Coffeemate

*Day 363*

So, I've turned my son onto a new habit.  I love drinking hot chocolate in the winter.  I especially love flavored hot chocolate.  But every once in a while I throw in something from my childhood.  I still call it Postum.  I know the container says Pero, and that they don't make the Postum brand anymore.  But, I always thought they were the same thing, so, I still call it postum.  Well, every now and then I have some postum.  It's only good with sugar and cream.  But, since I really like the flavored hot chocolate, I figured I would like the flavored coffeemate creamer in my postum.  Well, I do.  And now so does Logan.  He never wanted to try postum before, but the other day he decided for some reason to try it.  Oh, wait, I think it's because he saw the creamer.  That must have looked good to him.  I guess it was.  He has wanted postum over hot chocolate ever since.  So, first thing this morning, he asked for some postum.  He eats breakfast at school every morning.  And Logan has been recruiting.  He turned his dad.  After they shoveled on Sunday, Logan offered to make Matt a cup of postum.  It's now officially a family habit.  Yeah, we went to the store last night buy more postum and pick a new coffeemate.  And that was our dessert last night.  Mmmmmm....

2 Cars

*Day 333*

We're almost a 2 car family again.  My dad and Darrell came over today to help Matt put a new starter in the car.  It works now!  But it sounded kind of horrible, so I don't know if we're going to have to do something else big.  It took them all afternoon to put in the starter.  They have to take half the car  part to get to it.  When they were finishing, I laughed because this is the shirt my dad was wearing. 

 I hope it didn't really ruin his whole day.  I really appreciate my dad for be willing to help us.  And Matt for working on figuring it out, and crawling under car even though he got grease all over his Jets shirt.  It's a huge relief to be able to take care of these things without having to pay someone a ton of money I don't have.

Halloween Party!

*Day 318*

Yesterday we went to Salt Lake for our family Halloween Party.  Not everyone was able to come.  We missed those that weren't there, but we decided to have fun anyway.  (Sorry guys.  Pencil it in for next year.)  We played pictionary (go girls, for the win!), the kids had a bounce house and blow up slide to play on, we had some good food and of, course, great company.  I love spending time with my family!

Logan and Addie going down the slide.

Matt going up against Renae at pictionary.  Did I already mention that the girls won?

Wa ha ha ha ha!!!  (That's Logan laughing.)  When Lynn tried to go on the slide, she collapsed it and got stuck inside. 

We made some peanut butter truffle pumpkins. 

Fun Flavors

*Day 293*

I thought we needed ice cream to other night.  So we went to the store to find some.  We were looking and trying to decide what kind to get.  Matt was just looking like nothing sounded good.  (I was wondering if he was OK.)  I said, "What about this kind down here?"  He looked for a minute and said, "Ya, but there aren't any fun flavors."  Then he looked harder and we laughed.  Because this is what we ended up buying.

It says "Fun Flavors" right on it!  And it was delicious!

Got Milk?

*Day 290*

Like good parents, we like to tease our son.  He's learning to take it pretty good (most of the time).  Unfortunately, he is also learning (from his parents) to give it.  There are a few things in our family that we like to tease each other about repeatedly.  Some of our favorite family memories.  Today I am going to tell you about our favorite milk mishaps. 

When me and Matt were first married we rarely ate dinner at the table.  We would usually eat on the couch watching TV.  One night Matt walked in and set his glass of milk down on the top of the couch.  Then he forgot about it.  He got up when he was finished eating and took care of his dishes.  When he sat back down on the couch, his milk fell and spilled down his back.  But, he had forgotten about his milk, and didn't know what was on him.  He started wiggling and yelling, "Get it off me, get it off me."  I saw what it was that fell on him, so it made me laugh.  And I tried to tell him what it was.  But, to this day, we will still tease Matt by yelling about something, "Get it off me!"

The next milk mishap is one that Matt likes to remind Logan about because it happened to Logan.  We were sitting down to eat dinner.  Now in our family, I forget about drinks until the end of dinner, so a drink a the beginning of the meal is a rare thing.  Anyway, this night, for some reason I got the milk out at the beginning of dinner.  I filled up Logan's cup.  I guess he didn't notice that I had put milk in his cup.  Matt was teasing him about his food.  And asked him if wanted it in his milk.  Then Matt pretended to put the food into his cup.  Logan, not wanting food in his cup, grabbed his cup away from Matt.  And threw his milk right in his face.  He was a little a surprised that there was milk there.  And I yelled, "Get it off, get it off!"  We had to laugh or Logan would cry.

