i love the age of two.

It's interesting, that's for sure.  B thought I was his slave today.  Everything was "Mommy get it." and if that didn't work, he'd shout it at me.  It was a long morning.  For both of us- for myself because I was being yelled at and for him because nothing he ordered me to do got done!  :)  The classic was when he tossed something off the couch and then said, 

"Mommy get it!!!"  

Me: "YOU get it.  You're the one who threw it and you have two legs."

B (in a snotty tone, I might add...): "Where?" 

Oh, my child.  Thank you for keeping me on my toes.

The afternoon was much better and by the time Josh got home from his poker run, B was hysterical.  He's really into pretending he is a horse right now.  He gets on his hands and knees and rares up saying, "Neigh, neigh!"  Tonight he found his stuffed toy horse and was "riding" it, neighing.  Yesterday while doing this, I said, "Daddy, we have a horse in the house!"  B goes, "WHERE???" (again, his favorite question.)  I said, "Right there!" and pointed to him.  He looks over his shoulder and exclaims again, "Where????"  Poor kid probably got very excited thinking we really had a horse in the house. :)

year in review

Most of you won't find this post interesting, but I eventually want to find somewhere where I can get my blog printed in book format, one for each year.  And since today is the last day of 2008, I felt some "closure" was needed so when it's printed as a book, it doesn't end with a random post.  So this is our Christmas letter that was sent in our cards, which I think reviews our year nicely.  I think this will be a good last entry in the future book.  We had a fabulous 2008 and are looking forward to what 2009 has to bring us.  Happy New Year, everyone!

Happy Holidays from the Sandlians!

 

We hope this letter finds everyone in the Christmas spirit, celebrating all that happened in 2008 and looking forward to 2009!  Our year was busy as usual but we wouldn’t want it any other way.

Our family had two graduations this year, and both were on the same day.  Unfortunately, Josh’s was in Montana and my sister’s was in Laramie, so Josh wasn’t able to attend his ceremony.  But yes, Josh graduated in May with his master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction and is now a full-fledged teacher!  My sister finished college and graduated with her nursing degree.  We had a great weekend celebrating those two accomplishments.

At the end of June, we, along with my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, spent some time in Disney World.  It was a great time.  Both Ryan and Brecken thought their first trip there was a blast.  Brecken enjoyed the rides and shows, and had a great time on the trip.  He wasn’t sure he wanted the characters to touch him, but had a good time looking at them from afar.  J  Josh and I had to come home on July 3^rd so we could attend the wedding of Josh’s brother, Jeff, to our new sister-in-law, Beth.  We were very excited to welcome Beth into the Sandlian family!  And what a fun wedding it was!  We had a lot of family at the wedding and it was fun to catch up with everyone. 

Also in July, we moved!  We grew out of our old house and were in need of a bigger one.  We found the perfect one and were able to move after we got back from the wedding.  We sure love the room we have- it is twice as big as our old house and has a ton of storage, which was DESPERATELY needed!  It also has a two car garage, and now that we don’t need the garage for storage, Josh and I can both park in there.  We sure love that, especially right now when we don’t have to scrape windows before we can leave for work!  It also has a built in kennel in the garage that goes to a fenced one outside for our two dogs.  Perfect!  We have a gorgeous view of the mountains out our picture window in the living room.  We also have a lot of bedrooms so if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and visit!

We welcomed a new niece into our family on July 29, named Brooklyn Paige Winegar.  This is my sister’s 2^nd child and we’re loving watching her grow!  Brecken even named his baby doll “Brooke”.   He loves babies and pays her a lot of attention!

This fall was a bit rough on us.  Football season started and not too soon afterwards, one of my students, who was also one of Josh’s favorite football players, was killed in a car accident 4 days before his 18^th birthday. It was horrible.  Neither of us had ever dealt with the death of a student.  It hurt so bad to watch my other students be in so much pain.  The team struggled, too.  They never really got their momentum back and ended the season not making the playoffs.  If you text on your phone while driving, STOP.  If you don’t wear your seatbelt, START.  Got it?

Brecken turned two years old in September.  Not sure how he grew up so fast!  The age of two certainly is a lot different than the age of one… lots more challenges but a lot more fun, too!  He is a talker and can mimic anything you say.  He is very good at bossing the dogs and cats around, and is the most hilarious two year old I’ve ever met.  His favorite game right now is hiding body parts.  He’ll sit on his hands and say, “Mommy, where hands go?”  Then pull them out and shout, “There they are!”  He started at a new daycare this fall; the lady that owns it is the head coach for Josh’s basketball team.  She is FABULOUS and Brecken loves going there to play!  He also started pre-school this fall, Fridays for an hour and a half.  He is learning things at an alarming rate and brings home the best paintings and crafts.  I have a very smart child.  J

Another new niece was born in September, Josh’s brother and sister-in-law had their 3 ^rd child, Hailey Jo.  Brecken’s other baby doll is now named “Hailey”.  I told you the kid loves babies!

