Happy Birthday Caden!

Hey everyone. I tried to post a video of the kids singing a few times, but for some reason it just never worked. So it hasn't actually been as long as it seems since I tried to blog. Anyways, the baseball season is in full swing now. Tyler's team is 3-2 so far and they are improving each game. He has pitched a few times and his first time out he struck out 7 batters in 3 innings. He has hit pretty well, too, but his hardest hit ball was caught by the other team, which surprised the kid who caught it. Sometimes it just goes that way. But it was a sweet shot nonetheless.

Bailey and Trevin had their first game on Saturday and both did really well. Trevin is only 4 still, and technically you can't play coach-pitch until your 5 and 1/2, but he already throws and hits like a 7-year-old. So far, it has been fun being their coach.

Caden turned three on Friday and on Saturday his grandparents came over and we celebrated with him. He really enjoyed opening his gifts and we really enjoyed watching him. He is doing well since his surgery which was almost two weeks ago. By noon that day, he was up and around like nothing had ever happened. His snoring has improved, but he still hasn't completely kicked the snotty nose.

Ammon turned 10 months on the 20th and finally, the day before, he started to crawl. He has scooted and turned himself every-which-way to get around for several months. Now, he has finally figured out the crawl.

As for Carol and I, we are discovering that having 5 growing kids involved in several activities leaves little time for anything. Life just keeps getting busier and of course, it will only get worse the older they get. But they are what our life is all about. Well here are some funnies and a of course some pics.

Trevin was cleaning up some of his messes, including my two hats. He ran down the hall with the Cowboys hat, which he got out. I said: “Take this one, too.” He said: “Caden got it out.” I told him: “It doesn’t matter, take this one, too. You’re going down there anyways,” then I tossed him my Red Sox hat down the hall. He said: “Nice Throw.” I said “Thanks,” but as I was finishing the “s” he yelled out: “Not.”

Trevin and Tyler asked me to play hotbox, but I was busy getting some conference info online for a friend. I told them: “Not right this minute; I’m doing something.” Trevin then said: “Every time we ask you if you want to do something, you’re on the computer.” I pleaded: “Every time?” He said yep, every time. Tyler then stood up for me and said: “Not every time, Trevin. Sometimes he’s on the couch.”

Bailey and Caden were at the table eating breakfast and Bailey called out: “I need a napkin.” Caden then said to her: “That’s not how we talk Bailey. We say, ‘Please can I have a napkin?’ That’s how we talk at the table, Bailey.”

We were watching one of Tyler’s baseball games and they were doing really well. Trevin asked me who was winning, so I told him the score. I then said: “If they win you’re taking everyone out for ice cream.” He smiled his big Trevin smile and said no he wasn’t. I asked him why not and he again with the smile he replied: “Because I don’t have a license.”

We were getting the kids ready for bed and saying prayers with them. We asked Bailey to do something and an argument ensued. It had been a rough evening with her and she apparently had had enough. She got up, headed to the hall, then stopped and said: “Dad, I’ve had a horrible day of arguing with you. I’m finished!” Then she stormed off to her room as we all (including her in her room) had a good laugh.

Name That Ailment

This is our Little Ammon on Monday morning. It actually started Sunday afternoon with a few little blotches here and there. What is it, you ask? Well like the title says; you try to guess it.

And this is Ammon on Tuesday morning. This just proves that he has Asian in him.


Here is how he looked on Tuesday afternoon, still able to smile through it all.
And this is him on wednesday morning. "Cover me, I'm hideous."
And this was how he looked on Saturday during our day at the park on the first day of Spring. It almost reached 70 that day and we had a picnic, played on the playground, and of course, played some baseball.

Ammon gettin' into the swing of things
Bailey unhappy about the fit of her batting gloves.
It's a hit!
Nice follow-through
See how far it flies
Tyler and Caden showin' some love...

Kids, Meet Richard Simmons

I know, ‘where have I been?’ Spring is almost here and at our house, that means baseball season is in full swing, pun intended. Tyler has started Little League. Games don’t start until April sometime, but right now he practices three times a week. He is so fun to watch. Bailey and Trevin will be starting their coach-pitch league games in April as well, and I will be coaching that team. It should be a lot of fun. It is really supposed to be for ages 5 &1/2 to 7, but we talked them into letting Trevin play. He’s ready, too.

