Happy Family

My sister probably won't like this post (since it has the stench of perfection), but we just had our family pics taken by an awesome photographer that lives in our ward. Here are just a few of them. Thanks Jill!

Doesn't he look like a smartie pants?

Toby will be mortified that I posted this one.

Audrey was a huge grumpopotomus all morning long.

Still adorable though!

The only hint of a smile we could capture

So serious - she gets the scowl from her father Our happy family
Another hint at a smile - both of our kids got my blue eyes
Such a good big brother!
They really are little buddies - I love it!
Our dude
Seriously, look at those blue eyes!
Again, mortification - I'll hear about it later.
Handsome father & son

Warning: It's a mommy blog

I try to keep general mommy blogs to a minimum. But I feel like it's been a while since I put any pictures up so you'll just have to bear with me on this digital timeline of the last few months.

Toby & his family @ Arches in March

An Arch

Audrey spent most of the Arches trip trapped in this backpack - luckily she learned to nap in it as seen here

No Ryans were harmed in the taking of this photo

Toby & Audrey hiking

Toby & Tysen with an arch in the background

While I know it's hard to believe, my offspring consume veggies

Tysen lost his first upper tooth. He's lost 4 of the bottom ones, but the top ones are always so much more noticeable

Audrey loves to antagonize the dog

Audrey was "mopping" and Bonzai kept trying to bite the mop - she thought it was hysterical

Apparently Tysen's water jug looked more enticing than her small sippy cup at the soccer game

Tysen's playing soccer again this spring - he's on a different team, but they're still blue & white

Tysen & Coach Ryan

Look closely and you'll see my super-cute red extensions in my hair. So fun! (P.S. I'm aware I'm not 18 anymore and that it's not 1984)

My mom and dad have been here visiting - here's Tysen with his buddy Grandpa Day

Me & My Mom - love her!

You feel the need to use a lot of obscenities at the dentist?

Last week Tysen and I both had dentist appointments. Joy! I loathe the dentist, but I don't want to end up with dentures when I'm 30 so every six months I hem and haw and I eventually succumb and go.

Tysen has horrific teeth. Really, really bad. He's only 6 and he has at least 8 fillings and has had 2 root canals and 2 teeth with steel caps (aka "silver teeth"). This time was no exception. He had only 1 new cavity, which isn't too bad for him. But he had one filling that came completely out, which needed to be replaced. And on another tooth he had somehow managed to shear off most of the filling that was in the tooth as well as about 1/3 of the remaining tooth. I asked the dentist how in heaven's name that would happen and he got a wide-eyed look on his face and said "it wouldn't be easy". Fantastic, now I know exactly how to avoid that circumstance in the future.

Now the good news, for the first time in 3 years I had a dentist appointment that did not reveal any new cavities! YAHOO!!! No mortal fear of novocaine & drilling for another 6 months!

What did people do before they had TV? Don't be stupid Beavis, there's always been TV, there's just a lot more channels now.

Now that I'm back to having a life after tax season, I've been able to catch up on most of my shows that were waiting patiently on my DVR for me to return. Here's my recap of what's been going on on some of my favorites. I'll start with the more trashy shows I watch and hopefully it'll get classier from there, but I can't promise anything.

Real World/Road Rules Challenge - the Duel II: This is such an interesting show to me. I record it every season. It's like a train wreck and I am compelled to admire the twisted damage. First of all, CT needs to be in a strait jacket in a nice white room with padded walls and heavily sedated. That would be for everyone's well being. Shauvon needs to ditch the "MySpace" hairdo. It doesn't look good on anyone. Everyone needs to learn to keep their pants on on their knees together. The challenges this season I think have been more interesting than in seasons past, but the actual games of the Duel are kinda lame.

The Hills: I think Lauren has shot herself in the foot by recommending Stephanie for the People's Revolution job. We'll see how that crashes and burns soon. And seriously, Heidi? You married that douche bag? I'm not sure who's worse: Spencer, who behaves like an imbecile, or Heidi, who committed to that whole "till death do us part" thing. I give it 3 years, max. Heaven help us all if they have kids. Those children will need loads of therapy. Let's just hope MTV is there to document the divorce proceedings. Now that's entertainment.

The Real Housewives of New York: I love all the real housewives, New York, Orange County, Atlanta, and I'm sure New Jersey will be grand as well. Here are my thoughts on the current New York cast. Bethenny I adore. She's got this awesome dry wit humor that I love and she doesn't take crap from anyone, especially Kelly. Which brings me to Kelly. Who does this woman think she is? She behaves like some mall rat strait out of 7th grade. And best of all, she's a model, but her face is weird looking. She's got a cute little body, but from the neck up, it's not all that impressive. I can't decide about Ramona. She's hit & miss for me. Same with Alex. I'm kind of indifferent to those 2. Simon bugs the heck out of me. I think Jill is fabulous. She's SO quintessential New Yorker. I love her. I really like LuAnn too. She always verbalizes in a really eloquent way the things that were already going thru my head. I just think she's really poised and classy. I like her. And she has the same name as my mom so I like that too!