Brecken got to go trick-or treating for the first time this October.  He was dressed as a monkey and caught on to saying, “Trit-er-reet!” very quickly after he realized there was candy involved!  I’m pretty sure that was the best night of his whole life.  The kid is a candy monster. J

Josh is still teaching high school science, coaching high school football, and coaching high school girls basketball.  Basketball has started and Brecken gets to go to practice sometimes.  He loves practice.  He cried when football season was over because he couldn’t go to practice anymore.  He thinks basketball practice a good substitute for football though. J  Josh is also still running on the ambulance as an EMT-AI (Advanced Intermediate) and that keeps him very busy in his “free time” from school and practice.  He’s also still on the fire department but luckily they don’t get too many calls.

I am still teaching K-12 music in Encampment and loving it.  I love the diversity it gives me- I don’t have time to get tired of any one age group!  My free time is spent at home playing with Brecken!  We have a ball together.

We are leaving soon for a trip to Florida, to attend my cousin’s wedding in Marco Island.  I know, I know, visiting Florida in the winter while we have snow on the ground is a rough job, but someone has to do it!  J  We are going with my mom and dad, and after a very quick two days in Disney World following the wedding, we will fly home on Christmas Eve.   It will be a nice vacation. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,
Josh, Kara and Brecken

(along with Birdie, Hogan, Charlie and Ditka!)

where?

That's B's favorite question right now.  Converstions in our house take a while now.

Josh: I'm going to go see if the dump is open.

B: Where?
Josh: Out of town.

B: Oh.

B: Where daddy went?

Me: To the dump.

B: Where?

Me: Out of town.

B: Where?

Me: You can't see it from here.

B: Where?

Me: You have to drive on a road.

B: Where?

Me: Out of town!!

I can't wait until the "why" questions start!!!

only in florida would you see this...

who wouldn't love this wedding

with a wedding party that looks like this...
with a bride and groom as awesome as they are...

with the coolest little tropical boy in the whole entire world...
on a beach that looks like this...
and a band like this...
after waking up to this sunrise...
this one says it all.

stay tuned

We are leaving right after school tomorrow for our Christmas vacation.  Don't know when I'll be back on the computer, so until then, MERRY CHRISTMAS and we'll talk to you when we get back!!!

our little reindeer

Christmas 2007- B was not happy about the antlers.

Christmas 2008: Much better!

when a 2 year old helps wrap christmas presents...

... this is what you get. Not exactly Christmas-y, but he was very proud of it. :)

balls in the sky

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Josh and Amy have practice that starts at 4:00. So Amy brings B to practice and I pick him up at school when I get to town. This afternoon, he and I came out of the school and he noticed the moon in the sky. He got very excited and said, "Mommy! Ball up there!" We were walking past trees, and the trees would block the moon. In between trees, he'd say, "Mommy! ANOTHER ONE!" And then again. "Another one!" It was quite funny to see balls in the sky through the eyes of a 2 year old. :)

game one of the tournament

Josh's team played Encampment at the tournament last night and lost. Saratoga was ahead by 10 at halftime, and then Encampment had 15 unanswered points right at the start of 3rd quarter and Saratoga couldn't keep up. They lost by 5. Bummer. Saratoga only had 8 girls last night because one isn't eligible to play varsity because she's moved too many times (New WHSAA rule), one has a broken wrist, and one didn't have enough practices. They only have 11 girls out this year. Two of Saratoga's stars got into foul trouble pretty fast and had fouled out during the 3rd quarter. Oops.

Two games today, against Cokeville and Baggs. B and I will go up later- their first game is at 10:40. Then again at 2:30. Then tonight we will all go to the Christmas Parade and to the community center to see if B wants to see Santa. If not (and I'm betting not), we'll still have hot chocolate and cookies. :)

We got to ride the bus up to Enc. last night. B thought that was incredibly exciting. He sat down on his seat and said, "let's go!!" During the game, every time there was a time out, he'd go, "Over, mommy!" I had to tell him they were just taking a break. :) Then once it really WAS over, he goes, "Over! BUS!" and starts throwing things into the diaper bag so we could go get back on that bus. :) He didn't enjoy it as much on the way home though, because he fell asleep. It was late- we didn't get back to Saratoga until 10:30.

ice teem

Brecken fell in love with peppermint ice cream this weekend. He can't get enough of it. He makes sure every last drop is gone!

eat it

We had a great weekend!  My mom and dad came down after work on Wednesday and were here by B's bedtime.  Thursday we got up and got cooking!  We had a great spread- turkey, mashed potatoes, the most delicious gravy, rolls, jello salad, the works.  

