gas station and he took care of business. About an hour later, he said he had to go again. We stopped, but he didn't go. About a half an hour later he said he still had to go. There were no stops nearby, so I said I was sorry but he he would have to go out by a bush on the ground. He said, "No! I want to poop in the potty like a person! I don't want to poop on the ground like a dog!"

Thomas' Newest Trick

Ray thinks we are smart

Ray playing with a squirt gun.

"Grrrrr.....Bad gun, I've ever seen. You spilled on my pants! I'm trying to use my gun, but it spilled on my pants!! Rrrrrr. (laughing from Mom & Dad). It's not funny, you genius....es."

Ray Speaks

Scott came home from work today and asked Ray to give him a big hug. Ray obliged and decided that was not enough, so he planted a big kiss on Daddy's face. He then said, "Kisses are better without the scratchy beard."

After that, Scott was making dinner and we were all bantering. Scott was in Kelly's way, so she said "What are you doing, Scott?". Ray said, " He's doin' his ooowwwn thing."

You ought to be in pictures!

As time is at a premium right now, here are some pictures from the past month or so. Enjoy!

Durufle, do you?

I am pleased to announce I have been accepted back into the Utah Symphony Chorus. I called just in time for the auditions, and was even invited to sing with the small choir at this summer's Deer Valley Music Festival performance of Durufle's Requiem. The '08-'09 season is awesome and includes Beethoven's 9th, Mozart's Requiem, an Ives Symphony (!), a Bach Cantata & Bernstein's Mass. Come listen!!!

Check it out:
http://www.deervalleymusicfestival.com/
http://www.utahsymphony.org/

What's your name?

In case you were wondering, yes, we are moving back to SLC. Scott has been working there for almost 2 weeks now, and we are crashing at Candace's (poor Grandma!). Candace has caller ID, which can be a bad thing for telemarketers. When the ID displayed a questionable number Sydney and I decided to let Ray answer the phone. Here are some of the things Ray said, completely unprompted, to the unsuspecting caller.

Hello.
What's your name.
She's busy right now.
Do you have a girlfriend?
Mmmm...just Sydney & Mommy & Thomas.
What are you doing?

I wish I could remember more of what he said. We were in fits when he asked about a girlfriend. It turned out to be someone calling about Nelson's motorcycle. Whoops.

Food - A Love-Hate Relationship

Okay, sorry about all the old stuff, but now that I can get videos posted fairly quickly, I could not overlook this classic. Back on March 2nd Thomas demonstrated his distaste for the food I was feeding him. Of course, he also seemed to be enjoying the process, although he was probably just laughing at me.

Rayisms:

We were having stew for dinner and told Ray to try dipping his toast in it. He did so and after trying it he said, "I just like it PLAIN."

While trying to convince Scott to let him watch the Transformers DVD we just purchased Ray said the following. "I know you'll like it, Daddy. I promise you'll love it."

How can you not take this quiz??

Take the Quiz here!

Strong Man

Ray just LOVES doing what you will see in this video, taken yesterday. Amazingly Thomas loves it, too.

Stair Master - Really!

I've been TRYING to get the video of Thomas climbing the stairs to upload for ages, so it is completely outdated. Now Thomas can climb the stairs in seconds flat, he cruises the furniture and even places crawling chase with Daddy & brother. So, without further ado....

This video is from the beginning of March. Thomas can now ascend even more quickly, and he checks behind to see if we are coming to get him before he takes off. If he turns around and sees us coming he scrambles up as quickly as he can, laughing all the way.

Shame On Me

Quite a lot has happened in the past almost month since my last post. In the beginning of February we headed north to Grandma Candace's house for President's Day, and left the sunshine for the snow. Our visit was very nice, although it was punctuated by a visit to Instacare after Ray ventured into the downstairs while Kelly was vacuuming and it was all downhill from there. Raymond has allergy induced asthma, inhaler and all. Of course, he hasn't needed it since, so I think as long as we stay away from animal houses he should be fine.

Thomas has grown a great deal in the past month, and is now a "stair master." He also is officially a Daddy's boy. (see below)

Ray, Thomas and I were fortunate enough to spend a week in Santa Rosa, and it was a wonderful, restful time (although we missed Scott!). Ray was a hoot and a handful (particularly as we were 2 weeks into potty training). A highlight was his antics with a banana. He was being silly and playing with one, talking into it like a phone. Then my grandma asked to see it and said, "Hello, Ray!" into it. Ray suddenly became very serious as he turned to her and said, "Actually, its a banana." Thomas was a little hesitant about everyone. He loved to laugh and smile from Mommy's hip. He was SO excited to come home and see Scott. He wouldn't let go once he was in Daddy's arms.

I had fun not doing dishes or cleaning house, and we ate a ton of good food. We visited Kozlowski farms and drove through Forestville, ending in a walk around Healdsburg square. We shopped the Petaluma outlets, lunched Indian style and walked down SR's 4th Street with a gelato stop. Oh, and I went to an Opera. Excellent. Another hightlight was a Saturday BBQ with friends and family. It was wonderful to see everyone. Thanks for coming!!

Anyway, with the travelling and the potty training, I've neglected posting. Don't worry, I'll be back soon. This slideshow has pictures from February through our trip to Santa Rosa. Enjoy!