Stay tuned to Matt's blog if you want to hear about dumb things that I've done.  I'm sure he's going to want to get  revenge.

Swagger

*Day 287*


Hey!  Don't let your swagger spill!

We were out this evening.  We were just getting in the car as a small group of people walked past.  One of them was still in his football uniform.  We watched them.  They caught my eye because I thought, "I wouldn't go to the mall dressed like that."  Then Matt made a comment about how "his swagger was spilling out all over the place."  Logan looked at him, and very serious and concerned said, "Is it really dad?"  He was trying to look around and it.  I guess, thankfully, Logan didn't get what Matt was really saying.  But, it was funny how serious he was when Matt was mocking the guy. 

The Miracle

*Day 281*

Today something unprecedented happened at our house.  Matt won a game of Candyland!  I know, I know, it might not sound like much, but it really is an amazing thing.  We've probably had this game since Logan was about 3.  And Logan liked to play it.  But, Logan always won.  (I'll admit, that I've thrown a few games of Candyland in my day.  Either to save myself from a lot of tears and a tantrum from Logan or just to get it done.)  But, no one can remember a time when Matt has beat Logan.  (He might have beat me when we stayed up late at night playing without Logan, but I really don't remember.      OK, we never really played Candyland without Logan.  We have big kid games too.)  So, today, we witnessed a miracle as Matt, despite being sent back to every special space, finally managed to pull out a win.  Congratulations!  I know it's nice to feel victory after this long sought after accomplishment. 

Quote of the game: After drawing the ice cream cone, to almost guarantee a win, (almost) Matt got sent back to peanut acres.  Making him almost level with us again.  Logan mocked him.  Then Logan picked the gumdrop, and got sent back to last place.   And Matt said, "Karma.... or in this game, caramel!"  Either way, Logan understood.

Football Burger Party

*Day 280*

We had a little party tonight to celebrate opening day of the football season.  We obviously needed food for a football party.  Logan wanted a feast.  Matt wanted stuff we could eat in front of the TV.  They came up with a mini burger bar. 

Plain, hot wing flavored, and chip and dip burgers.  Assorted cheese, bacon, mushrooms and dressings with potato wedges.  Good choice boys!

This kid likes his burgers.   He can eat it now.  After two days of crying because his tooth hurt and he couldn't eat, he asked me to pull it out this morning before school.  That took all of touching it and making sure I caught it.  But it made him happier.

Labor Day

*Day 277*

We truly labored today. 

More canning.  Today carrots.   But look at our perfectly normal and big carrots. 

In past years our carrots have been much smaller and most had two or three legs.  We did have some of those this year too, but most of them were normal, and big enough to take more than one bite out of.  Of course that meant that we had more carrots than we could get done today.  I'm starting to wish I was done canning.  It seems to keep getting bigger.  But, I love sitting in here listening to my lids pop.

And thanks to my helpers Matt and Logan.  Without them, I wouldn't get the food done before it spoiled. 

When Matt Proposed to Kristy

*Day 271*

For young women's tonight, we had a dating panel.  They invited couples in who had been married for different lengths of time.  They played a version of the New Newlywed Game then the girls asked them questions about how they met and dating and such.  One of their favorite questions to ask is "What's your engagement story?''  They always ask this question.  I decided tonight that I am going to make up a new story every time they ask me and see how long, if ever, it takes them to catch on.  So, if you have any good versions of an engagement story, send it my way.  So, before I make up so many stories that I can't remember the real one,  Here's our official engagement story.  (As I remember it.)

Me and Matt had been dating for about a year.  Summer was coming to an end.  Matt had decided to go back to visit New York.  I was living with my family in Salt Lake for the summer.  Matt told me when he was leaving, and I went to the airport to see him off.  This is before security was so tight at the airport.  I went into the terminal with him and talked with him and his friend and mom (who had driven them down from Logan).  It was about time for them to board the plane.  His mom left.  I was getting ready to leave.  Matt told me he wanted me to stay and watch the airplane take off.  I didn't know why he wanted me to stay, but I said OK.  They went up to the ticket counter and I walked over and was looking out the window.  When Matt handed his ticket to the lady he yelled out, "Kristy, when I get back from New York, will you marry me?"  I said, "OK."  Then he got on the plane and went to New York.  I picked him up at the airport when he came back.  He bought me a ring on the street that he gave me.  Then we went and told my family. 

