Finally, I'm back online

One summer when I was in high school, I rented Gone With the Wind. It's a classic and I wanted to see what all the hubbub was about. When it was finished I distinctly remember calling my mother at work and complaining that I had just wasted 3 hours of my life and I wanted them back. I would have gladly turned off the movie at any time but I kept thinking that somehow Scarlett would get it together and figure it out. I mean, if she didn't, why did everyone love this movie so much? And at the very end her husband gets fed up with her and leaves. Suddenly she realizes that she truly loved him all along. Just as you think she's about to take off after him she says,"I'm going to Tera (or however you spell it)." What??!!? Are you kidding me? I was NOT impressed

So we are happily nestled all snug in our beds. At long last. Most of the boxes are empty. (Although Tom has constructed some towering monument in the garage defying me to give away even one) Moving is painful. You think that this being my 12th move in 10 years I would know that. I remember. But we are all healthy and happy to be in our new home. We actually got to put up Christmas decorations today and tomorrow we will decorate the tree! The kids are settling in well. Madie likes her class and teacher. There are some very nice kids right down the street to play with. There are also a couple that are Logan's and Luke's ages also. Plus you just can't beat living 2 blocks from your sister. Stacy got married one month after me and we lived a block apart for six months. It is one of my favorite times. We always talk about it. Once we went over to watch Armaggedon at their house. Stacy had these enormously cool (that is enormous AND cool) glasses. She dared Tom to drink an entire glass of water. Can't turn that down. She then challenged him to a second glass. (shot's for Mormon's?) So the whole movie poor Tom had to get up and keep going to the bathroom. Then the climax of the movie came. You know, the one where Bruce Willis sends Ben Affleck back to Earth to take care of his daughter so he can die to save the Earth? Yeah that one. Well if you know me at all I'm a crybaby at best. Well, this movie was my all time worst. I sobbed. And sobbed. It was as if Bart DeGiorgio was on the moon and saving the planet for me. (yes, I'm more than a little embarassed when it is brought up but given that it's discussed in it's entirity at least 2 to 3 times a year I've learned to put on a brave face and laugh at me too).
So a short story made long, living so close to Stacy now is like a continuation of the fun times that we had before. Only now we get to add in the kids which makes it that much better. (psst Robbie. If you move to North Ogden we promist to hang out all day and Holly will be home all evenings and weekends! Just think about it, we need her to complete the carebear dreams!)
Madie and I were driving to pick up my nephew Parker for school. Looking out over Ogden valley it was breathtaking. So I was recounting to Madeline all of the things that make the foothills of Benlomond the best place on Earth. This, is home. No matter where we've lived, we always called this home. We never went to Utah for vacation, we went HOME for vacation. And there is some beautiful and healing about being at home again. And now I know why Scarlett O'Hara went to Tara. Because when her life was a mess, and she needed stability, time to heal and pick herself up go, she went home. Because that is what being home does for you.
So I still don't like the movie. But I can understand it

sweet dreams....

This morning at the crazy hour of 5:30 am, Logan yelled out for his dad. I lept up to investigate. As I entered my son's room, I hear him sweetly singing his ABC's, in his sleep. It was the cutest thing. He is learning so much at school, and he really loves to sing. (his current favorite song is Real Gone by Billy Ray Cyrus and he calls it the Lightning McQueen song. He also loves Whatever, Cotton Eyed Joe, Time is Running Out (Muse), and Ice Queen (Within Temptation) He's the guitar, Madie's the drummer, and I'm the vocalist. Unless it's Real Gone and then you better not make a peep because it's all him baby). He's also doing pretty good at writing. He can do his name. These are his very first papers that he did a preschool a couple of weeks ago. Not to shabby for a boy who just barely turned 4.

xoxo always,
Amber

Tyer Tuesdays....smurfs, ladybugs, and James Bond

They had the very best toys. Coleco Vision. Which included such addicting games as Lady Bug, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Smurfs, and James Bond. There was a drawer in the sewing room filled with treasures. One was an old checkbook. I loved playing with it and writing out pretend checks. Mom's old barbie doll with the pink plastic ski's. She had those old plastic eyelashes, the ones that were part of the mold for her head. And curly dark hair. Once I tried to curl her hair a little bit more with the curling iron and she suffered a severe case of alopecia forever more. In the closet was a puppet on strings that refused to be untangled. A thin clear plastic oval that contained water, and blue and white sand inside that swirled and made cool designs as you moved it around. An oversized stuffed alligator that eventually came home with us. I remeber having left some toys out during one visit. Expecting them to still be in the same place when we returned I was surprised to find them put away. Instead of simply assuming that grandma had cleaned up, I imagined that she must has some other grandkids that I wasn't related to and didn't know about that visited her when I wasn't there. (not that she had another family or anything, I just didn't understand about genetics and such I guess.)