Just Driving

On the way home from the store, I was waiting to turn right and I said, "Where did all these cars come from?". Ray misheard, and said, "Ooohhh, they're not dumb, they're just driving." I explained what I had said and Ray said, "They came from the road. They're going to their houses."

Thomas climbed up five stairs today.

After watching "Akeelah and the Bee" recently, I decided I should broaden my vocabulary by learning dictionary.com's word of the day. Two days ago the word was "factitious." Ray didn't say it properly when I tried to teach him. Today he came down after "nap" time ( = Ray plays in his room with the gate locked) and said out of no where, "What's the word of the day?". I smiled and repeated him. He then said "Factitious!" perfectly and triumphantly.

Blasts from the Past - Courtesy of Grammy Pammy

More 'Ray-isms':

He was about 18months old & they were driving me to Las Vegas airport to go home after a visit. As we approached the city Ray said, 'Las Vegas. I love Las Vegas!'

When we were shopping at Costco last Christmas he spotted some toy guitars "Oh that's Hannah Montana's guitar!' - no idea where he even heard of HM.




He called GiGi (Great Grandma Joan) on her 79th birthday last December...'Happy birthday GiGi - what's your cake?'

Also called Great Grandma Marge on her 85th birthday in February...'We wish we could visit you but we have a sickness (followed by coughing)'




What a character - there's so many others I can't remember.

  I was on the phone talking with my mother when Raymond decided to raid the fridge. With a knife. To compound a dangerous situation, as I rushed to take the hard-earned meat away from the little scavenger (pausing to take a picture), I neglected to put up the gate and turned just in time to find Thomas about to take a plunge .Life is certianly exciting. Especially now that Thomas is so mobile - and he is pulling himself up to stand. I foresee many bruises in his future.

Teeny Tiny Crawling T

Thomas was scooting and getting himself into the crawling position at Christmas time. He began to truly crawl a few weeks ago, and is now a master! (Don't tell Ray, but Thomas beat him to this skill by over 2 months!)Here he is today showing off his skills.

What's that smell??

Today we had tacos. Ray eats the ingredients separately. After all the ground beef, tomatoes, and tortillas were gone, he started on the onions. After a few bites he looked at Scott and said seriously, "I think I'm going to have stinky breath." This was entirely without prompting. We had not said a word about the effect of onions on exhaling.

Calvin Klein for Kids

Yesterday Ray asked me to put gel in his hair. As soon as I did he changed his mind, but it was too late. Cool Ray was born. We then proceed to have a "photo shoot." It was Ray's turn because we had previously had a photo shoot of Thomas in his Santa Hat, and Ray was a little jealous. We had fun, and I tapped into my creative side to get him to stay still and/or smile. "Look Ray, there is ice cream on the ceiling."

What have I missed?

Already, I know there have been dozens of Ray gems that I have missed. At breakfast this morning Ray looked at the box of Cinnamon Life that features a picture of a father and daughter. Lately he likes to point out things that are "a little bit girly," and that is the first thing he said about the box. After that he said, "But its a little bit manly, too."

Hooray Giants!! We had fun during the Super Bowl, although our party was pretty sedate with just with our little family. We had to cancel a trip to SLC due to the boy's colds (Thomas had a croupy AND rattling cough - fun nights sleeping on the floor) and the terrible weather. It was a happy day. We have been enjoying a visit from Grandma Candace and Aunt Sydney. Today we swam in Grandma & Grandpa Kuhni's pool, although Ray refused to go in the pool and instead put his feet in the hot tub.

Scott has had late nights teaching Introduction to Paralegal at Dixie State College on Tuesdays and Thursday, and I have it on good authority (Candace & Syd!) that he is an excellent and entertaining instructor.

My two big goals now are to potty train Ray and to convince Thomas that sleeping through the night would be a good thing. I need zzzzzzzzzs. I hope to get some quality video and pictures up soon.

Blog-Tastic!

Scott really does not like the term "blog." Why not just call it a bulletin board? Remember this, if you ever decide to mention anything from this post to him.

I've given in to this trend for one reason. I'm not very good at keeping a journal (actually, I'm terrible), and our boys do things that scream out to be recorded and remembered. Whether it is Raymond's supreme command of the English language (don't take my word for it), or Thomas' contagious joyful grins, Raymond's horrific tantrums or Thomas' diaper dramas, I am betting there are some of you who will be interested. And if not, at least I will have documented these things for our own memories.

That said, here are my favorite Rayisms from recent weeks.

After picking up my mother from the airport for Christmas, I somehow became slightly lost. As I discussed with my mother what I was going to do to figure out where we were, and expressed some frustration with the holiday traffic, an exasperated voice chimed in from behind. "Do you want me to get out of this seat and drive?!?"

We didn't have enough avocados for guacamole, and only a few tomatoes, so I said to Scott, "I'm going to mix it up and make guaca-salsa." Said Ray: "No! Avocados don't belong in salsa!"

After KBYUs children's TV program was over, a devotional came on. Ray cried out, "No, Mom. Turn off the commercial!"

Remember, he won't be 3 until April.

Well, now I must go and change a diaper. He may speak like a 5 year old, but Ray still can't use the potty! Someday....