Perfect Pumpkin Picking

A couple weeks ago for FHE we headed down to the neighborhood pumpkin patch to get the halloween pumpkins. I know- a little late for posting, but it was cute after all!

We have this little family patch down the road with tons of pumpkins to choose from. The kids took FOREVER looking up and down rows of pumpkins to find the perfect one. Emitt settled on this one- he insisted he needed to "DO IT!!!!"- imagine this in a high pitched squeal and you will get the gist...

Tyse initially picked this one-

yup, bigger than his head and flat as the ground on one side. I think it was rotten. Luckily another caught his eye... and then another, and then another, and then another... you get the idea. He did finally settle on one. Ollie seemed happier riding in the wheelbarrow and trying to eat them...

We got a few and then headed over to the other festivities- a PERFECT sized corn maze for the little ones and then about 10 tractors of all different years for them to climb all over. Many of you know about my boys and tractors- they LOVE them, so I think we spent longer climbing on them than picking pumpkins!

Ollie isn't so into tractors yet- he preferred the corn.

Halloween 08

So I finally succombed to the pressure and am getting

something posted for a change! Sorry- we have computer woes and I don't get much time to be on the computer at all anymore, so my time is usually limited to doing my church calling and paying bills. How fun!

Speaking of fun, Halloween was! OUr costuming this year... left a little to be desired, but I guess we were successful in nabbing those much-needed extra calories and made it home safe.

In case you are wondering what we are....

Emitt is a bat. I love that costume and had made it for tyse, but it hadn't stored really well and I didn't really have a great chance to spruce it up all that well. Oh well. it worked and still looked kinda cute on him!

Ollie is a chick popping out of an egg. All went ok for him except the pattern called for a sheet of foam that was too small for my front pack and I couldn't find any bigger. Unfortunately, the egg just didn't fit quite right. The other woe was that the hat I ordered 3 weeks early never got here in time, so I just had to make do by turning last year's lion hat inside out, try to tape the mane and ears down inside, and then put the top of the egg shell on that. It didn't work as well as I hoped, but with a smile like he has, he was still really adorable! Here is a picture of just him and I- this was post trick or treating and the lion mane was hanging out, and we had lost one of his slippers I made, but this is it nonetheless.

Tyse's costume is quite the story. He was completely noncommittal on costuming. Unfortunately for fools like me that attempt to trick themselves into thinking that it will be cheaper if I make the costume, the decision the night before isn't really feasible! So the week before Halloween I took him down to the Hobby Lobby and sat him in front of a pattern book and told him that if he planned on trick-or-treating, he had to pick ANYTHING out of this book. It was starting to look as though he would not be trick or treating when he happened upon one that he got so excited about. I looked at it and all it was was a big black cape and hood that covered his face completely. At that point I didn't care and we just scooped it up and took it home with the fabric and things to do it with. We showed it to Kent that night and his first reaction was "you are going to let Tyse be the Angel of Death for Halloween?". To which Tyse replied, "Dad, it's not an angel. It is a black pioneer. You know, like those pioneers that pulled the carts in the snow? He just has on all black clothes." So that is the origin of the costume, The Black Pioneer. Can't you now just all look at the picture and see it?

The last comment I have about this Halloween was how BEAUTIFUL the weather was! I don't remember ever having a halloween when you could actually comfortably sit on your porch and hand out candy and chat with the neighborhood. It was so great! That is one of my favorite things about this neighborhood- all the porches and the people that use them.

Stuffies

Emitt LOVES his stuffies. Especially horses, dogs, and ducks. Tyse wasn't really into them, so this whole stuffed animal thing is new around here. When we go to the toy store Emitt can spend hours on end in the stuffed animal aisle hugging every one and climbing on them and using them for pillows, etc. So they are all over the house! The other day he woke up from his nap and came downstairs carrying the duck (on his right) and the monkey (on his left). He spent a long time making them sit just right on the floor next to him so they could watch Star Wars with him. I thought it was so cute I had to take a picture. Of course he heard the click, so he had to then give me a little personality...