In other news, Caden has made another visit to the naturopath, and returns this week for a follow up. We really hope and pray (all the time) that it will work again, because he’s had fluid in his ears for more than three months straight. As for good news, Caden has gone to nursery the last two weeks and this last one, I left with about 45 minutes to go, and he stayed the rest of the time without any problems. That is so exciting, considering he’ll be 3 in a month. It’s about time. Little Ammon is growing like crazy still and although he doesn’t quite crawl yet, he moves around everywhere and every-which-way. And, he has finally started to willingly eat baby food. Yeah!

One other note, Tyler was supposed to give a talk in primary on Sunday, but he was sick all day Saturday, and still not quite well on Sunday. But he had written his talk out, so Bailey stepped up and nailed it for him. She gave it flawlessly and we were so proud of her. Later that day, I went to give someone a blessing and she followed me out to the car with a note she had made while I changed into church clothes. It had a heart on it and said: “I hope you fil (feel) good.” She is so thoughtful of others. So that’s what’s up in a nutshell, and...

…now to the funny part of the story, to kick off this edition’s funnies: When I got home I told here that the person was grateful and that he and his wife and Bishop Priebe (who accompanied me for the blessing) were all very touched. Then she said to me: “Did Bishop Priebe say: ‘Bless her heart’?” Now if you know Bishop Priebe, then you’ll know that that is one of his most favorite things to say. It was quite funny.

So I was flipping through the channels and came across Richard Simmons as a guest on Dr. OZ. As I flipped to the next channel, Trevin said: “Sweet hair dude.” Carol and I chuckled then I flipped back. They took a wider shot of him and then Bailey said: “Look at his outfit!” We laughed again, and then Trevin topped it off with: “He’s not being modest.”

I had asked Trevin to do something and he didn’t do it. So a couple minutes later he asked me to fill his water bottle. I told him no. He kept pressing me, but I told him that he didn’t do what I asked, so I wasn’t going to do what he asked. He didn’t really think I was serious and he said: “Yes, you are going to fill me water bottle.” I told him no again, and then he finally realized I meant it. He responded: “Oh yeah, then I’m gonna go draw a stinky picture of you.”

Carol and the three younger boys were at her parents one afternoon and Trevin said to Ammon: “Your feet stink.” So grandma Shirts said: “His feet don’t stink. Your mom’s feet stink.” Then Carol said: “Look, Grandma’s feet are right by your head. Do they stink?” So Trevin smelled them and said: “Ooh, your feet stink!” Then Grandma asked: “What do they smell like?” Trevin replied: “Like Korea.”

If you’ve ever seen Trevin play the Wii, then you know that he never sits still. In fact, he doesn’t even stand still. He constantly jumps up and down while he plays (mostly NBA and MLB). So the other day he wanted to play the Wii and we told him no several times. He continued his pleas, then said to me: “Dad, I need to exercise…on NBA.” Gotta give him credit for trying.

We were getting ready to say prayer and the kids were not being reverent, as usual. Caden would not stop talking and he was getting upset at Tyler for trying to share the blanket he was using. Tyler wasn’t saying much of anything to him, but then Caden said: “Stop talking to me Tyler. We’re saying prayers.” Then he let a big sigh and said “Gosh.” Then after a couple minutes of us trying to compose ourselves he said to Tyler: “We’re saying prayers. And we’re not laughing.”

I was pushing Caden on the swing and he said: “Do a wiener dog.” Of course he meant an “under dog.”

I started up my truck to go to my Sunday morning meetings, but it would not move. It started and it shifted into gear, but I found out later that the emergency brake was stuck. But that morning I couldn’t understand why it wouldn’t go. Bailey, in what seemed to be all seriousness said: “Dad, maybe there’s a ghost that won’t let you go?”

I found a crumpled up note on the ground the other day which read: “Tyler needs to get fater (meaning fatter) today. From Bailey to Tyler.” I told you she is a thoughtful sister.

We were shooting baskets and Trevin did the old two-handed under-hand shot, otherwise known as a “granny-shot.” And that’s exactly what Tyler said to him: “What kind of a granny shot is that?” A couple minutes later, Trevin ran up to the hoop, stopped and just before doing it again shouted: “Neda-Shot.” For those of you who don’t know, that is his Grandma Livingston’s first name.

Our little main man, Ammon chillin' in his skivies
Are you serious?
She's Batwoman
Caden discovers that Ammon's baby food is not that bad for 3-year-olds either

I think the look on Mr. Potato Head's face says it all...



Carol got funny with her hair. Not to stereotype, but we see many, many women from Eastern European countries with their hair quite tall. Bailey's reaction was hilarious. But she was a good sport and we got this lovely picture of them both.
I'm telling you Monkey, don't mess with me, again.
Brothers rockin' the night away...

It Was Carol, Not Me. I Promise...

