Hey Ging, At Least Someone Notices You've Been Taking Care Of Yourself

Hello again. Not much new to report this week. We did celebrate Carol’s Dad’s 77th birthday last Thursday, and Carol’s mom provided another most excellent fruit tray. She has a gift with fruit. Carol’s sister Sharon and her family got him a little padded lap tray (seen in use below), which has to be the best gift he could have possibly received. And judging from that smile, I'm pretty sure he agrees.

I think he should just have it permanently attached now. Anyways, it was a fun time and we all ate really well. Carol did a great job on the cake, too. Ummmmm, cake.
Tyler turns 8 next Sunday and, as I’ve mentioned before, he will be getting baptized that night. He also starts Cub Scouts and flag football the following Wednesday. Our kids are getting older and that means life is about to get even busier in our home. That stinks, cuz I’m getting older, too, and I really just need more time to sit around in my chair and complain about the government and the weather; and maybe where some sweet plaid pants with a nice white belt. I don’t have the energy anymore to be chasing kids all over the house, let alone the city. The effects of old age are already creeping in. Oh, how sad. Well anyways, as promised in my last edition, here are the latest and greatest funnies. Enjoy!

Trevin has a little habit that whenever he has his shirt off, mainly when he gets a bath, he plays with his nipple. Don’t ask, I don’t know. I just try to ignore it. Anyways, sometimes I can’t and the other night as Carol was drying him off after he and Tyler got a bath, Trevin was doing some double-nipple action. I said what are those? He said “I don’t know (but he knows full-well what they are).” Carol, said: “Those right there, that you’re touching.” Tyler then says in all seriousness: “Those are your nibbles.” I’ll leave the jokes to you.

Carol was putting Trevin in his diaper to go to bed, and Caden walked up and saw him in his glory, pointed, and said: “Pee.” Trevin then said: “Yeah, that my Willard. You have Willard, too.”

Trevin and I were boxing on the Wii, and although I was trying to let him win, his arms just aren’t long enough yet, for the sensor bar to really catch his motion on boxing. Anyways, after a while, I finally knocked him down and out, to which he commented: “That was wude of you.”

Bailey was enjoying some ice cream after dinner one night, and was taking her sweet time. I asked her if I gave her too much. She assured me that I didn’t. About 5 minutes or so later she finished and pronounced: “See Dad, you didn’t give me too much. But I’m freezing.”

Carol was leaving the house and we gave each other a kiss and a hug (I know, ewe). Bailey was apparently watching and yelled: “I saw Mom and Dad fall in love!”

Carol was wrestling with the kids and they were trying to pull her off the couch. Tyler, not really trying to, put his hand on her stomach and kind of pushed. Carol said in a gentle tone: “Tyler don’t push me on the stomach.” Trevin then said emphatically: “Yeah, cuz her gonna get pregnant.”

The kids went back to get their pajamas on one night and Trevin came out with his bottoms on, but he needed help unbuttoning his shirt before he could get his top on. Carol noticed his pants were a little crooked, so she adjusted them. Upon doing so she discovered he had forgotten to put his underwear back on. She asked him, “where’s your underwear?” Surprised, Trevin then pulled the front of his pants away from his waist to check. After a quick glance, and without saying a word, he ran back to his room to finish the job.

Carol and I were reading scriptures and Caden came back to the room and just kept shouting: “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.” Carol told him that we were reading scriptures and asked him if he could be quiet. He said “yeah,” then he started right up again, this time in a much quieter voice: “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.”

We have a picture frame in our room and one of the photos contains a shot of Carol, my sister Leslie, and my sister-in-law Ginger. First (I feel a disclaimer is necessary), let me just say that I have no idea where Trevin comes up with all of these things he says, but anyways, he was looking at the frame and named off the three parties in that picture. He then said: “I don’t like Ginger’s mouth.” Carol said: “That’s not very nice, why would you say that?” He didn’t answer the question, but added: “I don’t like her lips.” Carol and I both just kind of waited silently, and then he added: “I just like her body.”