That poor duck is only one eyed- thanks to the late RED who also had an affinity for stuffies

- just ask our niece, Ellie. She LOVED Red and his affinity for stuffies!

Will the real Ollie Madsen please...

Last year sometime Kent's dad brought over a few boxes

of his things from growing up and inside were these two little cabbage patch dolls that Kent had when he was little. The boys have adopted them as their own and love to change their diapers and clothes, as well as give them naps and sleep with them.

The funny thing about it is that both boys have named their dolls "Dolly Ollie". So Tyse thinks we have 3 ollie madsen's at our house- Ollie, Dolly Ollie, and Dolly Ollie. What good company Ollie has!

Future player....

I was really just cleaning the kitchen one day and finally started wondering where Emitt had wondered off to. Well- he was ready to get to practice.... unfortunately, it wasn't his practice coming up, but Tyse's- only 2 more years to go!

Paragliding

A couple weeks ago, the Troxel's took us along for a GREAT adventure... we went paragliding! At the Point of the Mountain there is a paragliding state park and apparently it is one of the best places to learn and train in the world (if not THE best). Thanks to Neil and all his hard work for our play!

It was so easy to see why people get addicted to this- it was really relaxing and you just sit

in the little "stadium" type seat and fly. OK- it is a little more than that- the trainer guy sits behind and does all the cord pulling and pushing and all that- but it was really relaxing and peaceful. I loved it! Next time we have an extra $8 grand laying around, maybe we will think about outfitting ourselves!

This is Kent in flight. He is the close chute- the red, black and green one.

Granted, I am not really afraid of heights, but I have STOOD on cliffs and the top of bungee towers and been way more nervous than I was when I was actually jumping off the mountain and flying around. It was such a great time! Thanks, N&K!

The First day of the rest of our lives....

The madness has begun! Yesterday was Tyse's first soccer game ever! It is a momentus occasion for all- my first day as a real soccer mom, and kent's dream come true! I can't even start to describe how proud Kent was of him and how into the game he really was. He was one fof the few on his team that actually chased the ball the whole time, actually played defense, and he scored 5 goals! He was in heaven! As soon as we got into the car to go home, he started whining, "MOM, I just can't wait until next saturday for my next game." The neighbor taught him how to slide tackle, which surprisingly he didn't use on anyone else, just on the ball when it was going out of bounds. It was so fun to watch and we are excited to continue the saga!

Emitt tribute at 2

So my little boy has turned 2. I am trying to quit calling him my baby because, well, I guess technically Ollie is my baby, but I do call them "the babies" quite often. It seems like 10 years ago we were in california and then in the hospital having him, but he also seems like he should only be Ollie's age. Hmmm. For those wondering about the songs we have on for the month, theya re Emitt's favorites.

Emitt is such a sweet and mischevious little boy! I have really started to wonder why the second (and I am sure the ones following from there) child learns all the things you want them to learn slower, but all the things you don't want them to learn faster. How does that work?

Here are some things about Emitt:

1. He still sleeps terribly! I don't think he has slept through the night once in his entire life. Now that he is in the bunk beds with Tyse, we have to close his door and put a baby lock on the inside to try to keep him in his own room at night. Not that he sleeps with us because he doesn't want to. He just wants us to carry him back to bed. But just last night he appeared in my room at 2 am and the lock was on the handle- we may have to revamp.

2. He lives almost solely on fruit. Doesn't eat much else- which probably explains why he hasn't made 22 lbs. yet. He is negative on the charts in weight and I can't get him to gain weight, no matter how much butter I put on his toast.

3. He is an instigator! He loves to wrestle, tackle, jump and just maul any unfortunate soul around. Unfortunately for Ollie.

4. His favorite word is NO! I am sure you are all surprised that my quiet little observer has a good little 2 year attitude behind it as well. Shocker.

5. He is ALMOST potty trained. I am done buying him diapers and I am ecstatic about it. About half the days we go the entire day in the same pair of undies, and half the time it is a bit of a disaster. I never thought I would ever say "thank goodness for elmo". But thank goodness. He doesn't like to pee on elmo. Thank goodness also to jellybeans, marshmallows, and nakedness. What bribery!

