"Are you kiddin' me?"

Cy's new nemesis that only lasted 5 minutes.

There are a few conversation lines that I love hearing Jed say. One of them is: "Are you kiddin' me?" He says it like he's actually expecting an answer and then it's usually followed by his funny shoulder raising laugh. This line is used quite often with Cy. This event was no different.

As I previously mentioned, Cy is climbing out of his bed. But the best part of the story is that he can also open doors. Whether it be the bedroom door, bathroom door or in this picture the hall closet, it has become quite a problem. This closet contains all the kids coloring and art supplies. After a few break-ins and break-outs, Jed decided it was time to put the safety things on the door knobs. Ironically, we didn't have to use these with the other kids. Apparently, "No" just doesn't mean a whole lot to this kid. You would think this new device would deflect most kids from processing. Cy, on the other hand, just saw it as a challenge. The safety knob lasted maybe a good 5 minutes against Cy. Once Cy got it off, he put it back together and instantly it was a ball. Maybe it was the hereditary A.D.D. in him that distracted him from actually opening the door but he took his new ball and went to play ball without bothering the art supplies. Either way, we didn't have clean up so I think the parents won this on.

This never would have happened to my dolls!

Anyone who played dolls with me (Roo and Car) when we were younger, will testify that I was obsessive about how MY dolls were treated. I really didn't care what happened to other people's dolls (sorry Car). In fact, I often encouraged giving dolls make-overs. This usually involved hair-cuts, permanent make-up with maker, etc. My barbies were well maintained, always dressed and some kept in original boxes. I know, I was a crazy kid with major case of OCD. One generation later, this is my Reese. It's safe to say Reese does not possess any of barbie fanatic traits. She is the other extreme. Reese likes to color on her dolls, pull their legs off, sometimes I even find them decapitated! To my horror, this is how I found Reese...there was not many barbies left who hadn't been affected. FYI: I let Reese have her fun but I have to admit, I immediately fixed all of them and put them back in their original clothing (I know, I haven't overcome the intense need for them to look perfect!).

Can you do that?

Gage has been wrestling for the past couple of weeks. He loves it and he's amazing at it. It's a new sport for Jed and I. It's great to encourage Gage to "get him, hold him down, squeeze him!" because we usually have to remind Gage to be gentle, not so rough...but wrestling is where Gage can let loose and try anything. Gage has practices on Wednesday nights and then Dual meets on Thursdays. This last Thursday, Gage got the kid down and tapped the mat: 1, 2, 3...and then stood up. The coaches and ref were like, "what is he doing?" Jed and I just laughed and told Gage to get back in there. At home when we wrestle, if Gage pins you (or he gets pinned), you count to 3 and the round is over. Apparently, the house wrestling rules are a little different than an actual dual meet. Isn't Gage the cutest thing in that singlet?!

Breakfast conversation

I love listening in on the big kids' conversations! Gage is the negotiator and informer of the family. He is a really logical child and there is always a reason behind his behavior...the explanation of which, usually involved a lot of hand gestures. Yesterday, we started putting up the Christmas decorations so this morning's breakfast conversation was about Christmas.

The kids have a small nativity set that they like to play with. Reese had brought baby Jesus to the counter with her. Gage was telling Reese that Jesus was not a baby anymore. Reese argued back, "yes, Jesus is a baby...look right here." And then she held up the baby Jesus in the manger. Gage said, "well, Christmas is for Jesus' birthday and he is like a million years old." Reese said something else but Gage got the last line in: "I've had 5 Christmases so Jesus is at least 5."

Move over Greg Walker, Reese has a new man in town!!

Reese's favorite teddy bear is named Greg Walker. A big name for a teddy bear. There is a funny story behind the naming of the bear. Reese had a Teddy Bear Picnic at school which required her to bring the obvious, a teddy bear. Reese picked the biggest bear we had in the house. I asked her what his name was. I suggested silly names like: Bob, Fred, etc. Reese's response was, "his name is Greg Walker." There was no talking her out of this name and it's been Greg Walker ever since. Reese (and everyone else in the house) always uses his full name. Greg Walker is a real person. He was Jed's manager for the past 5 years. Greg retired last March but up until then the name was thrown around a lot. The best part of the story is Reese says things like, "Greg Walker is going to sleep with me tonight" or "Greg Walker is so cranky." I know it's wrong but it seriously cracks Jed and I up. Anyways, Reese always puts Greg Walker to bed somewhere close to her but when we got the Christmas stuff out, Greg Walker was relocated to the boys' room. Don't worry Greg Walker, I'm sure when Christmas is over, you'll be back in the #1 spot. Jed really wishes we had a picture of the real Greg Walker to post so you could all see how funny it is that a little girl has named a bear after him. We love that guy!

Busy Day for Cy

Notice the red circle markings on Reese's check? That would be my little man, Cy's teeth marks. Yeah, I'm still wondering the same thing, "how did Cy get that close to her?" And yes, she is wearing mascara...it was the only way to stop the crying. This picture was taken Thanksgiving morning when Gage, Reese and I were leaving to see "Madagascar 2." The following picture was taken by Jed just little while after we left...

Why are all the chairs & stools on the counter? Well, Cy has discovered he can move these ladders anywhere in the house to get things he shouldn't. The kid is CRAZY busy.

Escape Artist

Cy and I have a love/hate relationship. Mostly, I love him and, well, he is pretty grumpy with me. The kid is great but he has a short fuse. Watch out because he carries a baseball bat and he knows how to swing it. Of all of our kids, Cy is the most extreme...curious, busy, LOUD (he rivals Reese). He's newest adventure is as follows...