Finding Joy In The Journey

So, I have been listening to General Conference talks for several weeks while I’m at work and it has been a great blessing. The words of the Lord’s called prophets and servants have truly had a great affect on me. There are so many that have meant a lot, but the #1 talk that has made a difference is from President Thomas S. Monson. It is from the October 2008 Sunday morning session, entitled: “Finding Joy in the Journey.” I know that each talk can have different meaning to different people, and that the messages reach us in different ways. However, if you love your family and friends, then this talk applies to you. If you have never heard it or read it, then you should. If it’s been a while since you’ve heard, or read, it, then listen to it, or read again. It is such great counsel. And again, it has meaning for anyone who has family and friends, whether you are a member of the LDS or church or not. I don’t mean to get on a soapbox or anything, but I just know that everyone could benefit from President’s Monson’s words. And of course, many of you already know that, but some might not, so here is a link: http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-947-26,00.html.
If you would rather listen to it or watch it, you can use this link. Just scroll down to the Sunday Morning Session, about in the middle of the page, and choose your fancy: http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-947,00.html
Sorry, no funnies this time, but some good ones are forthcoming, I promise.

Trevin Weighs In On The Next Apostle

Howdy everyone. I know, it's been a while. Life just keeps getting in the way of blogging, but whattaya gonna do? What's new with us? Carol had a check-up today and everything is normal, except he found three more babies in there, plus two small puppies. Crazy stuff. OK, so that's not true, but then I shouldn't have had to add that for anyone, because no one is that gullible. Carol is doing fine and getting quite a little pooch, but after five pregnancies that is to be expected. She hasn't had any sickness lately. Actually, she never has thrown up, but she sure had a lot of nausia in the beginning with this one. The kids are excited and Bailey is really hoping for a little sister this time. Trevin, on the other hand, wants a boy. Tyler took his excel testing last week and said he enjoyed. He said the questions were very easy, but he says that about everything. We don't know when we will find out the results. Bailey is doing well in Kindergarten and she had her first opportunity a week ago to give a talk in primary. She did very well. She also recently lost her third tooth. Trevin enjoys playing Wii Golf and not having to go pre-school. He is doing better in primary though (read more about that below), which we are very happy about. Caden had had a cold pretty much straught for about 5 weeks, but through it all his ears have not had any infection, which is just a continued answer to prayer. He talks up a storm and throws fits like a champ, but he has gone to nursury without mom or dad two times in a row, so we are thrilled about that. We are looking forward to Tyler's baptism in two weeks (on Feb 1) and for he and Bailey to start taking piano lessons in another week. Also, Bailey started some tennis lessons this past Saturday and really liked it; plus Tyler starts flag football in a few weeks. So, life is busy, but it is good to be busy. And now enjoy the latest and greatest kid quotes:

For those of you who don’t know, Trevin has never been a fan of nursery, or preschool, or even the brief moments he has spent in primary. Well, with the New Year upon us, that means graduation to the Sunbeam class. It has been difficult getting him ready him for this transition, and for the past month, we have been trying to prep him for it; despite his continued insistence that he did not want to go. So Sunday January 4th was the first day of the new class. And lo and behold, the little guy actually did really well. We were very proud of his bravery. Now despite his good first day, his taste for primary is still, let’s say, a little sour. When Carol went to pick him up from class when church was over, one of the Sunbeam teachers informed us that when asked what makes him happy, he replied: “My Mom and Dad.” And when asked what makes him sad, his response was unequivocally: “Primary.”

And for good measure there was also this exchange. Trevin and Carol were in the kids’ room on a weekday morning just after his first Sunday in primary. As Carol opened the blinds for the day, Trevin asked: “is today Sunday.” Carol replied no, and Trevin said: “Yea, I don’t have to go primary.”

Bailey likes to play “going to the store" with her grocery cart and cash register. So we were playing together and she was running the register, while I shopped. After a while, she was ready to switch and said: “OK, now I’m going to buy some stuff, and you can be the cashew.”

