Happy Number 2, Ammon (And 6, Trevin)

It has already been two years since Ammon joined our family. Amazing how fast time goes. He has been a wonderful addition to our home and he makes us laugh every day. Ammon likes sports like his brothers and recently has taken a real liking to wrestling. He goes after anyone in the family and really enjoys coming up behind his siblings when they least expect it; he then grabs them in a bear hug and pulls them down. He is quite strong and can even throw Trevin down if he grabs him just the right way. Ammon is also a real Daddy's boy right now. Every time we get out of the van he demands to get out on Dad's side. He also typically only wants Dad to get him out of bed. It is nice to be loved. We celebrated Ammon and Trevin's birthdays on Saturday. So here are few pics of our little guy and one of his older "twin" brother, Trevin. What a couple of handsome boys!

Tyler Is An All-Star

And this year, they can't take it away from him. Tyler was officially voted on to the Evergreen Little League 9/10 All-Star team tonight. After last year's bitter-sweet selection, it was so nice to make it again this year. And this time, he'll be able to play. Practices start tomorrow and the tournament starts on June 27th. It should be fun and exciting. So congratulations to Tyler. You deserve it!

Life Is Full Of Great Things

Wow, a couple of exciting weeks in the Livingston family. First, Bailey was baptized on June 11, and it was a special occasion. She gave the talk on baptism and did a wonderful job. The spirit was quite strong throughout and it was a really nice service. Many family members and friends attended and it was just a great day for Bailey and our family. We are so proud of her!

Trevin, who just turned 6 yesterday, also lost his first tooth just last week. Carol surprised him and just pulled it out. His permanent one is already well on its way in. I caught the happy boy just after it was pulled and even with blood dripping don his face, he still flashed that wonderful Trevin smile. The tooth fairy came and left him a dollar and a little Twix bar. We asked him what he got and he said a Twix and a dollar. Then said: "Man, I was hoping for $100."
Tyler had a big week of baseball. His team was the number one seed in the tournament and after barely winning their first game, they lost the second one 1-0 on Saturday. His team got only one hit; a double by Tyler. So with the lost, they had to play another game right after that. They won that game 4-2 and then had to play the team they lost to on Saturday, on Monday night. The pressure was heavy and Tyler wilted. He just couldn't overcome his nerves and had a really rough game, until he pitched and got the giant out (seriously, the kid is 6 feet and 230 lbs). That helped him snap out of it. They held on to win 13-10, which set up tonight's game.

Both teams now had a loss, and this would settle the championship. It was a close game all the way, but they held on and won 4-2. And Tyler looked like a different kid. He didn't look nervous or scared and had a great game. He walked and scored, struck out on a foul tip catch had a solid single to left. He also made three catches at 2nd base, two of which were really nice plays. And then he came on to pitch in the top of the sixth with the bases loaded and only one out. He got the first guy to ground out, then struck the last guy out looking. It was so fun to watch and we were so proud of how he overcame the nerves; because that has been his biggest battle all season long. When he got that last out, he celebrated like a champion and that is what he is; as a person.

The kids did a lot of celebrating afterwards, which the rest of our kids really enjoyed, cuz they got to go play on the field. Here's Caden on the mound.

And this is Ammon at home getting in some batting practice with his brothers.

It has been an exciting time recently, and here's what's coming up: Tomorrow, Tyler finds out if he makes the 9-10 year-old All-Star team. On Saturday, Bailey and Trevin will finish off their baseball season, and then later we will celebrate both Trevin and Ammon's birthdays (he will be two on Monday). And of course, Thursday is the last day of school so summer break should be fun. That's a wrap for now. The Lord has truly blessed the Livingston's.

I'm Lame, I Know

Yeah, yeah, yeah; I know it's about time. But we'll just bypass all the excuses and get to the bloggin'. It has been since October since I've written, so of course, a lot has happened. We still live in the same house and the same ward and have the same callings. I still work at the same place, but have been greatly blessed in my employment. The kids are growing and they are always involved in something.