6. He is really starting to try to talk a lot more. He is working on figuring out how his tongue works to make different word sounds and so it looks like he is panting almost every time he speaks. When he says "milk" it sounds a little more than "mel(slurp)k". I vaguely remember when Tyse did this (I think more around 15 months, not 2) and I still think it is hillarious!

7. He LOVES going to target (or any other store where he can climb under the basket and wreak havoc).

8. He LOVES his brothers. Every time Tyse leaves the house he bursts into tears and asks constantly "tyse? Tyse?" until he comes home. He loves holding ollie and walks around singing "Ollie, ollie, ollie" and gets so excited when ollie wakes up from naps.

9. He has developed into a daredevil. One day Kent took him to the pool and finally got him to jump off the side and now he climbs and jumps off everything! He climbs the bunkbeds and stands up there with his arms straight out at his side and says, "Woah! Woah!"while he looks like he is walking a balance beam or something. He also climbs up the bunkbed and then stands backwards at the top and lets go to land on pillows.

10 . He loves music and singing, except he doesn't really say the words, he just blah blah's through it until the token word comes along (ie. blah blah blah blah little STAR!) in perfect tune. Sometimes he wanders around singing the new sugarland song, some Steve Miller, or the brady bunch theme.

That is just a bit of info about our little guy. He has topped the charts at 21.6 lbs- a hefty 2 oz. heavier than he was 6 months ago, and is now negative on the charts. I wish I was told by the doctor to double my butter intake. Me and Pop Secret would get along famously!

Happy Birthday, buddy!

Emitt is 2!

This week we celebrated emitt's 2nd birthday. He is such a sweet looking, two-year old acting crazy boy!

FOr his big day, we had grandmas and grandpa up for "nana pie". He loved it and smeared it all over. He blew his candle out first try before we even sang, so we had to do it all over again and he thought it was so great!

He made quite a haul this year- a Thomas movie from brothers,

a new trike that is just his size from grandmas and grandpa,

a swing to hang from the basement rafters,

and a fishtank! we pulled it back out of storage and got 4 little fishies swimming around in it. It has been a SWIMMING hit thus far! Those poor fish have already endured enough fishy stress for a lifetime! He has only been up to his elbows twice that I know of.... and hopefully we have cured the slapping of the glass. We will see how long they last. But we are all loving having a pet in the house again- especially one that doesn't pee on the carpet or eat food off the counter. I was too busy keeping him out of it to take a picture.

We also had a little party for him with neighbors and friends. We had a beach party up at our lake beach here and did a bunch of Emitt's favorite activities....we played in the sand and then blew tons of bubbles and chased beachballs around the grass.

Emitt got cold and spent most of the time hiding under a blanked in the grass.

We had beachball cupcakes and opened a few more wonderful gifts- all of which helped get us through today, so thanks, friends!

It was such a beautiful evening- so sad to think that they will soon come to an end!

Ollie is 6 months

Ollie has really gotten to be a lot of fun lately. He just turned 6 months and has been so much fun! He loves to interact with his brothers and loves when Emitt gets close and bumps heads with him. He loves his jumper- even enough to sleep there....

he also loves the mirror.

He is starting to eat solids more (even though the first time I attempted he cried harder than I think he ever has) and is a big fan of applesauce and can pass on sweet potatoes.

He is already a thrill seeker and loves being tossed in the air, hung upside down, and jumps on anyones lap at any time. Feedings now take forever because he prefers to watch what is going on and play. He sleeps 11+ hours at night (hard to believe that with Emitt at this age he was still waking up every 45 minutes), which makes you think I should be well rested. Oh well.

He has the most engaging giggle. He is topping the charts at 16 1/2 lbs (25%), which always makes me laugh because everyone always thinks he is so chubby for his age! It is those adorable leg rolls. Love it. He can get up on his hands and knees and sits wonderfully. He chases toys around by rolling and scooting on his belly.

He loves watching almost anything on TV, has definite favorites on toys, and loves his mobile. We love having him in our home. His smile makes my day! We love you Ollie!