So now I will remember to keep a few important toys from my children. So that their own kids and play with and love them as much as I loved playing with toys at your house too.
xoxo love always, Amber

Thoughts on potting training

Thoughts on potting training. When potty training Madeline, she would pee in her underwear. So I took them off, and she walked around in a darling little shirt, with her cute little bum cheeks hanging out the backside. We put the potting training toilet in the front room so we could have quick access. It worked like a charm. I think she may have had only one or two accidents. After two weeks of that, we put on the panties and she was good to go. A few months later we started on the night time training and it went very well. Although I did feel bad waking her up in the middle of the night to go potty. Especially since it was in the winter in West Virginia and we had one meezily little heater in the bathroom. It was the only vent in the entire upstairs. Still, I think she may have wet the bed only once or twice. Potty training was such a breeze. Oh how naive I was.

Logan helped dispelled my confidence and ability to easily and calmly train my child to use the potty. He is 4 and has no desire to use the toilet. He will if we remind him, every hour. Left to his own devices he has more important things to do. Which includes pretty much anything and everything outside of the bathroom. Two nights I accidentally forgot to put a pull-up on him at bedtime. I woke up in the morning to a perfectly dry son. I am proud to report that it has been over 2 weeks and not one single bed wetting accident to date. I wish I could say as much about the day. Never-the-less, I keep hoping that one of these days the light will turn on and he will suddenly say "mom, I have to go potty!".

One thing Logan does very well is sing children's songs. He sings them so well that when we sing them, we sing them his way. Fast like lightening. It is funny. And we laugh and laugh and then sing some more. I really love my son.
xoxo,
Amber

So tonight my children and I were eating our lovely dinner, (actually it was terrible, really really terrible. I didn't even make the kids eat ONE bite of fish it was so bad) and watching an old Newhart episode. It's one where some grandma lady gets thrown in jail. So my daughter Madeline turns to me and asks, "mom, has anyone in your family ever been to jail or broken out of jail before?" To which I reply a resounding "no.". "Neither do I" she replies and I burst out laughing because she and I are in the same family. Kids are so cute.

Luke's latest move is to throw both arms straight up in the air and shout with glee. He does it many times a day. It is adorable. I would show you but my dear husband is in Utah with both the camera and my camcorder fixing up the new digs for our arrival in a few weeks. Wish I was there too.

Originally Tom and I had planned on making a little trip out of moving home. We were going to take some "scenic" route and do a mini vacation/moving home trip. Well, his schedule became so that it was just a moving home trip. And one day last week I had a moment of terrifying enlightenment. We were driving home in a Subaru wagon with a newly potty trained four year old (and I use potty trained loosely here, it really means taking him to the toilet once an hour and teasing/begging/bribing him to go potty), a still-nursing 11 month old, and not one but TWO Siamese cats that HATE THE CAR. Seriously, they cry for hours on end. And so do we. So I calmly sat down with my husband and begged him to let me fly the kids home. I would gladly fly for 1 hour and 40 minutes all alone with three children than take a drive like that anytime. We would probably not make it. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't make it.

Tonight we watched my favorite Baby Einstein. For those of you who don't know we love all things Baby Einstein. Seriously, it's the bomb. Madeline who's 7 still watches it when it's on. And I don't even count it as tv time because it's classical music (mostly) and images. Which is great because no matter how many times we've seen it (not in a row of course but over the years), I'm not sick of it. I'd have burn any other movie by now after that many viewings. So the point was that we are watching my favorite one, Baby Einstein Santa. I love Christmas. And Thanksgiving. And snow. And I get to be home. Alleluia amen.
xoxo always, Amber

Tyer Tuesdays....better than the zoo.