Tyler turned 10 in February and he continues to be a good student and a stud athlete. He is presently playing Little League and got drafted up to the Majors division, so he plays with kids who are mostly 12 and some 11. His team has already wrapped up the top seed for the tournament and the regular season ends this week. Unfortunately, he plays for the Yankees. It's tough when we love the Red Sox so much, but I still cheer for him and his team. Although, I have yet to say: "Go Yankees!" all season.

Bailey turned 8 just a couple of weeks ago and she is excited to be getting baptized on June 11. It will be a great experience. She is also very thrilled to be in Activity Days and enjoys doing those girly things with other girls; which gives her a respite from a house full of boys. She is also playing baseball and doing quite well. She enjoys Zumba and will probably take a kids' Zumba class this summer.

Trevin is hard core into sports and right now with baseball in full swing, he can't stop playing, watching, or talking about it. He is obsessed, which is OK sometimes, and others, not so much. He is on Bailey's team and is also doing well. He looked like a vacuum out there at his last game as he made play after play while most of the rest of the kids just stand and watch. He has learned to read very well and he has enjoyed his first year of school. He turns 6 in June.

Caden is as feisty as ever. He turned 4 in April and lately he has become quite a handful again. We are trying to be as patient as possible and enjoy the moments when he chooses to be happy. He really wants to play baseball on a team, like his siblings and he has actually improved quite a bit since last year. He must be a Livingston. He just finished another session of preschool and enjoyed it, especially those days he got to play baseball outside and hit some "big homers."

Ammon is almost 2. Yeah, can you believe it? He is already into baseball like all of his brothers. He has quite the stance and can slide into a base like a real champ. He's got a great arm for a 2 year old, too. He still doesn't talk much, but has finally started to say a few words. He has also shown an interest in the potty, which we are quite happy about. Now we need to do something about it. His birthday is a week after Trevin's, and then we'll be done with kid birthdays for the year 2011, except the one that is due in December......wait for it....wait for it.....wait for it.....JUST KIDDING!

In all honesty, we think we are done. I'll spill the beans and say that we have tried for several months and it seems that it's just not meant to be; and we are fine with that if that is the case. So for all of you who think it's time for us to have another, or want to ask if we are going to have anymore, the answer is: We tried and it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

So there is probably a lot more that I have missed, but when you try to recap more than 7 months, a lot of the details get cloudy. On the plus side, I do have some funnies saved up. And although some of them are about 6 months old, they're still funny. So enjoy!

Much to our dismay, one of the PE teachers at the kids’ school likes to play Justin Beiber songs during PE time; and Trevin seems to have taken a liking to those songs. So he told Carol and all his siblings the other day that he was singing a Justin Beiber song and two girls from his class “were totally laughing. But it didn’t mess me up.”

Tyler was by our back door and he saw a bug and shouted: “Look, a scorpion.” He was totally serious, too. Carol questioned him and he reiterated his claim. So Carol walked over to investigate and said: “Tyler, that’s an earwig, not a scorpion.”

Carol makes these little rib-it sounds (that’s what I call them) from time to time. She has no control over it and it’s kind of like a gurgle deep in her throat. (By the way, she’s not exactly happy that I’m telling you all this, but I have to for this story. So when you see her, don’t speak frog to her.) Anyways, we were saying prayer and Caden was sitting on her lap with his head on her chest. She did one of her “rib-its” and Caden swiftly picked up his head and said with a smile: “Whoa! Who was that?”

So Bailey is totally into teaching. That is pretty much what she does with about 95% of her free time at home; pretend to teach an imaginary class. So Carol asked her for some Christmas ideas, other than teaching stuff, and she responded: “I want one of those things that goes around my neck.” Carol kind of asked for a clarification, and she said: “You know. Mine would say: ‘Bailey Livingston. Staff.’” Then she said she also wanted boys’ and girls’ bathroom passes for her class. She’s not messing around.