Law & Order SVU: There are no words - this show is perfection. I really like that they brought back Stephanie March as the DA. I really like her. I was sad when they killed her off a few seasons back. I did read that they were thinking about replacing Benson & Stabler and if that happens, I'm not sure I'll even watch the show anymore. They ARE that show.

Law & Order CI: I really like this L&O as well. I love Goren. He and Eames just work so well together. There's a great dynamic there. I'm anxious to see how the new dude works out. You know, the guy was in Jurassic Park as the weird scientist dude that kept hitting on the paleontologist? Anywho, we'll have to see how he works with the show. He's only been in one episode so far.

90210: While this show can never be what the original Beverly Hills 90210 is to me in my heart, it is sufficiently shallow and campy for my taste. Naomi sometimes bugs, but I can live with that. I really like Adrianna and Naveed. Dixon could use some acting lessons. I have mixed feelings about Annie & Ethan. But Silver, I adore! And they brought back the original Kelly Taylor which helps immensely, as have the guest appearances by Brenda Walsh & Donna Martin. I really need to see some Dylan McKay though. That would really take this show places.

Grey's Anatomy: Please no one tell me what's going on. I have 3 episodes on my DVR I haven't gotten to yet. Don't spoil it for me please. I need to learn for myself what happens to Izzie.

ER: Ah, my beloved ER. It's over. I cried. I can't speak of it anymore for fear the tears will return. I'll miss you Archie Morris!

Lost: When I was prego with Audrey, Kenlynne's family got me totally hooked on this show. We've been devoted fans ever since. But, no pun intended, they've lost me. The whole time travel thing isn't sitting well with my psyche. I keep watching in the hopes that they will eventually wrap it all up in a nice pretty package for me at some point and I'll get what's going on.

House: Love it, love it, love it!

So that's what's been deleted from my DVR lately. I really think I like TV too much.

Run, Forrest, Run!

Lately Toby has been getting into great shape (much to my chagrin - we used to be fat together, now I'm on my own). He looks great, feels great, and last weekend he ran in the "Pat's Run". It's a 4.2 mile run for the Pat Tillman Foundation. Pat Tillman was a football player at ASU who was drafted by the Cardinals, but decided fighting for his country in Iraq was more important than the NFL. He was killed overseas.

Toby decided to do the run just a couple of months ago, which is not a lot of time for training. He also injured his leg the week before the race, but he did it anyway. He placed 1,819 out of over 14,000 people. He ran the 4.2 miles in 33 minutes. What a stud, right? I'm so proud of him!

Here he is with a co-worker (Dee Ann), and a former co-worker (Jackie) who also ran on Saturday. Doesn't he look great?!?!

It's over - if only for a season

I did it. I survived another tax season. Our office closes every year the day after tax day so today was blissful. I talked Toby into taking the day off as well so we could spend some time together (for the first time since football season started last fall).

We had such a nice day! He got the kids up this morning and took Tysen to school and Audrey to the baby sitter's while I slept in until 9:30. Isn't he great?!?! Then we got ready for the day and went to the Temple. It's always so nice, quiet, calm and peaceful there - it never ceases to amaze me. Kenlynne went with us. Then we went out to eat since we weren't able to make the time for that on my birthday (birthdays during the last week of tax season suck). We went to Macaroni Grill which was fantastic, as always.

We got home in time for me to pick Tysen up from school and walk him home, which I never get to do. Toby picked up Audrey and when we got home she was ready for her afternoon nap, as was I. So she and I took naps. Naps are one of the most glorious things in the world, in my opinion.

Tysen brought Audrey in and plopped her on top of me a couple of hours later (he's such a good helper to get her out of bed when he hears her crying). Toby had gone to hit a bucket of balls, which he loves to do. Then he came home and we worked on his golf swing in the back yard. We went on a walk this evening and had to run an errand after that.

So we all get in the car to run our errand and there's something I've never seen before on the front seat of the car. Tysen wanted to play with it and Toby obviously didn't want him touching it at which point I asked what the heck it was. It is some kind of accessory/tool for the obscenely expensive golf club he purchased after he finished up at the driving range this afternoon. Let me remind you I haven't even gotten a birthday present yet, but here we have some random, unnecessary item making it's way into our garage. Watev.

He loves golf - it's the only thing he ever splurges on so for the most part, I don't mind. He doesn't complain too much about my volume of shoes so I let the golfing stuff slide. At least I have an idea now how much I will spend on shoes for my birthday to match the cost of the club :)

We got home and put the kids in bed. They're asleep now and we'll sit down to watch the episode of Grey's Anatomy on our DVR now. What a perfect day!

