Bigger is Better (Unless it Makes Someone Puke)

One of Josh's students told him about a show called "Man vs. Food" which has become a novel way to make our kids eat a lot.  We let the kids watch a few episodes and then took them to this awesome place called "Big Judds" which makes giant 1LB hamburgers.  The kids (well, mostly Carter and Taylor) were so psyched out from the show, that they both ate TONS.  Taylor ate more than 1/4  of the hamburger!  This was amazing, because he rarely can down a small hamburger.

After that day, we have made our own 1 lb hamburgers.  We made the bun in a cake-pan, grilled the giant 1 lb burger on a big piece of tin-foil and loaded it up with lots and lots of good stuff.   We challenged our cousin/nephew, Kenny to eat an entire burger, and made him throw-up.  (sorry, Kenny) We also gave the challenge to some missionaries that we had over for dinner.  One missionary finished 3/4ths of the burger, but then bowed out.  Mallory said the closing prayer and prayed "Bless that nobody will throw-up from our dinner."  That's not exactly what you want to hear in a post-meal prayer.

Kenny before puking

We also made (attempted) a giant doughnut.  (why not?)  It was going to be totally awesome, but apparently that much dough doesn't cook through very thoroughly, so Carter's friend wasn't able to finish it.  I guess he could have if he didn't mind puking it all up too.  

Arrrrr! Tis March 8th!

Four years ago, on March 8th, we made cookies and took them to a couple of families.  When we delivered the cookies, to be funny, we yelled "HAPPY MARCH 8TH!!"

After delivering the cookies, we thought to ourselves, wouldn't it be funny if we brought them cookies every year on March 8th?  So- we marked the date on our calendar, and have celebrated it ever since.

The reactions of the "target" families have been very amusing.  One family remembered March 8th on the second attempt, and when we got to their house they answered saying "Is this because it's March 8th?!"  The other family chuckled, but only a couple of the family members remembered the year before.

Each consecutive year, we've tried to go bigger and crazier.  That's sort of what makes it so fun.  This year we made banners and hung them on the homes (late on March 7th).  We showed up later in pirate costumes and delivered treasure to them.  It was awesome!  It was also awesome because one family delivered a treasure box to us before we even got to them, and the other family gave us "Pirate Booty" as a thank-you the next day.

A Treasure chest made out of Rice-Krispie treats (and covered with chocolate).

The Kids Decorated Our Own Treasure Chest

An Igloo-less year

Well, this year has not been one for igloos.  This has been sort of fun, but sort of sad too.  We haven't done much sledding or playing in snow at all because it hasn't snowed much.

Here are some pictures of the snow activities we have managed to squeeze in.   At least there have been a couple snowmen.

That's one bewildered snowman!

Mallory and Wyatt made this one without any help at all!

Wyatt in 2011

Here are some of this year's highlights for Wyatt:

1- Went sledding for his first time and HATED it.
2- Graduated from sleeping in a crib.
3- Started drawing faces, circles, and squares.
4- Officially stopped eating ALL meats.
5- Climbed the climbing-wall all by himself.
6- Learned how to jump on a trampoline.
7- Can sing "I Am a Child of God" all by himself.
8- Threw lots and lots of rocks into rivers.
9- Got his first bike.
10- "Helped" make a ton of meals.

Mallory in 2011

Here are some of this year's highlights for Mallory:

1- Lost her first tooth!
2- Started Kindergarten
3- Learned to ride a bike without training wheels
4- Learned to swim with her face in the water
5- Drew at least 700 princesses
6- Was Rapunzel for Halloween
7- Had a Halloween Birthday party
8- Taught Wyatt how to get into all sorts of trouble
9- Took soccer and decided that she HATED it
10- Learned "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" on the piano and played it at least 200 times
11- Took Zumba and Dance lessons

Taylor in 2011

Here are some Highlights for Taylor in 2011:

1- Caught his first fish
2- Got Baptized
3- Was in a 2nd Grade play as the spider that scares Little Miss Muffett
4- Got REALLY into Dr. Who and now owns 3 Sonic Screwdrivers
5- Learned the Dr. Who theme song on the piano and has played it about 200 times.
6- Earned his Wolf award in scouts
7- Took swimming lessons and got pretty good at it
8- Became famous at the elementary school for his "Chipmunks" impression
9- Learned how to play the card-game Magic and plays it with Dad and Carter
10- Took soccer and decided he likes defense the best
11- Got a score of 99/100 at the Piano Festival
12- Memorized and recited a Halloween poem at a College Poetry function.
13- Went to his first BYU Football game

Carter in 2011

Some of the year's highlights for Carter:

1- Finished Elementary school (4th grade)
2- Wrote about 30 volumes of a comic book called "The Nerd Herd"
3- Got REALLY into the show Dr. Who.
4- Learned the Dr. Who theme song on the piano and played it at least 200 times
5- Perfected the British accent
6- Started taking Ballroom classes
7- Started Middle School and met lots of new friends
8- Got his Weblos award and graduated from Cub Scouts
9- Improved a lot on the piano (mostly by playing and making up versions of the Dr. Who theme song)
10- Memorized the Witches' Double Double Toil &Trouble poem and recited it at a college poetry function.
11- Had dinner with Gary Schmidt.  (famous author that our family LOVES)
12- Went to his first BYU Football Game