Caden was looking through his Halloween candy and was going to have a piece. He pulled out a Tootsie Pop and asked if it had milk. They do. He then proceeded to take out all of his dum dum suckers because he said they had milk, too. Carol came along and tried to correct him. She told him that just the Tootsie Pop had milk and that the others were fine. He then picked it up, looked at it as though he were reading it and said: “No. It says...contains milk.”

Carol told Caden that he needed to get ready for preschool one morning, but he said he didn’t want to go. She told him, he would be fine and he needed to get ready. He then said: “But there will be fat guys.”

We were talking about Tyler being baptized and then we mentioned that Bailey will be taking that step in 6 months. Carol said: “In six months, Bailey, you’ll be giving a talk at your own baptism,” (cuz that is what Tyler did). An then I said: “That means you’ll have to go under water, too,” (which she hates). Bailey then replied: “Yeah, I know. I’m gonna wear goggles.”

Carol got me a card for our anniversary, which you can see here.

I brought it out and said to the kids: “Who wants to see this picture me and mommy took for our anniversary? Don’t we look good?” The kids all gathered to take a look and with Bailey holding it, Trevin said in all seriousness: “That doesn’t look like them.”

Caden’s nursery leader was released recently and put in the primary. So as Carol and the kids got home from church her first week gone, Caden announced to everyone: “Mary wasn’t my teacher anymore.” Then after a pause added: “And I am not happy about that.”

We were leaving the baseball field and arrived at our van, when Caden blurted out: “What the heck?” Then, after a very short pause said: “Why do I just keep saying ‘What the heck’?”

We were finishing dinner and Ammon had been eating a ton, which is quite unusual for him. Earlier, he and his brothers were running around shirtless playing pirates. I made the comment about Ammon: “I guess all that running around naked made you hungry.” I then added as a joke of course: “Makes sense. When I go running around the block naked at night after you guys go to bed, I get hungry, too.” I expected some comments, but this is all I got; from Trevin, in a “who are you trying to kid?” kind of tone: “You don’t jog.”

Who's Ready To Wiggle?

Hey everyone, it's me again. This time I wasn't gone as long, but a lot has happened anyway. To start, the kids enjoyed their visit to the Rose Garden to watch the Blazers play an intra-squad scrimmage. They also really liked their trip to Everett to go see The Wiggles in concert. It was a good show and they enjoyed it, although Tyler and Trevin didn't show it much. Caden, of course, loved it. We also enjoyed seeing our good friends the Marshall's, who let us stay at their home. We sure appreciated their hospitality.

The kids got lots of candy as they went trunk-or-treating last Friday and Saturday night. We went with Leslie and Eric to their ward's, then they went with us the next day, to ours. And when you have five kids, that equals a lot of goodies for dad; I mean the kids. Trevin got to go on a school field trip to a pumpkin farm, and he and Carol had a lot of fun. Two Sundays ago the kids had their primary program, and they all did an outstanding job. The kids also had another cousin return home from a mission, about 10 days ago, as Nathan got back from Florida. Carol and the kids got to go greet him at the airport.

We are all looking forward to the upcoming holidays and look forward to seeing family we haven't seen a while. I'm sure there are things I have missed, but if I remembered them all, that would just mean it would take longer to get to the funnies. So here you go...

Caden likes to play Duck, Duck, Goose and he was trying to play with just me and him. He wanted me to get up and run after him, so I did and when I caught him I said to Carol: “Look Mommy, I got me a goose.” Caden began to pout and then he said: “I’m not Mia Goose.”

The kids were in the process of getting ready for bed one night and Trevin ended up on the couch in his underwear. Bailey shouted: “Mom, look at Trevin; he’s being immodest. He’s on the couch in his underwear.” Trevin smiled big and said: “I have my socks on.”