I think that the animals came because they knew how fun it was to be at the Tyer house. For a while there was a chicken that made a home somewhere in the scrub oak. She had free run of the grounds, and Gramps would get fresh eggs for breakfast. Seems like a pretty good deal to me. There was some rusted out car next to the shed. Never even noticed it until some cat decided that it was the perfect spot to have some baby kittens. I'm pretty sure I remeber rumor of a skunk that stopped by temporarily too. But my favorite one was a particularly spunky racoon. One of the special nights we got to stay at their house, a racoon that had been visiting decided to come indoors for a bit. He found gramps' lighter and scurried under a bed. I remember peeking under it with gramps and you could see the tiny sparks as he was playing with the lighter. Not a good combo. Don't really remember how they got him out, guess that wasn't the fun part.

At the back of their house was this awesome covered deck. There was an apple tree that grew right next to it, and some vines that grew around the railing. It always felt a little like a hint of a cool jungle oasis there. And in the dusk of the summer day there would be a faint blue glow on the tiles, a soft melodic electric hum, that is until the bug zapper went zap and then the soft hum continued. Funny thing, I actually love the sound of bug zappers. It reminds me of summer evenings with gramps and grandma. (I know insects aren't animals but figured that this was as good as any time to reminisce about them too.)

xoxo always,
Amber

Happy Birthday to you!

Today is a very special day. It is the 4th birthday of my first son. Logan was born in Marion Ohio. Tom did his OB rotation the last month of my pregnancy. So for my weekly appointment he was always there because he was doing his rotation with our OB. It was an exciting time. I couldn't wait to see my new baby boy, and I loved seeing my handsome husband working at the doctor's office.

I am a very large pregnant woman. One of the patients that Tom saw after me told him, "I just saw a pregnant woman in the waiting room and she was huge!". She also said I was wearing a black top and had to keep pulling it down. He told her I was having my baby in 2 days, but didn't say I was his wife. He didn't want her to feel embarrassed that she was talking about his wife. I don't get offended about my pregnant weight, I really, truly am that huge.

Logan's birth was a very special one for me. I love kids, and babies. All of them. So I was so very thrilled to be having another of my very own. I have very large babies so c-sections are required. I was nervous, and a little scared. (After you've had one baby you know too much about what's coming next. And yes, you so quickly forget how hard it really is, until the day of the delivery when you're having your next when it all comes back to you so clearly) Tom, the love of my live, was by my side. When they placed all 9 lbs 7 oz of him in my arms, an overwhelming feeling of love and peace came over me. Love for my son, love for my husband, and also the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. It was one of the times in my life that I have felt that Heaven is so much closer than we ever know.

Happy Birthday son, I love you with all my heart.

xoxo always,
Amber

Extra, extra ....read all about it!

So we have some really REALLY big news!!! Are you ready?

No, not that. (I wish!)

We get to move HOME!!! We will officially be Utahns as of Thursday November 13th!(Although in our hearts we were never anything else BUT Utahns!)

So Tom's last shift is a swing shift on Nov 11th. He'll come home and sleep. The moving truck will pack us up on Wednesday and we'll hit the road. Probably spend the night in Moab and be home on Thursday. Can't think of a better birthday present for my little girl's 8th birthday than that. So get ready to have some good old Baker fun 'cause we're coming home for good. Alleluia Amen.

xoxo always,
Amber

Let's go for a jog..........

So far so good. I went twice this week. The kids do pretty well, Madie keeps up with me. Tom stresses out and won't let us take the ipod. He's scared we're going to get ran over by people backing out of driveways. So I take it anyway, and just put it in one ear. Madie listens to the other one and it works out pretty well.

Tyer Tuesdays...grandmas garden

Gramps and Grandma had the most amazing yard I've ever seen anywhere. And it was the best yard a kid could ever ask for. The house was hidden behind what seemed to be a forest of scrub oak. (well, at least to a kid) There weren't any fences so you could just start hiking around. The side yard was wide. To the left against the house grew a wall of bamboo. On the right side was a long row of enormous pine trees that divided the yard from the neighbors. But in the side yard you never made it to the pine trees. There was the most amazing built up flower gardens you've ever seen. Nestled in the middle of it was a beautiful waterfall and small pond. I have many fond memories of sitting on the edge and cooling my feet in the pond while listening to the water trickle down the rocks.

