In the midst of the craziness....

It was time.

Merry Christmas to Alan and Mom (and you too, sister.)
I want you to know I shed real tears.

We've got a couple of believers...

Love the sparkle in their eyes--they are so in awe of Santa.
The Christmas Wish Lists
Alex: monkey slippers, Batman Leapster game
Will: Peter Pan (we're hoping he means the movie and not the actual boy), ball
Consider it done, boys. I'm confident you will get everything on your lists.

Anticipation

For the past week or so, Will has been begging to go the airport. He's heard lots of talk about our upcoming travels, and his patience has worn thin. He wants to go the airport NOW. Today, he looked at me and in a stern voice said, "Mommy, we go to Grampa-mala RIGHT NOW!" I think he's a little confused about our itinerary, but he definitely knows who he wants to see! We head out a week from tomorrow. Let the packing begin.

Family Photos: The Outakes

Oh the drama.

The Polar Express!

Last Christmas I read an article in the paper about fun things to do in Arizona at Christmas time. At the top of the list was riding The Polar Express, which the Grand Canyon Railway puts on every December. You have to get tickets, like a year in advance. I wrote myself a note to book my tickets in Jan. 2007. Well that didn't happen. And when November rolled around I started hearing about it again, and was so sad that I hadn't purchased tickets. So I started stalking Craigslist and Ebay, and last week I finally was able to get my hands on some tickets!! I have been obsessed with going, so it really was our own little Christmas Miracle that we were able to get tickets sold at face value (most of them are going for at least double the regular price.) So off we went to Williams, AZ, home of the Grand Canyon and not much else. It was a cute little town, and we had the best time riding the train. We sang carols, drank hot chocolate, and rode all they way to the North Pole. The Man Himself (that would be Santa) made an appearance and presented each child with their own Silver Bell. It was magical. And I will be booking my tickets for 2008 tomorrow. Anybody want to come?

Our Version of Winter

So maybe it was 70 degrees outside, but at least it was raining! It has been a great week here- cloudy every single day for most of the day, with some wind and then the icing on the cake: a rainstorm! I have never been happier than when I saw those rain clouds headed my way. The boys had a blast playing in the rain puddles last night while we waited for Alan to pick us up so we could go get pizza. The truth is I would love some snow, but since that isn't going to happen, I'll take the moisture any way I can get it. The weather has put us in the Christmas mood around here: the tree is up, we've been making soup and bread all week, we're about halfway done with Christmas shopping, we hit 2 Christmas parties this weekend and the Christmas music is on non-stop. And it's only December 1st! Much more fun to come- I love this time of year!

It was a Happy Thanksgiving.

Practicing the drums in preparation for the Cousin Talent Show. The Alan Curtis family talents included: Doing a somersault (by Will) and Singing "Christmas in the West" (by Alex).

Will sat at the table, ate his turkey dinner off of china and silver, and was quite civilized. I was shocked and pleased. He really is growing up...

...but is also still our baby. (And don't you think the hair keeps him looking more babyish? I do.)

Fishing at the Curtis Family Fishpond.
This is a tradition put on every Thanksgiving at Nana and Papa's. Each grandchild fish's for prizes chosen out especially for them by Nana. The kids love it! There was also a rousing game of Pin-the-hat-on-the-turkey- it was quite hysterical. What a great day. The best part: Alan, Alex, Will and I were in bed by 7:30pm. Lovely.

Thanksgiving at Pre-K

Alex invited me into his classroom for a Thanksgiving treat (pumpkin bread) that he made with the help of his teachers, Mrs. Allison and Mrs. Farell. Will went to a friend's house so I could really focus on spending some one-on-one time with Alex- I treasure the few moments we have together. Alex is such a smart, inquisitive, caring little boy- he's been through so much this year and has really bounced back to being his cheerful little self. I just adore him.

9 years

I can hardly remember life before him.

There's no one I would rather have as my partner.

Happy Anniversary to us!

We've moved on to happier days.

Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

24 Hour Recap:
Nov. 7, 5:30 am- Alex wakes me up, begging for food and water and complaining that his stomach hurts. Not surprising, since he knows he is going to be having surgery for the FIFTH time this morning, and I'm sure there were some butterfly's going on. I calm him down and we talk for 45 minutes in bed before getting up to head to the hospital.
Nov. 7, 12 noon- Arrive home from the hospital (surgery went smoothly) and try to follow doctors orders of keeping cold compresses on the eyes. My 4-year old starts crying bloody tears in protest, I give up and we both go take a long nap.
Nov. 7, 4 pm- Beg my child to stop screaming, I absolutely must put the steroid drops in your eyes, I know it burns, I'm just so sorry. We both spend an hour on the couch together recovering from the trauma of it.
Nov. 7, 7 pm- Beg Alex to let me put a compress on the eyes, he's hysterical, begs for bed. He wins.
Nov. 8, 4 am- I hear crying. It's Will, begging for a drink. Fill sippy, give it to him and tell him to go back to sleep, please oh please.
Nov. 8, 4:30 am- Alan sits up straight in bed, there is a weird beeping going on in our house. It's our carbon monoxide alarm, he calls fire dept. while I get the kids out of the house. Are you kidding me? We hear the sirens. They are heading towards our house.
Nov. 8, 5 am- It's a false alarm, we can go back inside. Thank you firemen.
Nov. 8, 5:15- Will demands he must have his shoes to go back to bed, heads into the mudroom to collect them, comes out SCREAMING. He's yelling, crying and pointing to his foot. I pick him up, can't find anything on his foot. Alan appears from the mudroom, has just done battle with a scorpion. A scorpion who just stung my kid. Call poison control, it probably won't be fatal we are informed. Oh, good. Will calms down, we all gather in the family room on the couch. Alan thinks that it's almost funny. Not to me.

