2009 Christmas Card

Merry Christmas! We decided not to write a letter this year, but I hope to update this blog soon with some of the year's events.

Our biggest and most suprising news of the year is that S. Nicholson number 7 (child #5) is coming in early July.  We thought we were done, but apparently not. :)

We hope you have all had a wonderful year and that the upcoming one will be even better! God bless!

Egg Dying (or nintendo, your choice)

Friday night we dyed eggs. Scott always really enjoys dying eggs and trying new things (along with some of the old things he learned from his mom). This year he read an idea (on the internet, of course) of putting a bit of vegetable oil in the cup with the dye. When the egg hits the water, spots on the shell get oil on them and those areas will not dye. The result is pretty cool.

Sam, amazingly, did not want to dye eggs, because he preferred to use the time playing Nintendo. (He finally did one egg when we told him there was only one left.)

Our friend Dallin was over, so he had fun coloring eggs with us as well. We were all so excited when he got a call from Hale Theater (during the egg dying) letting him know that he had been cast in the part of Barnaby in Hello Dolly this Summer (the musical in WALL-E). It was so awesome to share that moment with him. Dallin was literally crying, and the rest of us were jumping up and down. He immediately called his mom to let her know (she lives in Arizona. We wish Dallin wasn't spending Easter by himself today while we are with extended family. Love ya, friend!)

Anyway, here are how the eggs turned out.

The rainbow ones are my favorite. Scott's rainbow egg turned out better than mine, of course. The egg on the left was dipped in 3 different dyes containing oil, the oil wiped off really good in between each dunking. I really like the way it looks.

Spring Soccer?

I looked out the window this morning and hoped the soccer coach would call, but assumed he wouldn't. So we prepared the treats and bundled ourselves up for an adventure.



Here is Sam, already cold 5 minutes after arriving at the field, so he is wearing the zip-out lining of my coat while dad grabs his coat from home.



I think the kids are a little warmer while running around. Fortunately, not too many of them fell while running, and they didn't even complain very much. We had 7 kids show up and the other team only had 4, so some of our team played on their team. Our best player (who is in our ward), played for them during the first half, and for us during the second half. I think he made all the goals. :)


Ah! Hot chocolate for half-time treat. Good idea, mom. :)

Needless to say, Mom, Dad, and Sam were all pretty frozen by the time we were done!

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Soccer practice was on Thursday, and it appeared to be a beautiful day if you looked to the East.


...but then look West a bit....

...and a bit more...


The wind was insane! But the storm didn't actually arrive until after we got home, thank goodness!

School Talent Show

Sam decided to sing a short song for the school talent show (It was on March 19th). He has a lot of confidence and did a great job. Maybe I will learn how to post video, and post that instead sometime soon. Meanwhile, here is a cute photo after the show.




The song he sang is titled "Tiny Tim"

I have a little turtle
His name is Tiny Tim.
I put him in the bathtub
To see if he could swim.
He drank up all the water,
He ate a bar of soap,
And now he's sick in bed
With a bubble in his throat.
[hiccup]

Fun at the Mayan

A week after Scott's birthday, the kids decided we should celebrate further by going to the Mayan as part of our Family night activities. We had to wait for about a half hour, but the children didn't seem to mind.


Simon in the mouth of a giant concrete serpent.


...with Sam and Spencer up top.


Now Simon wants to go up top. Hold on tight, Sierra!
(I think Mom and Simon were both a bit scared for this one. :)

Blue and Gold Banquet

Here is Sam, showing off his very first belt loop (for art) which he received at the blue and gold banquet. Good thing he is putting Spencer's scout belt to good use, because Spencer never did wear it for more than 5 mintes.

No More Monkeys Running in the House

I am constantly telling the children to stop running through the house. First of all, it drives me crazy because they sound like a herd of elephants and they can't do it without yelling and screaming. Second, it often ends in tears because inevitably someone falls or runs into something.

The Monday after Christmas was one of these occasions. I was half asleep in the lazy boy, enjoying a much needed break from school when Sam came running through the living room. Bam. He smacked his head, which is at just the right height for the video cabinet. I woke to the sound of him writhing in pain on the floor nearby.

I sighed, "How many times do I have to ask you to stop running in the house?" His wailing continued as he held a hand to his head.

Come, let me look at it...

He climbed on my lap and I pulled his hand away from his head. It was covered in blood. I calmly yelled for Scott. He came and helped me clean it up so that we could assess the damages. There was a pretty bad gash that wasn't bleeding too badly, but was fairly deep. I decided it need some medical attention, so off we went to the doctor's office with Sam still in his PJ's at 2 in the afternoon.

Thank goodness I insisted that Sam take his gameboy with him. He calmly sat and played while the doctor told me that he thought staples would do the trick. I laughed as I looked at Sam, listening to our conversation and yet pretending not to while he played. If it had been Sierra or Spencer, just the mere mention of the word "staples" would have sent either of them into massive hysteria.

"Guess what, Sam, staples in your head, like in 'Get Smart'!" Sam smiled to acknowledge my comment, not even looking up from his gameboy.



The worst part was the local anesthic shot, but all he said was "ow" a couple of times. While they were putting in the staples, he kept saying, "darn it! I keep dying in the same place!" Yes, he was still glued to a game, not even flinching for the procedure.



Getting the staples out was a bit more tramatic, with a few tears and such. He had the staples for a week, just long enough to show them to his class at school the first day back.