Keryn's Rootin' Tootin' Roundup

1. Gideon just walked two steps, totally independent--no walker, no crutches, nothing! And he did it again and again. I cheered and clapped until my throat hurt and my hands were tingly.

2. Heber is now sitting up without immediately falling over. He's still behind on gross motor skills (sigh), but making good progress. I think he's a little bit lazy.

3. Mercy is an amazing animal lover. Dogs, cats, birds, fish--she loves them all. And she's pretty good with them, too.

4. Ezra had his kindergarten pre-assessment yesterday. Don't want to brag, but he correctly identified all his letters (upper and lower case), numbers, counted to twenty (and only stopped because the teacher told him to), wrote his name, and rhymed. Go Ezra! He cannot wait until August 26th, the first day of school for kindergarteners.

This week

I've spent most of this week in my classroom. I started Monday morning by painting one wall in my classroom black. - I know- BLACK. I am doing a space theme next year and, with the help of Keryn, painted good size planets while I was in Utah. They are mostly up. I just need to paint a little more sun (It needed to be wider at the top to be seen behind the book shelf and filing cabinet), create the asteroid belt and add rings to Saturn. Those are scheduled for this weekend. Then I will take a picture and post it for you all. I am actually quite excited and everyone LOVES the wall. Barb (my principal and through whom I had to get permission to paint my wall black) thought the wall would darken the whole room, but actually it kind of opens it up by making the wall almost disappear and the colored planets pop out. The only draw back is that I will probably have to repaint it back to white at the end of one year. We'll see.
Anyway, I then cleaned out all my cabinets, reorganized my desk, counted out 25 pages for every math homework assignment for the entire year, put up bulletin boards and talked with everyone else trying to get ready for school.
Next week is our last full week of summer break. Except, of course, I have three different meetings to attend. I am presenting in two different committees during our teacher trainings in August and we are not quite ready. Actually, I am looking forward to school starting. I love the summer, don't get me wrong, but I also love to teach and miss it.
By the way, our high today was in the mid 60's. Not to brag or anything but I love Colorado Springs.
No hope yet on the house hunting. I was suppose to go back out with my agent yesterday, but she has a sinus infection. I hope to go out tomorrow. Please pray that I will find something perfect for me.

Love you all!

It doesn't work!

Sorry, Caren, that simply doesn't work! Jacob eats everything not nailed down. He actually eats almost as much as Benjamin, but he has not grown hardly at all! He is still this adorable little kid that everyone tells me they just want to pinch and cuddle. I actually was told by one of his friend's mom that she and her two teenage girls are afraid they are going to give him a complex because they keep telling him how cute he is! Mostly, when that happens, Jacob just grins and rolls his eyes. He likes the attention. I imagine that will change in a few years if the expected growth spurt never happens!

In other business, Heather and Benjamin have both announced that they know what they want to Christmas. Heather wants a special edition, Hanana Montana, Lilac colored PSP ($260) and Benjamin wants a laptop! Ha! They can just write to Santa and hope that he has won the lottery between now and then!

if you feed them they grow

Adam brought home this paperwork to fill out and pay 20 dollars {if we wanted to} for the mcgruff safety kit, including dna collection kit, cards with vital stats, finger prints etc. Just in case of kidnap or injury etc.... It gave us the excuse to weigh him and measure how tall he is currently. He weighs 48 pounds and is 47 inches tall {one inch away from 4 ft tall}. The boy is solid! He's going to be taller than his grandma by the age of 10 and taller than me by the age of 12. lol
caren

Lessons

So, I was preparing my lesson for Gospel Doctrine. I taught this last Sunday, so I have nearly two weeks before I have to go again, but I like to get started early so I have a chance to really think things through. My next lesson is on Baptisms for the dead. LaDale and Keryn, do you remember that time when Daddy and Mom took us to the St George Temple to do them? It was my first time. I still have that slip of paper they gave us saying how many we performed that day.