"Good Night, Mom! I love you."

Stage 1: the leg lift

Stage 2: The balancing act.

This is difficult for Cy...you know what I mean if you've seen his tummy.

Stage 3: The dismount

Stage 4: His response when I tell him it's not a good idea.

Since Cy discovered he was capable of climbing out of the small 2 feet space between his crib and Gage's bunk bed, he has not stayed in his bed since! Here's to happy sleep at your house!

WHAT THE...?!*?

"You're kidding me? I have 2 teeth!?"

Taylor Bug surprised us with 2 bottom teeth which we discovered on Nov.4...when she was only 41/2 months old. WHAT THE...? She is seriously the happiest, most easy going baby and was not fussy at all as she cut these teeth. Cy, however, has made up for it :)

Movie Night at the Chrisman's

We have movie night every Friday night. Jed prints up tickets for the kids to redeem for a movie, popcorn and a treat. The kids take turns being the Ticket Taker. Grandma Chrisman sewed Gage and Reese aprons to wear when they take the tickets. Cy didn't have one yet. But one day early in the week, the kids got a package from Grandma...

Treats for the show and...

An apron for Cy!!

Movie night was a hit!

P.S. this is Jed, Day 2, after ACL surgery...he's all smiles because he's on pain meds.

Halloween

Marching to Pappy's house...the determination for candy.

Pappy & Cy are negotiating opening the fruit snacks.

The trade off was worth it!

Taylor shows her Halloween spirit

Ladies & Gents, Hannah Montana has arrived!

Reese, aka Hannah, and Pappy got their groove on...

Trunk or treat at Amanda's ward. I know some of you don't like Trunk or Treats. It was a first for us and we LOVED it! Lots of candies, lots of friends...great Halloween night!

soon we'll see car and spence

Reese has been so anxious and worried about seeing her favorite aunt CarCar and tomorrow we will finally hop in the car for 9-10hrs and make the drive to see Spence and Car. The kids are super excited Reese's main concern was in AZ would CarCar have conditioner for her hair? I quickly reassured her that she would and to make her feel even better we could bring some with us. Gage already told his teach Ms. Smith that he would be in AZ so not to worry when he doesn't come to class tomorrow. I think Cy could careless as long as he can bring his bat and ball with him he'll have a great time. And baby Taylor will have to show off how much she has grown. I'm super excited to see Car and Spence's place and swim like fish all weekend. I can't believe its been almost a whole month since they left. and i'll for sure tell all when we get home on sunday.

30th B-day bash

Amanda & Carly threw me a surprise birthday party for my big 3 0. Carly invited my friends and decorated the back yard. There were chips and salsa along with Carly's wonderful, cheesy Mexican dip and fantastic guacamole. It's crazy to think that I'm 30, but so far I am loving it.

Here are a couple pictures from the big party back in August. My super awesome in-laws were also in on the scoop, and helped with the kids while I was swept away for an over-nighter to Park City. Thanks Rick & Lisa!

Gage taking some swings at the Pinata Carly got. My friends brought their kids too, and they each got a turn smacking the Pinata.













Carly & Spencer made a slide show with some pictures from my old photo albums. Spencer put the pictures to music and set the computer up outside for the slide show. He calculated that I was 10,750 days old! (I think I'll use "30" when someone asks my age).


The slide show was wonderful, and my kids loved seeing pictures of themselves too.


Thank you to EVERYONE for this wonderful birthday! It was truly a surprise!!

st. george and counting!

ok. only 4wks left til the st. george marathon. my dad, sister and i have been training for the race this summer. i don't know what i was thinking as baby taylor is only 4mo old! on saturday my dad and i ran 20miles, so we are on track for the race i hope! we have had a great race crew with manda riding the bike with reese in the trailer (what can i say she loves to be involved) carrying our water and making sure we stay on pace. wish us love the days are counted!!!

a night of twilight!

ok, like most of you i have read the twilight series and loved every page (except some of book 3 and some of book 2 if you know what i mean jacob haters:)) anyways we thought it would be super cool to go to the book opening at barnes and noble in orem, stay up extremely late and fight for the book we loved. so we went to barnes and noble at 9pm and quickly found out some real interesting people love the twilight series as well, we kept laughing at how outrageous people were, and then we were more shocked to realize they love to read? interesting. anyways we had a great time and we stayed up til 1am to get our book that we found out later was available at walmart with no line.:)

Gage's "twin" toes

Most people have 10 toes, some 11 (never known anyone with 11 but I'm sure they are out there). But according to Aunt Jessi, Gage has 8 toes. Gage is very unique because he has webbed toes. It sounds gross, but they are so cute. He recently discovered what he has termed, "his twin toes." He doesn't know he is different and he doesn't care. But someday when asked, "what is something that you have and no one else does?" His response can be his webbed toes.

Jed and I were told that Gage had webbed toes when he was in-utero; when he was born the pediatrician said he could snip his toes (at the same time as snipping his you-know-what). Well, when his toes were less than 2 cm long they didn't appear that webbed. However, the bigger he gets the more obvious it is. Grandpa Chrisman says he'll run faster, "ducks have webbed feet & you can't ever catch a duck." You can tell Reese's toes are jointed together (is that how to describe it?) but they aren't webbed through the digits.

So, here's to the webbed-toe Chrisman kids. Cy is exempt from this trait and it has yet to be detected on Baby Peanut. I know some of you are not feet/toe people so good luck enduring these pictures. FYI Ashton so-hot Kutcher also has webbed toes.

Gage's "Twin" Toes

Reese's Toes