Real Salt Lake

Last weekend we went to the Real Salt Lake game. Besides the trauma of actually stepping foot in the home of the "UTAH UTES", tyse had a GREAT time and loved telling us all the fancy stuff they were doing- real technical stuff like dribbling and passing and headers. At least in his book. Anyway, thanks to the Buckleys for taking us along and here are some fun pics from the outing.

Notice the fun time Ollie was having. He loved the game. or something.

On the way out we checked out all the olympic stuff they have at Rice Eccles. We didn't make any of the olympic excitement, so we hadn't seen any of it before. It was fun and the kids loved it.

Tyse-isms

I love how kids come up with their little sayings (not that we are any different). Tyse has definitely learned the value of the spoken word and uses it to his full advantage and 90% of the time I love it! (10% of the time I end up somewhat horrified!) Now that I have you wondering, here are his latest phrases:

1. He loves to say "what's the difference?" he just hasn't yet gotten the idea of it. He says it to me often, sometimes out of the blue and I am supposed to know exactly to what he is referring and come up with the brilliantly correct answer. This is often when that horrific 10 percent makes a showing. He doesn't like that I don't read minds well. Anyway, the other day he says to me (good luck keeping up), "What's the difference with skin? The difference is that our skin looks like this (pointing) and other peoples skin is brown or really white. It's just different. That's the difference."

2. He has the most wonderful primary teacher. She does a great job and he learns a lot from her. In class they have been talking about President Monson and his counselors, whom he refers to as "president monson's presidents". Anyway, he asked me if I knew who president monson's presidents were one day and I actually understood and tried to explain that they are called counselors. He said, "Never mind mom with the right word. What matters is that we know who they are. I know. They are President Eyring and president Orkdoof." I love how he says that!

3. He has started soccer practice and loves every minute. He thinks he needs to practice non stop, and I had to hide his jersey and shin guards so they make it through the next week until his first game. One night he was out playing with Kent and Kent told him it was time to come in for bed. Tyse says, "But Dad, my coach saysbthat we need tom practice a lot! if I go to bed, I can't practice and then I won't win." Sheesh. But if I was concerned about him being a bit timid on the field, it was solved after the second practice when the coach said to me, "Man, Tyse has a lot of aggression!" I am hoping he meant that he is aggressive. I know you are all thinking, Tyse? Timid? no way. But it was a bit of a concern.... for a second or two. Anyway, That's all I can think of right now, but I know there was more to share, so I may have a part 2 later...

The Madsens and the Olympics

Our regular life has been overtaken by the olympics. OUr entire family is into it- except maybe Ollie. He will happily even watch the boring stuff.

Anyway, tyse is enthralled. it was only the second day of the olympics and he had already decided he wanted to work really hard to go to the olympics someday in swimming, volleyball, rowing, white water kayaking, and water polo. Then came his frustration... through tears he came up to me and said, "Mom, there are just too many choices." Yup. That produced tears.

To get a good idea of what it is like to watch sports with him, check out the following video of him watching Wimbledon last month....

Tyse's favorite events to watch have been as follows:

1. Water Polo. Except he called it water soccer for the first week or so. It was the only way I knew to explain it to him- and it would be one of the only events that I really don't have much of a clue about

2. Volleyball. He comes by it rightly and he loves to yell "pass, set, KABOOM!" at the TV. HE likes #8 on the mens indoor team- Purdy. He also likes Millar and Lambourne, of course, since they are ex-cougars. His only beef? That there are 3 different ways to score a volleyball game- the beach style (best of 3 to 21), the international indoor style (best of 5 to 25), and the college and high school style (best of 5 to 30). How is a 4 year old supposed to keep up

3. White Water Kayaking. He loved our little "rafting" trip down the St. Mary's in canada, so he figures he is a seasoned vet. He loves to watch and say "it's a green gate! Go through!" or "it's a red gate! Turn around ! Go backward! Come on!"

4. He loves the hoop and rope events from the rhythmic gymnastics. He loves how high they throw things and how they can catch it all tricky like. He also thought it VERY COOL that one of the girls rolled the hula hoop from one arm, around her head, and then down the other.