We play a word association game to get the kids to listen to General Conference a little better. We have certain words that are attached to different snacks. If they hear it, they get the snack. It’s still a little advanced for Caden, so he was going to help himself to a raisin, which had “The Spirit” attached to it. I stopped him and said: “You didn’t hear anything.” He replied: “Yeah, he said raisin."

We were at the table and I was just about to ask someone to say the blessing when Caden leaned over to me and says out loud: “You’re a bonehead.” He repeated it a couple times, then I calmly asked him: “Who taught you that?” Then, much to everyone’s surprise, especially Carol’s, he replied: “Umm, Mom.”

Tyler saw the Wiggles when he was about three, with his cousin Caleb. After the show, with a little luck they happen to run into two of the Wiggles, Jeff and Murray. So a day or two before we were going to see the Wiggles this time he said to us, in all seriousness: “I wonder if Murray will recognize me?” We had a good laugh, then Carol said: “Tyler, do you know how many kids Murray sees?” He replied: “Yeah, like two Tylers a month.”

Trevin has reached the age of trying to develop a sense of humor, but it is a big work in progress. The other night he said to Tyler: “Knock, knock.” Tyler replied “who’s there?” Trevin: “Poo poo.” Tyler: “Poo poo, who?” Trevin paused and you could see the wheels turning; and then he said: “Horse-cow.” We were all stunned at his brilliance, and he got a good laugh at himself. Like I said, it's a work in progress.

Wiggle Time

Hiding behind the couch

Welcome home, Nathan
Having fun at the airport
Giddy-up Horsey

Lots of pumpkin pie filling

Where did I put that tissue?
Drivers beware!
Waiting for the Wiggles to start
More illegal driving
So, do you need a napkin?
Ah shucks...
Not a Mets fan, but it kept him happy at the store
Not so happy about his haircut
Blazers game


Playing in the rocks

Oh, how cute. Tyler even did this pose on his own.

It's OK Everyone; Calm Down...Yes, I Am Still Alive

OK, so it’s been forever; I know. I can’t possibly recap all that has taken place since I last updated the blog. But I’ll try anyways...just kidding. But here are some of the highlights. We had a good summer, but didn’t do anything major. We built a fire pit in our back yard, which the kids really enjoyed, especially making smores several times throughout the summer. I introduced the kids to Capture the Flag, and we spent many evenings playing that this summer, as well.

In August, we went to Eugene for a weekend to visit as my brother Scott and his family were in town from Utah; including Isaac, who returned from his mission. We decided that this would be a good opportunity for the 4 oldest kids to get their first taste of being away from home. It was with much trepidation (more on their part) that we left. They were just going to stay a couple of days, but ended staying the entire week. It was good for everyone, except maybe Ammon, who was quite bored without his siblings around.

Of course with September here, the kids have started school. Tyler is in 4th grade now, Bailey in Second and Trevin started kindergarten. They are doing very well and all enjoy school. They even help out by making their own lunches every night before they go to bed. It was a little tough for Caden at first, but he has gotten over it, thanks to the Wii and his mother’s iPhone. But of course we read to him every day, before he has those privileges.

Coming up, we are looking forward to General Conference this weekend, and then later this month, we are taking the kids to go see the Wiggles. They are all quite excited. It should be a lot of fun. We also get to go see the Blazers play a team scrimmage this Friday night, thanks to some passes from the Priebe’s. They will all enjoy that, for sure. Overall, we are all doing well and thankful for the many blessings the Lord has provided us with, including a more blessings in the employment department. And yes, Carol and I finally got our own cell phones. And yes the iPhone 4 is amazing and it has changed our life. Well, that’s a pretty lightweight recap of the last two and a half months, but at least I have some funnies stored up (and pics, too), so enjoy!