The backyard had at least 3 apple trees. And one was the perfect size for climbing in and hunkering down with a good book. Under the porch there was always the best growing mint leaves. The main flower garden was in the backyard. And behind that was a very large garden. I always loved to visit grandma and traps through her garden to see what treasures were growing there. And in late summer we always came home with pounds and pounds of freshly picked fruits and vegetables. Our favorite was hands down the Armenian Cucumber. They were huge. We would cut of large 6 inch chunks and just walk around the house eating them like candy. There was also a cherry tree, rasberry bushes, and blackberry bushes. Once when Stacy and I were out in the garden I stepped on something unusual. I looked down to see a dead bird and screamed. It was pretty gross. Never-the-less, her vegetable garden was my favorite. I never even paid attention to the flowers I was so busy looking through her bounty of plants. Because of her love of gardening, us grandkids love it too. I'm very excited to get back to Utah were I can grow a real garden of my very own. (I truly tried to in Arizona. I just don't get this hot weather gardening right. Sigh) Grandma could grow anything anywhere. And boy did she. I love you grandma!

xoxo always,

Amber



Tom's corner
Having just brought up the subject of this beautiful planet and the food and beauty it provides us, Tom thought that this would be the perfect time to introduce his corner. The topic for the next few posts is going to be on recycling. The magazine Real Simple just had an article on this very topic and provided some great info that is helpful for us all.

Envelopes

• windowed envelopes - good
• FedEx - good
• Goldenrod - garbage (the dye is too much. Same with flourescent and dark paper)
• Jiffy Paks - good
  
• Envelopes with bubble wrap - garbage
• Tyvek - good. Send them to
  

Tyvek Recycle
Attn:Shirley B Wright
2400 Elliham Ave #A
Richmond VA 23237

Fat and sassy

In January my fantastic sil Naloni had a "Biggest Loser" contest and I lost 23 pounds. Well, apparently I have no self control and I have sadly gained back 10 of those. I am fat and flabby. So....I am going to start running. Something that I hate. But, I really want to start doing races. I don't know why, but ever since I watched aunt Colleen do a marathon I've really wanted to. It was the coolest thing ever. (to watch her that is) Maybe I'll grow into the running thing. But I really REALLY hate to run. I digress. So the reason I am spilling my guts to all of you is I need to be encouraged. (Badgered is more like it but I'm putting a nice spin on it) So I am going to start taking note of my running as post scripts in my blog. I'm going to follow the training schedule of the Couch-to-5K Running Plan and run Mon, Wed, Fri. So please please please ask me how my run went so I will run because I don't want to embarrass myself by telling you that I missed it. Thank you in advance! Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that it's to train to do a 5k with my also inspiring sister Stacy on Thanksgiving. (If you want to join with us that would be AWESOME. And if not, I understand. I really hate running. Oh, and I'm starting monday September 22. (If it's in writing I can't make up excuses, right?)

And also, (because I'm motivationally challenged by myself) I would like to host my own "Biggest Loser" competition starting in January so if you would like to join please let me know. I promise it will be lots of fun and very informative.

Anyhoo, one day Tom asked Madie to go grab him a shirt from the closet. So being daddy's little girl, (teasing gene and all) she grabbed one of my shirts. She ran in telling Tom she got his favorite shirt ever! I was surprised to see him put it one and couldn't pass up sharing. Feel free to tease and harass. (because we're coming home soon and then it's a free for all for Tom)


My little lover. Kisses sweet baby of mine.
xoxo always,

Amber

...writing about climbing is boring. I would rather go climbing. Chuck Pratt

As many of you know, my dear and awesome husband Tom recently climbed Mt. Rainier. It was simply amazing. I have to say I'm pretty dang proud of the handsome fella. Before he left I was very nervous about his safety. Now that he's been able to explain how excellent the guides are and the whole process, I feel much better. Now he has developed a "passion" for real mountain climbing, he plans to do many more. Some of them are Denali, Antartica, Acancagua, and Choy Oyo. (I'm sure that there's more) Plus, I'm sure when his best friend Blair finishes his residency he'll be right along side of him, which is a very comforting thought. (Or maybe I should be more scared?)


This is a pic from camp 1 at 12,000 feet. He left this camp at 2 am to get the the summit. He arrived at the summit at 7 am.
This is also taken from camp 1.
This is his guide Chris. He's an engineer. This is the summit at 14,400 feet.