I've really been enjoying my new calling. It's gotten easier to balance everything since school is back in.

Today was a crazy day. Every other Wednesday the entire year we have a half day. It's for teacher development and the kids appreciate the break. Today was our first half day. It's also the day there is no preschool, for the same reason. This way they don't have to cancel the afternoon preschool classes every other week. I went to wake up Erica this morning and she pulled the classic, "UGH! Just five more minutes!" So I let her sleep a few more minutes. Usually she is up a half hour before I wake the other kids up, but not today. That had me a bit worried, but not a lot. Then I went in to get her up for sure and she started to scream that her eye was hurting!

I tried to look at what the problem was, but she refused to open her eye or even put her hand down. Finally, I got a wet washcloth and she agreed to hold it over her eye. I didn't send her to school, I didn't really know what I was dealing with. If it was pink eye, there was no way she should be in school. About a half hour after the other kids left, she came in and declared the she was, "All better!" I looked at her eye and it surprised me. It was bright red! Not the eye exactly, but her eyelid and all the skin for about an inch around it. I don't know what happened! I still don't. At least she wasn't in any pain, and it faded and looked perfectly normal after about an hour. I wonder if she bumped it or something. Shrug. She'll go to school tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I plan on finishing my laundry, finishing my mopping and finishing my vacuuming! Wish me luck.

Crazy

So, today I mopped, and mopped, and mopped. I did manage to get to most of the tile in my house. When Lillian got home she even helped me as I pulled out the couches and mopped underneath. She got the little sweeper broom and dustpan and her job was to follow me and get all those little crumbs that come up when you mop but don't actually stick to the mop. Then we rearranged my family room, no small feet let me tell you, and we washed the coffee table off and vacuumed and generally cleaned our way through the downstairs. As a treat for helping me, we are going to be going swimming tomorrow morning since she doesn't have school tomorrow. Wednesday is my laundry day, so I'll be doing about 12 loads of laundry! Oh, and by the way, I got my first rejection letter yesterday. It's not a big deal, I've got about a dozen out right at the moment, so I am still hopeful.

Sorry

I know I've kind of dropped off the face of the earth these last few weeks. Sorry about that. It's been crazy getting the kids off to school. We rode our bikes the first day of school, but nearly gave ourselves heat stroke on the way home, the temp was that high! And I'm serious. By the time I got Erica home I had a pounding headache and was nauseous and everything. So, until the heat advisories let up, we're going to have to take the kids back and forth. Luckily, our neighbors feel the same way, so we are carpooling so I only have to drive once a day. After it cools off a bit, we'll go back to the bikes and the neighbor kids will tag along on theirs. It's a good plan. All the kids profess to be excited about their new classes. Heather comes home excited and eager to do her homework and Benjamin tells me that he is happy, too. He plays it much cooler. It's just not cool to get overly excited. Jacob is a bit disappointed. School cuts into his socialisation. Erica is so excited just to be going. Every night she askes me if she gets to go to school tomorrow. Lillian loves preschool, still, and her teacher has had some interesting assignments already. This week, we are supposed to do a square for a classroom quilt that she is going to put together and hang on the wall. I am slowly but surely reclaiming my house after summer vacation. I almost have the downstairs to the point where I can get upstairs again, just in time for the next twelve loads of laundry! Jeff is dealing with the normal end of the month madness, but it will let up in a few more days. We're getting geared up for Jacob's birthday party on the 15th.

That's all for now!

Love ya!

Jacob

Just so that everyone knows... Jacob turns eight this next month. Not that that is a surprise for anyone. His birthday falls before our ward's scheduled day at baptisms, so he will be baptised on August 22. I haven't gotten the time and such down yet, but there it is!

Love ya all!

Kip at an early start

So we have discovered that Kip has a taste for Beer, Root Beer that is. Here he is 'knocking back' an IBC Root Beer. This might explain the little 'accident' we had with our first car many years ago. (The incident I am referring to was when our car was rear-ended and due to age and mileage was considered a totaled car wreck. When we took pictures Kip decided he needed to be in them too.)