Bailey and Caden were in the bath together and Bailey likes to do her brothers’ hair. She was messing with Caden’s hair and he was kind of losing his balance. Carol said to her: “Bailey, will just stop messing with him. He keeps losing his balance. I’m afraid he’s gonna fall.” Bailey replied in a total grown-up tone: “Oh just stop it. You’re not afraid.”

Carol was cleaning up after dinner one night and Bailey said to her: “You look pregnant!” Trevin was at the table, too and said: “She is pregnant!” Bailey said to Trevin: “You’re pregnant.” He quickly responded: “No I not. I boy. Boys not pregnant.”

Carol made some orange juice with the frozen concentrate mix. She rarely makes the stuff, and we never buy it pre-mixed. Anyways, Tyler takes a swig, and says in all seriousness, “You make delicious orange juice mom.” Good to see he appreciated all the blood, sweat and tears it took his mother to stir the stuff up.

Tyler got “Backyard Football” for the Wii for Christmas and he and I were playing a game. He had Ben Roethlesberger on his team, only he was playing wide receiver. Anyways, Tyler kept throwing to him and he kept dropping them again and again. I finally said: “Roethlesberger can’t catch anything.” Trevin was within earshot and went to Big Ben’s defense: “Maybe he don’t have any hands.” Well spoken young analyst.

I was downloading some more talks from General Conference onto my iPod and Trevin and I were reviewing the names of the Apostles and First Presidency. He is aware that Elder Wirthlin recently passed away, so he was asking about the new Apostle. I said we’ll find out in April during General Conference. I then said: “is it going to be you?” He smiled and said no, then offered this possibility: “Maybe Daniel Bird?” He is our Elder’s Quorum President, for those of you who don’t know. So indeed, Daniel, you must be thought of quite highly by Mr. Trevin.

Lastly, we were all outside playing on a sunny day in January, today, and Trevin said “Dad, I want to get my bike out.” I said: “Why, so you can ride it for 2 seconds?” “No,” came his reply. “OK, three then,” I said. Trevin then thought about it and said, “No….10.” I said, “10 seconds isn’t very long.” Then, as he climbed aboard his bike, he said in a somewhat pleading voice: “OK.......11.”

Do You Know What Sprite Looks Like?

Well, here we are again; another new year is upon us. How time flies. The adage is true: “The older you get the faster time goes.” It really sinks in when your kids hit milestones. Tyler will be eight in a month, which means it will be baptism time for him. It just doesn’t seem possible, but sure enough, time never stops, so we have only the choice to live life as it comes and to take advantage of all the “time” we are blessed to have; or to blow it.

So, I’m sure most of you have seen my last entry announcing our pending arrival in July; now for the story behind it. Carol and I had been talking about it for a few months, but we were not really convinced we were ready again. All of our kids have been brought to us with the help of clomid (baby-making drug). Carol had the prescription, but had not yet filled it. As we continued to fast and pray about it, we decided we would go ahead and give it a shot. But, nothing happened with Carol (you figure out the details, yourself). So we thought: “OK, maybe this isn’t the right time.” Wrong! The Lord was so sure that this was the time he took nature into his own hands. So this baby is a drug-free baby. By the time we decided we were ready, Carol was already pregnant. Surprise! We told our families at Christmas, and found out that my sister (July 11) and my sister-in-law (July 2) are also expecting. July will bring lots of fireworks to the extended Livingston family.

On to other things: I was responding to a friend from BYU about this blog, and told her that it has occurred to me that this has quite literally become a way for me to record a history of our lives. So, from time-to-time, I need to include other types of info on here, which may not necessarily be interesting for others to read, but will be a great source of history for us and our kids to look back on. So with that in mind: recently, Tyler was at school and because of the extreme cold, the kids had some days of indoor recess. Anyways, he was playing a game with a group of kids, and another boy, who is a member of our ward, asked if he could play, too. One of the boys told him no. Tyler said that after the boy walked away, he got up and left what he was doing, and went to ask the boy who had been turned down if he would like to do something with him. They then played together instead. We were quite proud to hear of his kind act.