4-wheeling

*Day 268*

Today we went 4-wheeling with Jennifer and Justin.  I had never been on a four wheeler before, but I was excited to  try it.  I can see why people would like it.  It was beautiful up there.  And it smelled good.  It's always nice and relaxing to be in the mountains.  Usually I hike to explore the mountains.  But, this way, you can cover more ground quicker and see more  than I would be able to hiking.  If I'd have hiked that far, it would have taken all day.  I think it would have been fun, but, really, when would I have a chance to spend all day hiking in the mountains?  So, this is the only way I would be able to see all that. 

It takes a little while for me to warm up to new machines and feel comfortable.  Matt did a good job going up.  We were both a little nervous to go over some of the big rocks on the way up.  But, we made it.  I drove part of the way down.  It seemed a  lot less nervous to go down.  The rocks just didn't seem as big from above.  Or, maybe, we were just getting used to it by then.  Either way, we had a good time.  Thanks Jenn and Justin!

This is Matt when he saw the first hill.  Just kidding.  He's just posing for this picture.  And we're still on the flat road here.  Otherwise I wouldn't have taken a picture, I would have yelled at him to watch the road.

Here we are, just finishing up a great ride.

Part of our travels.

We took a picture of how fast I went.  If you can't tell, that's just over 40 mph.  That's how I proved to myself that I'm not a chicken.  It's a whole lot faster than I got the jet ski going when I tried that.  So, I felt pretty good about myself.

The road ahead, and some storm clouds.  We did get rained and hailed on for a bit.  It was cold, but it didn't last long.

Teenagers

*Day 267*

This is what Logan does with his socks.  Me and Matt throw them.

We were just putting Logan to bed.  When I walked into his room Matt threw one Logan's rolled up socks at me.  (Amazingly, it landed right on my shoulder, and stayed there!  He's got mad skills!)  So, I took Logan's other sock off and threw it at Matt.  Then as we were kneeling down for prayers, Logan grabs them both and moves them to the corner of his room.  And he says, "Teenagers....."  Ahhhh, my son.  At that point Matt told Logan that he was closer to being  teenager than we were.  Then it went from a funny moment to a sad moment.  So, we said prayers and put Logan to bed. 

Untitled

*Day 261*

*Matt and Logan are both gone to a primary activity. So, I'm here alone trying to decide how to best spend my hour alone. Problem is is this happens so rarely that I hardly know what to do with myself. By the time I decide what to do, they're home. I need to plan better.

* I thought maybe I would get my blog out of the way early. But all the good ideas left my brain before I could open a new post.

* Logan woke up crying last night. I feel bad I didn't hear him over the TV. Matt is always the first to hear him now. Those days where I need to wake up to take care of baby have ended, and my my body has gone back to deep sleeping. (But at least I got to cuddle Logan without someone else kicking me.)

* I found out that I have 2 weeks until we officially start preschool instead of one. Good. Now I can slack off for another week.

* I think I need a real vacation before I have to start preschool again. I'm just not feelin it.

* I think I missed Logan this week. There were times it felt lonely not to have him around. I hope he does OK in 2nd grade. They seem really intense, and like they will be very busy all the time. Logan is already sad that they only get 2 recesses.

* I don't run hardly at all anymore. I ran this morning. It was very slow. My knee still hurts when I run. (It's been almost 6 months.) So, why can't I give it up?

* Done. And still a half hour to myself. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....

2nd Grade

*Day 258*

Today was Logan's first day of second grade. He liked it. His teacher is nice. He earned a penny that he keeps in a film canister at school. (I'm still not sure what he gets for them.) But, he only has two recesses. But, actually he gets three. He counts the time that he gets to play after he eats breakfast at school as a recess. (Hey, whatever gets you through he day.)