Yes, it's true another year has passed and Tyler is now 9 (Feb 1.). It just can't be, and yet, it is. We had a good weekend. First, Tyler got signed up for Little League on Saturday morning, which was his main birthday present this year. It will be really good for him, and he will enjoy it immensely. Next up, Carol and I made our annual trip to the Portland Auto Show with my dad. It was good to go, but it seems each year it gets a little smaller and a little less exciting. Dang economy. After the auto show, we went to another auto show of sorts; Tyler's Pinewood Derby. I enjoy cars that look good, and since Tyler really doesn't want to put any effort into making his own car, I have to lead the way (although I've promised him that he has to do it all next year). So this is the design I came up with. I think it looks cool, but as for speed...Well, this year we left the speed tires at home. His car didn't win a single race (and there were a ton of them), but he didn't care. He was a good sport and had fun, as did the rest of our family.

After the racing was over we celebrated Tyler's birthday with both sets of grandparents and we all had a good time, of course.

Other than that, we just keep pluggin' along and enjoying these kids of ours (most of the time). We now have Caden in the toddler bed and Ammon in the crib and out of our room, FINALLY. He is doing pretty well at crying himself back to sleep, so we are enjoying the increase in sleep and space in our room. The kids are doing well in school, and both just recently received awards at school for their performance (as you will see below). And of course, they are still very funny, so without further delay, enjoy the funnies...

So Tyler and Bailey have both earned rewards at school (not the same as the ones pictured below) for a free kids’ meal at Applebees. Carol took them on MLK day for lunch and invited her parents. The kids wanted more after finishing, so Carol told them: “You guys aren’t going to eat your dinner.” Then Carol’s dad asked them: “Are you kids gonna eat your supper?” Trevin replied: “Supper?” Then Bailey explained: “Supper’s like dinner. Old people call it supper.”

Each night I like to call to give Carol a heads up that I’m on my way home from work. Many times Bailey answers the phone, and usually I try to trick her by disguising my voice. However, she almost always knows that it’s me. The other day, I tried again, but she was on to me right away. I made some kind of comment about it, and she said. “Dad, you can’t trick me. I know it’s you.” She then took a shot at her brother and offered: “Maybe you can trick Tyler.”

Carol told Trevin he couldn’t do something, but she can’t remember exactly what it was. Anyways, he proved her wrong and did it, and then he said: “Ah hah, I did do it. You’re not smart.” Carol then asked: “I’m not smart?” he replied: “You’re old.”

So the missionaries were giving us a spiritual thought after eating dinner with us one night and as part of the message they were telling the kids that they should always listen to their parents. Elder Deloach told them that their parents know everything there is to know. So of course the kids’ minds went into overdrive and then Bailey said very matter-of-factly: “Oh yeah, they don’t know the second time when Jesus is going to come.” No one could argue with that.

According to Tyler, how many people know you, is what makes you popular at school. So he informed us the other night that Jordan was the most popular kid in his class cuz he got hit by a baseball and had a black eye. Then he said: “I’m hovering in about fifth.”

When Carol gives the kids a bath at night, she doesn’t have them change their underwear again the next morning. Also, Tyler and Bailey always put their school clothes in the bathroom the night before a school day. Bailey had put another clean pair in the bathroom after just taking a bath and putting on a clean pair. Carol called out to her: “Bailey, you don’t need undies tomorrow.” Of course, I didn’t pass on that and said: “Well Bailey, you do need undies.” Carol corrected herself, and then Tyler joined the conversation and said from way out in left field: “Bailey, if you wear underwear, you’ll be protected from harm.”

Trevin asked me the other day: “Dad, do you like Oreo Double Stuff?” I told him I didn’t. He asked me why, and I said I didn’t know, but I just don’t like them. He then presented a very good argument and said in a pleading tone: “But Dad, they are cookies. And they have frosting.” I really couldn’t come up with a good counter-argument to that.

We have kidney beans whenever we have tacos or haystacks and Caden really likes them. The other night Carol decided to change it up and do black beans instead. She put Caden’s plate on the table in front of him and after one look he said under his breath: “What the heck? Are you kidding me?” I wonder who he learned that from???

Twins four years apart

Love that Tongue
Pull it any tighter and she'll have a face lift
Bailey reliving the good old days
Tyler "not" proudly displaying his award
Bailey earned three on the same day
Caden can really find interesting places to lay down and take a nap

Grandpa Shirts and Ammon
Grandma Shirts and Ammon
Can you take a picture of me?

Self-taken portrait
Brothers in arms
Me and my boy just chillin'