Pictures from Taiwan

So I have posted 280 picture on my facebook account. Since mom is not on facebook, here is a public link to see them, or at least 200 of them. When I caption the other 80 I will post the link here as well.

Taiwan Pictures 1

Happy Happy

Happy Pioneer Day!

We have a primary activity day tonight. I lose everyone but Benjamin from 5:00 to 7:00. They are even going to be serving dinner! Yea, Me!

I'm not sure Old Yeller would be appropriate. Didn't they shoot Old Yeller?

This should help

Keryn,

Thank you for your heartfelt help in explaining the world-wide loss to a young(-ish) puppy. We will try to inform Tinkerbell in the softest way possible. SKT

RE: Taco Bell

There are going to be tough times ahead, Samuel. Try to keep in mind that dogs express their grief in different ways. Here are some tips:

• Don't pretend that everything is okay. Show your respect to Tinkerbell by sitting down with her (Sit, Tink!) and gently explaining that Gidget is now romping joyfully through fields of burritos and soft tacos.

• Read Tink some stories that allow her to project her feelings on the stories characters. Old Yeller or Where the Red Fern Grows might be good choices, as in both cases the dog (or dogs) die at the end.

• Reassure Tink that you will never, ever force her to be in a Taco Bell commerical.

Hopefully this will help. Good luck and be strong, Samuel.

Re: Taco Bell

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Not her. Not now. Couldn't she have given us a few more years? I don't know what I will do. What do I tell the kids? Worse: What do I tell Tinkerbell? The HORROR!!!!!!

SKT

Sad

It's just so sad that the celebrities keep dropping like flies. Today's death was just heart breaking! Gidget, the Taco Bell Chihuahua, died today at the ripe old age of 15.

Sniff...So sad.

Pictures

Jen,

I sent you some pictures from Christmas last year. Let me know if you got them.

LaDale

Pictures

It's really pathetic, but I don't believe I have a single picture of beautiful Lillian. However, you did put some pictures on the blog, didn't you? Maybe that could help. I'm thinking of the trip to Disneyland last fall in particular.

Help!!!!

One of Jeff's computer's hard drives crashed. It isn't that big a deal, but it had all of our pictures on it. We should be able to get the information off of it eventually but not fast enough for a project for Lillian's class. I need pictures of her as she grew up. They want 4 or 5 pictures of her. If anyone can help me out, I would really appreciate it!

The Gardener's Kid

Keryn,

Are you telling me that you think Katy is the Gardener's kid? Or maybe the mechanic's kid? (Tyler, you pick the appropriate 'other' for this to work.) Since you said Brooke, or should I call her BS, looks like Jayson, or should I call him JT, but you are not sure where Katy fits in. Love you all. SKT

Tyler and Telima's babies

When I saw Brooke this morning, I said she didn't look like her siblings. She has the sweetest, roundest face--her cheeks and chin are so round and adorably kissable. But looking back at the pictures on this blog after Katy and Jayson were born, I need to modify my statement.
I think she looks an awful lot like Jayson. Katy, I'm not so sure. But DEFINITELY Jayson.

Brooke LaDonna Smith

A few things:

• When I told Katy we were going to see her mommy and daddy, she nodded happily. When I added that she'd get to meet Baby Brooke, she wrinkled her forehead, looked down, and said, "No."

• (Katy just yelled through the bathroom door at Mercy: "I wuv you, Mew-cy!")

• Jayson didn't care about the baby. He just wanted Mommy. Gideon, on the other hand, cared VERY much that I was holding a baby that wasn't him and wasn't Heber. He kept saying, "Put baby back, Mommy," while motioning to the bassinet.

• It's a good thing that Tyler didn't take Telima's name when they married. Otherwise we'd have a B.L.T.