Today was my first day (in a long time) without Logan. My bike ride to Lynn's felt kind of quiet. And now I don't have any excuses to ride in crazy places, try to do wheelies or explore new roads on the way to work. He went to school all day last year, I didn't think it would hard this year. But, this year just feels different. He seems so much bigger and more independent than he did in first grade. I really just didn't anticipate that big of a change from first to second grade. I'm sure I'll adjust. In the meantime, I really hope pennies are motivating for him, and that he will keep doing what he needs to to earn them.

Just for fun, here are pictures of me and Matt in second grade. (He was so tiny.)

Breinholt Reunion

*Day 255*

Yesterday we had our Breinholt family reunion with my brothers and sisters and their families. It's always fun for me to get together with my family. We have a good time.

We went to the pool at the Young's. They have a great yard with a pool, trampoline, playground, tennis court, basketball hoop, and great scenery (including a deer, a real one). The Young's are people that lived by my grandma Anderson, so my mom has known them since she was little. We started going there with my mom's family. Now there are enough of us, that we go with just our family. (Does that explain it Matt?) We had a diving contest and a slam dunk contest. We relaxed, and some of us got a new hair style. And, of course, we ate. There we so many things I would have loved to have pictures of, but it's hard to take pictures when you're busy enjoying yourself. And I've learned that water and cameras dont's mix. So, even though, we wanted to test out or new camera, we needed to keep our distance from the pool.


Logan getting ready for entry off of the slide. I'm surprised at how comfortable he can feel in the water with the addition of a life jacket. Which he has bruises under his arms from wearing all day.


In an attempt to follow a goal I have to be more like my brother, (just less lazy and more willing to be involved in having fun and not worrying about what people think) I joined in on the diving contest instead of just watching. (OK, really it was more a jumping contest, since I don't think anyone actually technically dove. We just tried to do tricks while jumping.) This is me doing a sweet flip. I'm wondering if that has something to do with my body hurting so much today.


This is Logan doing a super cool move off the diving board. I didn't get to go the reunion last year. I could hardly believe Matt when he came home and told me that Logan jumped off the diving board. Now I have proof. He really did it! Like a hundred times.


This is Matt calling to my while I was eating my ice cream. "Hey Kristy, look at me!" Really Matt? I was eating ice cream! Leave me a one for minute. :)


Y.M.C.A. This originally started during the diving contest. It was significant enough that we thought we needed it in a picture.


Me and Renae were trying to jump ourselves out of the deep end of the pool. But then we got the giggles and didn't have the strength to pull ourselves up.


We finally rolled out of the pool. I'm just glad that Matt didn't take a picture of the in between step when we were half way out, and still laughing. Thanks Matt!


We had a super slam dunk contest. Although Steven seems to be the highlight (youngest child), no one is excluded. This is Logan going in for a dunk.


Ryan (who normally has almost white hair) had some really pretty bluish greenish hair by the end of the day thanks to the intense chemicals in the pool. Mine also turned bluish greenish, just not as dark.

Happy Birthday Eric!

*Day 228*

Eric is my big brother. Wait, all of my brother's are bigger than me now. Eric is also my older brother. Eric is the reason that I always wanted a boy first when I had kids. I wanted my kids to have a big brother who would watch over them and protect them. Eric did his fair share teasing us, but he was the only one allowed to tease us. He was ready to beat up any body that tried to mess with us. There were some boys in the neighborhood that were giving us a hard time. Eric taught me where to kick on their bikes to knock them right over. I think I even tried it once. It worked.

I remember Eric would go out running to get in shape for wrestling. He was nice enough to let me tag along. I wasn't as fast as him, so he would tell me to cut off the circle and he would catch up with me. I remember one time I had a really bad side ache. He sent me on a route shorter than the one that he was doing, but one where he kept crossing my path. We always ran at night, and I know he did this so he could keep and eye on me and make sure I was OK.

Eric has also been great with Logan. He was going through some rough times when Logan was born, but he would come over to hang out with Matt while Matt was home taking care of Logan and I was working. I know (that on some days) it helped Matt a ton to have Eric there. I remember coming home one day. I opened the door and they were both sitting on the couch. Matt had the video game controller and Eric was holding Logan. I was glad that there was someone there to help my boys through hard times. Someone who loved my son, and still likes him enough to tease him when he sees him.

I'm glad that we got to spend some time with Eric for his birthday. (But, sorry for the circumstances.) We love you!