This is the day before he climbed. The weather was bad and blew threw just in time for them to climb.

Although this looks like it was taken after he came down the mountain, it's actually the next day after a full nights sleep. Poor guy.

Someone special.......

Someone I know that is very special just celebrated his birthday. He has darling curly hair and a mischievous smile. He loves to laugh, take baths (seriously, it's a daily thing), tumble and romp around with his older brothers, and snuggle and harass the baby. But one of his very most favorite things of all is to watch a show and dress up as the main hero. Some of his favorites are Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and currently Zorro. Do you know who this darling big boy is?
It's Trevor!
Happy Birthday Trevor!

Dump truck races....

Running a large metal dump truck with one of the kids inside seems to be the grand plan for the afternoon. Madie and Logan raced up and down the hall, laughing and running until they were sweaty. I carefully guarded Luke by placing him in the highchair. He loves to watch the kids play. Wish it was big enough for me!


xoxo always,

Amber

A new perspective...

Closeup of Luke (very closeup), Baby Einstein, ceiling fan, Baby Eistein, ceiling fan AND Baby Einstein.

As I got on the computer tonight to catch up on some blogging, I downloaded so new pics I took the last couple of days. Imagine my surprise when I come across these pictures. Logan must have snuck in some of his own photos when I was busy elsewhere.

***********************

The kids were playing outside yesterday. It must be finally getting cooler if they can go outside in the afternoon now. (Cooler is relative btw, that's like 98 or 100)



Logan is in his underwear, we are potty training STILL. (at least I haven't given up all together, that's better, right?)

All that RED LUSHES HAIR, just lovely.

*******************

And of course we can't forget Luke. The tongue comes standard on all models. Crawl is more like four legged spider monkey (he prefers to crawl with is feet not his knees). Logan is mauling Luke, also comes standard on all models.

me: Logan, don't put your finger in his mouth
-toes in his mouth
-undo his top seat beat (better for tickling he explained)

Logan: He likes it -or- He wants me too.

me: Logan back up, stop hugging your brother

Logan: He likes it

The mauling part is really my fault actually. It's my genes. I'm a mauler too as many of you will attest. I try to get Logan to snuggle and maul me instead, but it's just a temporary fix. Oh well. Someday his wife will be grateful.

xoxo Always,

Amber

Tyer Tuesdays.... my gramps

I think this is my favorite picture of all.

Dick Daniel Tyer was a great, great man. He always had the warmest smile. And he was so smart, it's seems he knew about absolutely everything, and could do anything. He built the house my mom grew up in with his own hands. One of my favorite things was the small waterfall and pond he built in the side yard. And his workshop was a sight to behold. He could fix anything. And he was always so interesting to talk to. I miss my visits with him. He was always tinkering around the house. I remember once going to visit and he was vacuuming out the coils in the fridge. And he kept right on going while he visited with me. I never knew two retired people to be as busy as my grandparents were. And boy were they technology savvy. They had us using the internet and email before the phrase www was ever coined. Gramps was a great man. He was always happy to help and loved to be with us. I love you gramps.

xoxo Always,

Amber

Jean Smith Photography

My beautiful kidlets. A year and a half ago a great friend of ours took these wonderful photos. She truly is very talented, plus it helps when the subject is as breathtaking as this one! I'm so please with the pictures, I'm just sad I didn't think of it being a family photo. (what's wrong with me?) But next time she's in Utah you bet your buttons I'm going to hunt her down and beg her to take our pics. If you want to see her website, go here (and trust me, you really really should. She is amazing!).

XOXO love,
Amber

I am rich!

Have I ever told you that I am rich? Well I am. I have a sexy, awesome, funny, and extremely handsome husband. (and he's ALL mine!)

I have the most beautiful, lovely, funny, smart little red that was ever born. She has the sweetest little angle kisses all across her cute little nose and smiley cheeks.

Then there's my rambunctious, funny, crazy, energetic little brown eyed love. Every time hes smiles he gets a mischievous twinkle in his eye.


And THE CUTEST, HAPPIEST, MOST ADORABLY LOVING LITTLE BABY BOY THAT WAS EVER BORN. and I mean ever. ask anyone, you've never ever seen a little baby boy smile and laugh so much. I could just pinch his cute little cheeks right off and stick them in my pocket for a good luck charm. (not really but almost!)