• Of seven granddaughters, three have names in the hymnbook: Heather ("Like the warbling of birds on the heather" from "Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words to Each Other"), Mercy (too many examples to count--"mercy" is named twice in the third verse alone of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives"), and Brooke(let) ("Sweeter sings the brooklet by, brighter beams the azure sky" from "Love at Home"). If you count "Consider the Lilies of the Field", then we have four. But it's not in the hymnbook. And I just can't find Katy, Erica, or Arabella anywhere in the hymnbook. Sorry.

Welcome Baby Brooklet!

I think she is an early bird, the sweetie pie!

Welcome to the family, baby girlie. We're glad you're here!

congrats to our adam!

I'm havong a proud mommy moment here. Yesterday {after almost 3 years of hard work} Adam graduated from speech therapy!!!!! We had balloons and cupcakes. Mommy made cream cheese frosting and we dyed it and had sprinkles. {it was very much a sensory day} Hey every moment is a therapy moment right? I'm so proud of how hard he has worked.

love caren

Everyone Loves LaDale

These are some pictures that I took of LaDale and Samuel's boys during a tickle fest. The best part of this tickle time was that it was initiated by Kip. That was a break through and a big step for Kip. We were all very thrilled.

Thought on a Monday morning

As I sit here waiting for my vacuum chamber to get to the point where I will be able to manipulate my sample, I think to myself, 'Self, you are a very lucky fellow. You have a great family with the support of your extended family as well. You get to go home at the end of the day to a wife and 2 kids who love you. You are lucky indeed.' So there is the rambling thoughts of me on this Monday. Although I admit, it is not really morning by more early afternoon as it is past 1pm. I'm sure you will all forgive me and humor me on this point. SKT

Boys with sparklers

On the evening of the 4th of July, Caren wanted our boys to have fun with sparklers. These are illegal in Arizona as so we wanted to take advantage of being able to play with fire in Vegas. Here are a few pictures of our boys playing with the sparklers.

The 'Real' Tobler Family

So, on the 4th of July, Caren and I were in Vegas. LaDale also managed to make it to Vegas just before the 4th as well. As you all know, David and Amy were also in Vegas as was our lovely mother. We organized and executed a fine breakfast and lunch up at Dear Creek. We also got to play a little Scum in which my wife ended at Supreme Ruler of the game. I thought I would post a picture of all of us and note that this picture contains all those in our family who were and still are 'Toblers,' or at least in the way we all have our last name as Tobler.

Port-a-Crib recall

From the Consumerist:

More than one million play yards made by Kolcraft and sold under a variety of names have been recalled. Brands include Kolcraft, Carter's, Sesame Street, Jeep, Contours, Care Bears and Eric Carle. There's a problem with the side rail, and children can fall out. Check to see if yours is affected at the CPSC.

I know most of us have at least one port-a-crib, so I thought I'd pass this along.

All Harrison Ford, all the time?

Okay, so I'm on a bit of a Harrison Ford kick apparently.

But this article about Raiders of the Lost Ark trivia was just too fun not to share.

Han Solo, P.I.

You remember Magnum, P.I.? Of course you do! (And if you are too young to remember Magnum, P.I., please don't tell me. Telima.) And you remember Han Solo (that rakish, ne'er-do-well of the universe), naturally?

Han Solo P.I. @ Yahoo! Video

And in case you don't have the opening sequence of Magnum, P.I. memorized, here is a lovely side-by-side treatment:

Independence Day Mountain Breakfast

Photo captions:
Top left: Katy, Brooklet, Telima, Gideon, Ezra
Top right: Chatting with the ladies
Middle left: See food, Momma!
Middle center: The electrically dependent Keryn
Middle right: Ezra and Mercy, playing an intricate game involving chess, checkers, and dice
Bottom left: Gorgeous day, gorgeous picnic pavillion
Bottom right: Katy beating her Daddy at "Let's Go Fishing"

Happy Independence Day!

I'm a bit early!

I know I'm a bit early, but I wanted to wish everyone a fabulous Independence Day! Everyone have fun!