New Addition to the Family

Meet "Biggie," the tiniest little fish you've ever seen, who was gifted to us as a treat at last weeks ward Halloween party. Let's be honest, I thought there was no way this fish was going to stay alive in our home. On his second day here, Will poured a bottle of hand lotion into the pitcher he was living in, "for his bekfast, mommy!" On his fourth day here, the boys were still infatuated, so we went and bought some food for him. A week after his arrival, he received a luxurious new home: this Walmart-special fish bowl, complete with a playyard. They boys love him, and I find myself talking to him throughout my day, since he lives in the kitchen. I guess he's here to stay!

The big day came and went- Halloween 2007

Spiderman refused to pose for pictures- this was the best we could get...

... while Will-the-thrill actually accommodated us tonight. Make-up credits go to Alan, and I must say, it was no small task.

Oh, the brotherly love.

Tasting the goods.

Tomorrow Alex is turning over his candy to me, in exchange for a much-desired "Clifford Learns to Read" Leapster game. I know in the past I have put up a huge fuss about any and all video-games, but I'm following doctors orders with this one. I feel good about my kid begging for a reading game. Especially when he's willing to turn over his entire Halloween loot in exchange.

The Jack-o-lanterns are Carved

Designer: Alex Curtis
Craftsman: Alan Curtis

Let the festivities begin!

Alex making the rounds at his weekly t-ball game.

Alan found a great little pumpkin patch that we hit up on the way home from the game. Will would NOT put down his snack, which is just too annoying because they are all I can see when I look at these pictures- blasted cheez-its.

The perfect pumpkin for our annual "Dinner in a Pumpkin." Alex loves this tradition and has been counting down the days for weeks.

Will-after our ward Halloween party. He is a skeleton, by the way, and looked pretty great at the beginning of the night. Nothing makes him happier than a sucker.

Lately

A few recent moments with my kiddos:
*While in line at Costco, Will starts singing "Party like a Rockstar"(edited version, of course), Alex joins in at the top of his lungs, and the person checking us out can't resist and seriously starts dancing right there. And I mean really dancing.
*I was curling my hair for the first time in years. Will walks into the room and asks, "Mommy, are you a pwincess?"
*Last week I went shopping so I would actually have something presentable to wear while in LA. I was trying a particularly bold dress on, and Alex looks at me and says,while scrunching up his nose, "Mom, that's kinda... funky. Take it off now."
*While spending some time in the naughty corner for smacking his brother, Alex yells out to me, "Mom, this is so not cool!"
*Alex has recently discovered a new website he thinks is great. This morning he came into my room, woke me up and immediately asked if he could play on the computer. I told him, "Yes, but you need to cuddle with me first." "For how long?" he asks. I tell him just for a minute. He snuggles right into my arms, I close my eyes, I am so loving this sweet moment with my oldest boy, and then he starts counting... out loud. "One, two, three...." until his minute is up and he is free to go play. Oh the tragedy! My little boy is growing up.

Girls weekend /Boys weekend

While Christie is away this weekend in L.A. for a friend's bridal shower, the boys and I have had an action packed weekend!
Before Christie left she had me read blogs from Joel Henriod and Taylor Olsen as examples of what 'trophy' husbands do while wives are away....in addition I had a "honey-do-list" that included a narrative on the importance of tooth brushing. (Did I not just complete nearly seven years of dental education?) Another request Christie made was for me to resurrect her dying palm.

In response, I post the following activities of The Curtis Boys.

We started the day with a trip to the Phoenix Zoo!
Alex was in charge of the route. He made sure we saw every animal Diego the animal rescuer discusses in his shows. I graduated with a bachelors in Zoology from BYU but Alex taught me the finer points of Tapier habitat! Will takin' care of the back forty! Nothing runs like a Deere!

Goat hiding from "The Will Guy"... Somehow the goat knew what he was in for with Will.

Then we were off to cousin Kate's B-day party!

With Mommy gone, Will and I took care of the birthday party entertainment.

Alex and his favorite cousin Sam had a blast playing on the swings for hours!


After the party the boys and I settled in for some relaxing Nintendo Wii Sports Boxing


While Will still needs a little help with his jabs, he has an unstoppable two-handed tomahawk chop!

For dinner we feasted on fire-roasted dogs and smores in the back yard as we discussed Elijah calling down fire in front of the priests of Baal. (1 Kings 18)

Taylor or Joel.... if you're reading do I have any chance of saving this poor old Palm? HELP!!!!!

That reminds me, I need to go finish another quad of deep scaling and root planning on Will...Joel do you have any tips?