Friday morning, we went up to get a Christmas tree from the mountains.  B was decked out in his snow pants and snowboots and had fun walking in the snow.  He called it "sticky messy".  Hadn't thought of describing snow as sticky....

That afternoon, my sister and her family came over.  Ryan and Brecken had a fantastic time playing together.  They played HARD and very well together!  Josh and I got to go out on a date that night and celebrate my birthday since we had a lot of babysitters.  I had a delicious dinner of steak and crab legs and Josh had a plain ol' hamburger. :) 

Today we spent the morning baking Christmas cookies.  It was Ryan and Brecken's first time doing so and they thought it was great fun to pound out the dough and roll it out, then cut it out and decorate them with sprinkles and colored sugar.  Some of our cookies are covered in lots of sugar!  After a while, Brecken figured out the dough tasted pretty good and spent the rest of the time saying, "eat it."  As you can see, he gave up making cookies and just ate the dough.

Tonight, Jeff and Beth stopped by on their way home from their travels, for a quick stretch and some free dinner.  It was good to see them again.

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

bastetball, mommy!

We headed up to my school today so I could do pictures for the middle school boy's basketball team. This team is 12 players strong, made up of 5th-8th graders. B LOVES basketball. (I need to bring my camera to one of Josh's practices some night, because B does the stretches and pushups with the girls. It's hysterical.) He watched as the boys lined up for their pictures and then got in line and got his picture taken, too. Could I love my little boy any more?!

gobble gobble

Look what B made at preschool today!  He's very proud of it.  He painted the feathers himself.  If I do say so, he did a great job!  But when I asked if he'd put it on and let me take his picture, he said, "No pictures, mama."  Because he is 2 years old and it wasn't his idea. :)  

mmm...mmm...mmm!!!!!

That's what B said when he tried the pumpkin muffins he helped me make. And I agreed! You must make them- they are DELICIOUS. Josh ate his with whipped cream- kinda defeated the "healthy" part, but even more delicious, none-the-less. :)

thoroughly enjoyable

Not. This nebulizer thing is pretty terrible.  Brecken hates every minute of it. But he didn't cough all night long last night, so I know it is working!  We had to do the nebulizer last year when he had RSV, and I don't remember him hating it so much back then!  We still have the mask and tubing from last year, so we let B put that on Elmo's face to give him his "medicine" while we do the mask on B's face.  He cries and cries, though- he's terrified of the noise and the mask and the stuff coming out of it.  Hopefully the cough will go away soon and we'll be done with it!  His cough today was super loose, so I hope that means the junk is loose and will come out soon.

If you didn't take the time to thank a veteran today, make sure you do it tomorrow.  What sacrifice they made for us.  If you are a vet and are reading this, THANK YOU.

home sick

Brecken has had a terrible cough for the past couple weeks that got suddenly worse this weekend. He can't sleep because of it. It's a nasty sounding cough. Josh called Dr. Jake yesterday while we were in Lyman and Jake thought it sounded like the strep throat that has been going around lately. So, I stayed home with him today and got him into the clinic.

No strep, thank goodness. His throat is red and irritated but not yucky like strep. No fever, either. Just a lot of junk in his lungs. So we got sent home with a nebulizer machine to give him nebulizer treatments for the next week or so. Hopefully that will get the junk loosened so it will come out and his cough will go away.

We pulled up to the clinic and B goes, "Sucker medicine!!" He knows what you get there, apparently! The whole exam, he kept asking Jake for a sucker. He got one at the end, and had it gone by the time we left. :)

The GREAT news is, he gained a ton of weight in the past 2 months! He was at 22 lbs 10 oz today! He had his jammies on still, but they are lightweight cotton and his diaper was brand new so that didn't weigh anything. That's almost a pound and a half in 2 months- I'll say a little over a pound if you take away the clothes. YAY! That's the most he's gained in that period of time!

my heart has melted

I was sitting on the floor in the living room tonight.  Brecken walked over to me and said, "I love you!" and gave me a huge hug.  That is the first time he has ever said that.  My heart melted into a huge puddle.

Man, I love that little boy!

daddy games

 

thankful

We are currently watching the Noggin channel on TV. Moose A. Moose (for those of you who know what I'm talking about) asked, "What are you thankful for?" I asked Brecken the same question. His answer?


"Eating chicken!"