And of course, here are the latest funnies: Trevin tells me he has to go to the bathroom, the other day, so I ask him: “What do you need to do?” He says “go get up on the potty.” So I tell him go do it then. A few seconds later I call to him and ask: “Did you make it?” He says “Yeah.” Me: “Are you going poop?” Again he responds: “Yeah.” I respond with an “Oh man,” to which he replies in a total “ha-ha” tone: “You have to wipe it up.”

During this holiday season, every time we took the kids to the store with us to look at things, Bailey bombarded us with the phrase: “Oh, I want this for Christmas,” or “I want that for Christmas.” Literally, every time we are at a store she added to her list about every 30 seconds; no joke. So we were at Fred Meyer, and after proclaiming her desire several more times, Trevin held his hands up and while bringing them down to slap him on his knees so as to say “enough already,” he said: “Bailey, you want every thing for Christmas!”

Trevin hit an ornament on the tree with a toy hammer, and it came apart. I said “that doesn’t make me very happy. Mom, does that make you happy?” Carol replied, “No. disappointed, actually.” I said, “Yep, pretty, disappointing.” Trevin quickly retorted: “I’m not going to jail.”

Bailey loves to play school, but usually not while she is being watched. Anyways, she decided to let me play the other day and I was one of her students. She was holding up a book and telling us (me and the other students--stuffed toys and babies) the story. I got distracted for a brief moment and was looking at the poster of David Ortiz (Boston Red Sox player) on the wall. After a couple of seconds, Bailey kindly reminded the “class” without singling me out: “Eyes need to be up here. Not looking at other things.”

Tyler went with Grandma Livingston to the grocery store while we were in Eugene, a couple days after we had announced our pending July arrival. They were talking and Tyler said: “Grandma, I don’t want to have another baby.” She replied: “How come, because you would have to get a new car?” To which Tyler replied: “No. Because then I would have to be even quieter. I already have to be quiet when Caden’s asleep. Now when I come from school, they’ll be two babies asleep.”

Trevin was wrestling with his cousin and brothers in Eugene, and he was a little too rough, so I grabbed him and started wrestling him. His pants came down a little and he was, well, bum-cracking. I gave him a little squeeze and said “bum-cracking.” His quick response as he reached back to pull up his pants was: “Dat not apopiate!”

You’ve all had sliced deli turkey before, right. So of course you’ve seen the little lines of fat that sometimes show up in certain parts of the turkey, right. Well, the Trev-man was eating his lunch a couple days again and told me he didn’t want to eat his turkey. It was basically untouched, so I asked why not. He said, “cuz my turkey has owies.” I said what are talking about? Your turkey doesn’t have owies.” “Uh-huh, look,” he said, pointing to those little lines of fat.

We were eating stew for dinner and a discussion began as to whether it was stew or soup, because of its consistency. Tyler insisted that it was stew each time Bailey called it soup. So the discussion continued and Bailey asked what “runny” meant, thinking that it was the same as mushy. I explained the difference between them and then Bailey turned the conversation a little gross. Trevin then asked: “like tooters?” I said “no tooters are gas.” Bailey then said “like this,” and without hesitation dropped a giant bomb for all to hear. Our sweet little princess!

Trevin was coughing at the dinner table and was going on for quite a bit, kind of like he was forcing it. Carol told him, OK that’s enough, to which he replied: “My throat is doing that.”

And lastly, I went in to check on Trevin, on a recent trip to the potty, when he informed me as he went pee: “that looks like sprite.” So those are latest funnies and the latest happenings in the Livingston’s Life and Times. And these are just a few pics from the last couple of weeks.

All aboard the Tyler train

The cowboy way

Family fun in the snow

Who was that purple girl?

Super(cute)man