Faith, Family, Scriptures, Temple

As I'm sure most of you are aware, last weekend was General Conference for our church. Click HERE to listen to the archives. For my non-LDS friends, General Conference happens twice a year and the prophet and his counselors speak on various gospel topics during a series of 4 2 hour general sessions over 2 days.

At our house, we play a game in an attempt to get Tysen to listen to conference in some fashion. We have a list of key words we want him to listen for and each time he hears one of the words, he gets a piece of candy. This year the words were Faith, Family, Scriptures, and Temple. The candy of choice was jelly beans. He did so good! He was coloring his little outlines of ties for each of the speakers and shouting out the words when he heard them and consuming far too much sugar.

On Sunday there were 3 talks in a row on the Temple (I wonder if that means it's important or something). About half-way through the 2nd one he stopped shouting out the word "Temple" and I asked him if he was still listening. He said "yeah, but I'm sick of jelly beans now". So in October we'll try a little more variety with the candy menu.

On a moderately unrelated note, I have to come clean about something. I have a serious problem. And I mean a SERIOUS problem with cursing. I'm a Day and it's deeply embedded in our DNA. I don't swear in front of my kids, for the most part. Mostly it's at work, but considering how much of my time I spend there, it's a lot. I've been reading the Book of Mormon and I'm in 2nd Nephi currently in the Isaiah chapters (yawn) so I was flipping through my scriptures to read random things that were highlighted and I came upon Mosiah 4:30. And it reads:

But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not. (italics added)

Well, crap! So I'm now trying to phase out the naughty words that come so quickly to my tongue. I think it will be a slow process. Not sure a cold turkey approach would work for me. Please, wish me luck. I know I'm going to need it.

Work sucks, I know

Some days I feel like this guy from the Pirates movies.

Like one of these days my keyboard, pens, paperclips, highlighters, sticky notes, and papers marked 1040, 1065 & 1120 are going to fuse with my body. I will become part of my office.

I know, you've missed me

I thought I should probably let everyone in on what we've been up to the last little while.

I've been working like a crazy person (no surprises there). It actually hasn't been that bad the last week or so. The calm before the final storm, I think. I'm glad I love what I do or I'd be miserable. On we trudge toward April 15th.

Two weekends ago, Toby was blessed enough for me to allow him to fly to Vegas for the day to go to one of the BYU games at the Mountain West Conference Tournament with one of his mission buddies. He had a GREAT time. Do you think he took any pictures? That would be no. He's been sufficiently chastised for that. He and Brad had a blast at the games and took in a few of the sites along the strip. Can you believe Toby had never been to LV before? Hard to imagine, I know.

The day after he got back from that little trip, Toby took the kids to Utah for spring break with Kenlynne & her kids. They went to Moab and did a whole ton of hiking around Arches National Park. (At least, I think it's a national park - I could be making that up) They had a great time. They came home at the end of the week exhausted with their clothes and hair full of sand - which was great fun doing the laundry. I actually survived their absence and I stayed in my house ALL ALONE!!! Can you believe it?! Miracles can happen, apparently. And the house didn't get broken into and I didn't even get murdered or tortured by some psycho or anything!

I worked a lot while they were gone, but I had a little fun too. I had girls night out with my work friends which is always fun, and I went to dinner with my cute cousin, Katie who lives in QC (Queen Creek). One night I went out to eat with Kenlynne's husband, Glynn. That was an interesting evening. We go to dinner at Chili's and as we're walking out some guy in his ward is walking into the restaurant with his family. You should've seen the looks on their faces! Hilarious! They look at Glynn, look at me, look back at Glynn, the wife shoots me the evil eye. It was really funny. It won't be quite so funny when Glynn gets a call from his Bishop, but it will still be funny on my end!

Audrey has learned how to throw fits, which is a fun treat. If you take something from her or move something she's trying to get to, she will throw herself on the floor and cry. Not actual tears cry, just for show. And I still think it's adorable so I have to force myself not to laugh at her and just walk away. I really just want to pick her up and cuddle her and tell her how cute she is, but that wouldn't teach her anything, now would it. She has also started insisting she go to bed with either her stuffed bear or her angel doll that talks (one of our cute Catholic friends gave it to her when she was born and it says the Lord's Prayer . . . I think). It's always fun to start hearing the doll reciting "now I lay me down to sleep" at 3 am when she's rolled over on it. Is that part of the Lord's Prayer? Not sure on that one. She also LOVES to give people big hugs and slobbery kisses. She's so much fun!