5. He loves the birds nest. DOesn't care what happens there- just thinks it looks cool and has a great name!

Emitt loves the volleyball and diving. He calls volleyball "boom" and is glued to it. He likes to climb into my lap and I try to explain what is happening and teach him the right terms and how to cheer appropriately. He is completely mesmorized!

His other favorite is diving. When the competitors get up onto the platform, he watches the tv and yells "oming...oming...oming" (coming) louder and louder until the dive begins, and then throws his head to the side and very smoothly says "aaaash" (splash) when they enter the water. It is really hillarious. I will try to get a video of it.

Kent and I are just sleep deprived. Here it is, 12:40 am, and i am up watching the bronze medal volleyball match between Cuba and China. THis has been going on for 2 weeks now! I can't wait to get a little sleep!

It has been so fun to watch. I can't wait for vancouver already!

Our future rock stars

Tyse is really into music. He cares who is on the radio, learns the words to almost anything, and knows who sings what with who and for what....

anyway, one of his favorites is Steve Miller Band. He has really been brushing up on his air guitar skills, and thanks to the seatbelt from his booster, he almost has it figured out. Notice that his left hand is busy playing the correct chords. Later this day, Emitt sang along to his first radio song- and it was Swingtown, by none other than SMB. His tastes have shifted lately, however to Jazz. He loves to listen to this cd called "The Great Ladies Sing Gershwin" with Ella Fitzgerald, etc. He is a bit quirky! Enjoy the show!

Ed Rothe Memorial Fund

I was lucky enough to grow up in the same town as my mom's brother and his family. I have a cousin the same age as I am from that family and we spent a lot of time together with sleepovers and family trips, etc. I love spending time with the Rothe family and love them dearly. My uncle, Ed, passed away in March in the second inning of a softball tournament he was playing in from a pulmonary embolism- basically similar to a heart attack. He played short stop for the Denver area Senior Softball League. Who knew there was such a thing?
Anyway, after his untimely and shocking death, his family, along with 2 pastors out of St. George, put together a memorial fund in his name to raise money to provide as many senior teams as possible with a defibrilator- hopefully to prevent this from happening to anyone else. By the first of July they had raised enough money to present a defibrilator to his team. The team just happened to be playing a tournament in Salt Lake that weekend and the sponsors wanted a family member to be there for the presentation. Ed's wife was not available for the weekend, so she asked my mom to go in her place. I went along too, mostly to take pictures and get out of the house.
It was a really neat thing to be a part of in his memory and it was nice to meet his teammates and hear how much they liked playing with and being around Ed. After his death, they laid his jersey and glove in his position (short stop) for the first inning of each game, during which no opposing team would hit there, and they also kept his name in the batting lineup and took an automatic out each time it would have been his turn to bat.
It is so nice to hear stories like this when it seems our world is turning more and more into a competitive dog-eat-dog kind of place. Even our recreation often gets out of hand and taken to the extreme. As if our family isn't competitive enough! I hope that I can help Tyse (and the other kids) learn that PEOPLE, respect and the love of the game are far more important than any tournament, trophy, or medal ever will be.

Colby's birthday

No, we don't have yet another boy at our house (yet!) Colby is a friend's little boy that turned 2 in July and I just haven't posted these fun pics yet. After the formal festivities, Shay's dad let us come to his house and play in the kiddie pool, the hot tub, and bbq. The kids have so much fun together! I feel so blessed to have friends that have kids the same ages as mine. Except poor Ollie. No one else was ready to take the plunge with the little ones only 9 months- I can't imagine why! I can't wait until we can move into our ideal compound style housing with those we love!

Look at how cute girls are. I don't have any of my own, so I just pretend maybe these are mine!

The slide into the pool was such a hit- the kids had a great time sliding down! Samantha was a little daredevil! For her usually cautious self, it was fun to see her almost as crazy as the ones that live at my house! Tyse thought that maybe Emitt needed a little help going down the slide. I'm sure!Scout was so cute in the pool- completely content just to be in her own little anti-slide world and go crazy! Here are the group of 2 year olds minus Amy. The birthday boy is in the middle.

My boys didn't want to stop!