Bailey noticed a wedding announcement in the recycle pile and asked Carol if she was really throwing it away? Carol told her yes and then I said: “Don’t worry Bailey; we’ll keep yours when you get married.” Then Carol told the kids about the different ones she still had from family members. Bailey then asked: “Will you keep ours when we get married?” Apparently, she didn’t hear me. Carol told her yes, but then Trevin said: “They’ll already be dead by then.” I questioned him, and he said: “I think so.” Bailey then replied: “You can’t say that unless you’re sure they’re going to be dead.”

The kids were playing in the playroom and Caden came into my room and said: “Dad, we’re trying to attack Tyler.” I said: “You are, huh?” He replied, “Yeah, cuz he’s annoying.”

Carol and her mom took the kids to OMSI, a scientific museum, and they have an unborn Baby display, where you can see what real babies look like during the development process. Carol said that some of them during the first few weeks are pretty creepy looking. I said a lot of them are creepy looking. Then I said: “and some of them, when they’re born, are still creepy looking. Bailey then said: “You mean like Ammon?”

Carol and I talked about getting iPhones for a long time, especially the new iPhone 4. In our many conversations, we mentioned that it would not be fun to take all 5 kids to go sign up for the service. In August, we were discussing the possibility of leaving the kids with my parents for a few days. Bailey said: “You guys should go to Blackberry or Verizon or something.” We laughed, then she said: “What? I’ve been listening to your conversations that ‘we need to go when the kids aren’t here.’”

Ammon was walking around in just a diaper and Bailey said: “He looks so cute in that outfit.”

I caught Tyler in a pick and then he went to wipe it on the ground. I said: “You better find that booger and clean it up with a tissue, or I’m gonna pick one and make you eat it; from someone else’s nose.” Bailey heard and volunteered: “Pick mine. I have the driest boogers ever.”

Tyler told Carol that they watched a video in Primary called “A Pioneer Miracle.” She asked him if he liked it and he said: “Yeah, but I knew they weren't gonna die, because it was called ‘A Pioneer Miracle.’”

I asked Caden one morning: “What do you want to do?” He replied, referring to the Wii,: “I want to play sword fighting with not you, so you don’t cry.” This response came because we had played another time and when I knocked him in the water he started to pout. So when he knocked me in, I began to fake cry, which he did not enjoy.

Tyler has the ability to scream at a very high pitch. I often tell him: “Stop screaming like a girl!” So I had him pinned down and was tickling him and he was really letting it go. I said to carol: “Lets record this and show all his friends that he screams like a girl” Tyler replied, while still laughing: “They already know.”

We have been talking about getting another twin bed, so Caden move out of the Toddler bed, as he is really outgrowing it. So we were telling him that each of the kids would move to a new bed up the proverbial seniority ladder. We said he would get Trevin’s bed, unless Trevin wanted to keep it, and then he would get Bailey’s bed instead. He then said with a very concerned and incredulous look on his face: “In the princess bed?”

Where did that boy learn to scowl?
Bailey Lightyear
This is my mess and love it!
Desperately in need of a haircut, which he recently got
You're out
Mario Bros.
Killer Stash
Future Bethoven
One Busy Lady
Keep your eye on the ball
A swingin' good time
First day of school
A piece of waffle that looks like a squirrel. Too much Alvin and the Chipmunks, lately?
That dinner was just too tiring
Hard at work at the office
Opossums
A helping hand
My little princess
Doing the haka to make the ball move
Move over you lousy driver
I think this fits here
Baseball stars
Portrait Shots, by Carol
A Day at Omsi
Look, we're pretty
Bowling with the Priebe's
Ammon gettin' a lift from Claire
The grapes of wrath
Sticky goodness
On the outside looking in
We prepare to sacrifice our kids to the fire gods
I'm beat, what can I say?
Uh m, could someone please close my mouth if I fall asleep on the couch.
I'm a happy boy, cuz I have no pants
Swimming pool fun
Life guard
Watching fireworks from the back of the van
Sparklers
Tyler's brief moment with a mohawk
Good stuff