Tysen still loves to read. He's starting to get into short chapter books and so I ordered a bunch of books I remember reading as a kid off Amazon. Heaven forbid I get a library card. Shopping online is so much more fun. The other night we started reading George's Marvelous Medicine (awesome book for little boys) and the deal at night is if he's in bed by 8 then I'll read him a chapter from whatever book we're reading and he can then read until he falls asleep. So I read the first chapter of the book and when I was done I shut it and he said "but mom, what happens next?" I told him he'd have to read more before he fell asleep or else we'd continue the next evening. His response, "but mom, you've already read it and I'm dying to know what happens now. Just tell me pleeeeeeeeease?" I remember feeling that way about books when I was a kid too so it made me feel all warm and fuzzy that he's an active little reader. The next morning he told me what happened in the next chapter, which he read before bed. Too cute!

Toby made me furious last night. Ok, you twisted my arm, I'll tell you why. So I started reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning again last week (yes, mom, I've read it before). And I was reading the chapter (1 Nephi 17 I think) where Nephi builds the ship to sail to the Promised Land and so I said "do you think the ship Nephi built was like a big sailboat". The response was a roar of uncontrollable, mocking laughter. He pointed out that 600 years BC they probably didn't have motorboats or yachts to sail the ocean. I'm not THAT stupid! I just had never pictured the boat in my mind before. I mean, was Noah's ark a sailboat? That's not how it's depicted in the art pieces I've seen. And we know the Jaredite barges were built to go underwater so they weren't sailboats either. How was I supposed to know Nephi's ship was a sailboat? I didn't think it was that dumb a question and I don't like being laughed at. I'm trying to decide if he's still in trouble or if I'm over it.

So that's what we've been up to. I'll try to post some pics from Toby & the kids' vacation when I get a chance. Which may not be until May, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Because I've had a hard few weeks at work

Here are a few things that have been bothering me of late:

1. If you refer to your annual accounting information as "the box" I can tell you before I even begin that I'm not going to be happy with you.

2. I don't know what it means when you say "give me the max" in reference to pretty much anything. I don't know what "the max" is and there's nowhere on any form issued by the IRS where I can check a box that says "the max"

3. If you bring in a years worth of accounting in "the box" 13 days before the filing deadline for your business tax return, don't say "we'll see you on the 15th". It's not gonna be done, honey. There are about 50 clients ahead of you who actually got us their info in a timely manner and it wasn't in "the box".

4. Let's just avoid any words containing the letter "X" and go from there. (i.e. box & max)

5. If you see me around (at church, the grocery store, etc) don't say "so, are you working a lot of hours this time of year?" Is that honestly a question that needs to be asked? I've considered packing a suitcase full of clothes, putting up a cot or hammock in my office, and washing up in the sink in the mornings - is that enough hours for you?

6. Probably a worse question is "it must be hard not to see your kids". Um, DUH YOU IDIOT!!!! My response is usually "well, it pays the bills" which is true, but the reality is I don't know what the proper response is to that comment without cursing.

7. If you make a hundred and something thousand dollars a year and your total charitable contributions for the year were a measly 50 bucks, I think you're a selfish jerk (I actually think you're something worse than that, but I'm trying to keep it clean - members of my ward read this blog after all). I know LDS people are a prone to give a little more than the average person to charity. That whole 10% thing. But there's got to be something you think it worthy of giving to. Cancer research, the Humane Society, a battered women's shelter, public education, Goodwill - SOMETHING YOU SELFISH JERK?!?!?!

On a lighter note, I'll share a couple of fun things about the kids. Audrey has now figured out how to unlatch the gate which we put up to keep her contained in the livingroom/kitchen area. She is obsessed with the gate being shut. If someone leaves it open, she goes over and pulls it shut and hooks the latch. Usually she ends up on the wrong side of it and goes exploring. At least it keeps the dog in one area of the house. She's so stinkin' cute!

The other day Tysen came over and gave me a hug. That was nice. Then he started Pillsbury Dough Boy poking me and said "mom, your belly is squishy - it feels like there's cotton inside - like the cotton at Build-A-Bear that goes in their bellies" Nothing like a 6 year old to make you feel like a million bucks. I took the opportunity to tell him it was his fault my belly felt like that because he lived in there and before that it wasn't squishy.

It's been 85 degrees every day for the last week and the weather is fantastic. Toby and the kids are going hiking over spring break in a few weeks and Kenlynne (Toby's fabulous sister) found an awesome baby hiking backpack thingy for 10 bucks at Savers (you know the big things with the metal frame and the baby seat in it that you strap to your back). It weighs next to nothing but it's big and comfy for Audrey. It's in perfect shape - I love a good deal! With the warm weather I have to retire my kids' winter clothes now after a whopping 6 weeks of them being worn. Which is fine because I LOVE shopping for new clothes for my kids! Out with the old and in with the new!