They wouldn't get out even when Emitt was practically in convulsions! I wish we had video of him shaking and the sound effect that goes along with it. If he could put on some fat maybe he would be able to go swimming in July without worrying about hypothermia!
The bbq was delicious and Shay and Dave braved the swimming pool with all the kids. The end of the night was filled with fireworks from Lagoon. It was quite a show and kept going and going... thanks for the party, Shay, and the hospitality, Scott!

Mommy Tag

Tyse got tagged by Wyatt

Mommy tag

This is Tyse answering questions about Mom.

1.What is something Mommy always says? I love you
2. What makes Mommy happy? Holding Ollie
3. What makes Mommy sad? When Me and Daddy go somewhere
4. How does your Mom make you laugh? tickle me
5. What was your Mom like as a child? silly
6. How old is your Mom? 29
7. How tall is your Mom? pretty tall!
8. What is your Mom's favorite thing to do? Wash the dishes
9. What does Mom do when your not around? CLean the dishes
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? It will be for shayla. (what is famous?)
11. What is your Mom really good at? Are you good at cartwheels, mom? You ARE good at washing dishes.
12. What is your Mom not good at? Flying
13. What does Mom do for her job? Watch us
14. What is Mom's favorite food? Noodles
15. What makes you proud of your Mom? when she tickles me
16. If your Mom were a carton character who would she be? wonder red
17. What do you and your Mom do together? play baseball
18. How are you and your Mom the same? we like going swimming
19. How are you and your Mom different? Mom likes zucchini- yuk!
20. How do you know your Mom loves you? she cleans up my toys


Tyse tags-
Conner, Hailey, Samantha, Carson, and Blakeslie

Topping off the Temple

SO hopefully I will become a little better at blogging, but I am having computer woes, so we will see...
Anyway, about a month ago, we were able to participate in the topping off of the temple. They lifted the HUGE steeple onto the building first ( it was estimated to weigh just over 17,000 lbs and ended up actually weighing over 30,000), which was a little stressful because they were a little nervous that the crane wouldn't hold it after all. I guess the superintendent hadn't slept in about a week because he was worried. It was really neat to see it go up and be a little nervous until it was secured. We headed over at about 7:30 in the morning and set up camp looking like this...
a bunch of the families of the workers were there and so I had some company, which turned out really well when by 10:00 they still hadn't finished securing the tower into place. By the time they finally started lifting the tower, most of the workers had come over to sit with their families and watch (pray). Unfortunately, Kent was no where to be found. I was watching out for him when I saw this...

You may have to enlarge it to figure out why I posted this picture... there is a tall man with a cream, black, and red shirt that is standing on the left corner with a white hard hat on. Yup- that is why Kent hadn't come to watch... he wanted a closer look and decided he should help bolt down the tower. I know it doesn't look that huge from the picture, but he is just standing on steel beams about 200 feet in the air with no harness or safety on at all. All of a sudden I recognized that shirt and then I was REALLY nervous! Kent thought it was so cool to be up and part of that, and he has a rip in his jeans to remember it by.
It took another 2 hours to finally get moroni ready to fly. By that time there were people everywhere outside the gates and the news helicopter was flying around. It was really exciting. I took a really cool video of it happening, but I didn't know you can't rotate video from our camera so it is worthless. Plus it took forever. Sorry not to share. but we got some great pictures...up he goes....

and here he is! It was an amazing feeling and even got a little more emotional about it than I thought I would. What a great experience!
Some of the funny things about the thing...

I was amazed at how detailed moroni is for being 200 feet in the air... His hair is perfect! He even has dimples on his cheeks from where he is blowing his horn. Tyse and Emitt know that his name is moroni, but I don't know how to explain much more about his role on top of the temple than that.
Kent took a picture of his fist next to Moronis to try to get a scale type shot. It turned out that it just looks like they are bumpin knuckles. I guess Moroni is now our buddy.

Imagine driving down the freeway one day and passing this....
This is how they brought Moroni to the jobsite. I don't know what I expected, but I didn't expect to see him tied down to any old flatbed being towed behind a joe schmoe truck. Just a 12 foot moroni. Crusin down the freeway. Hmmm.