Pictures

It has been a few months since we posted anything. One of those reasons has been the absence of a camera that was water-logged by X. during our beach trip. That sure makes for an easy Christmas present. I guess that's still not an excuse for lack of posting on the blog, but pictures always help when posting. We had some family pictures done in October, a birthday present for Kr. The ones we liked turned out great, but there are so many more that were throw aways because I. and later X. decided they didn't want to cooperate. Maybe a few years from now, family pictures won't be such a hassle. Here are some favorites of ours, enjoy.

Beach Trip

Matthew and I took the kids for a real quick beach trip a couple weekends ago. Matthew isn't the biggest beach person (he loves the mountains) so it was a pretty big deal that he suggested the trip.

The kids loved the ocean! I. ran straight for the water and basically refused to leave for the rest of the day. I ended up sitting with her most of the time so the tide couldn't carry her out to sea. She kept going further and further into the ocean. The girl knows no fear! X. and K. took a little longer to warm up to the water but by the end of the day they loved it. X. would walk up to where the water was coming in, scream and run back for the fort he was building. But X. loved being carried out to deeper water for wave jumping.
Ka. spent most of her time searching for seashells but when it was time to go back she pitched a fit of holy proportions. I think we will have to make more trips out to the beach.

The next day we went to the aquarium! I love watching turtles swim. I think they are so interesting and I can stand and watch freshwater or sea turtles swim for a long time. I also loved the jellyfish exhibit. Jellyfish are so cool! It is amazing how dangerous they are when they look so harmless. (Can you tell I once thought about being a marine biologist?) X. fell in love with sharks while at the aquaruim. Ever since we have been home X. main topic of conversation has been sharks. He found some books on them and is quickly becoming an expert.

Aspen Grove

The Tice clan had a family reunion in Aspen Grove UT at the end of June. The scenery was gorgeous, the company interesting and the activities plentiful!! We had an amazing time. I can recommend the camp at Aspen Grove to anyone. Of course, we were exhausted when came back home (it has nothing to do with airport delays :) )

This is the reunion shirt one of my sister-in-laws designed. She is SO talented!

The is the view! Beautiful, right?!!This is the river outside of the pottery building. I thought it was so pretty. I never let the kids come down here though because I was afraid one of them would fall in!

There was a picture of people walking on the bridge in our cabin. M. thought it was a great pic and wanted to recreate it. I think he did a great job!


This is K. doing a sack race at the 'Aspen Follies'


You can't have a Tice get together without the guys playing some sort of role-playing game...unfortunately they waited until we were suppose to check out to start playing the game!

X. position of choice at he dining hall. I still do not understand why laying on the floor and drinking his cup is such a comfort to X. but it is!

M. striking a pose on the ropes course!! He was much braver than I, I wouldn't even try the course!

All the Tice siblings.

The camp broke the kids into age groups with counselors. I. was in the 'Romper' group. She had a blast! She didn't care at all that her parents weren't with her!

Weekend Hikers

We have been trying to do more outdoor walks/hikes with the kids. On Memorial Day we went to Jordan Lake on a hike to a viewing spot for bald eagles. Last weekend we went on another hike in Umstead State Park. So far we haven't seen any animals (sorry no bald eagles!) but we have gotten some good pictures of some bugs. We have also gotten to talk about plenty of plants and trees, how they grow, how to tell how old they are etc etc. Enjoy the pics!

Favorite Activities

Kids love to play in Mom and Dad's room. I think this is just a basic fact of childhood. In any case it is true of my kids. Anytime the door opens to Mom and Dad's room, there is a mad scamper of feet racing to the room! They climb on top of the bed and play possum. Sometimes it is cute...other times exasperating!

Updates!

Well...life flies by! School is over for the year! K. and I. are both a year older! M. has been on multiple campouts with the scouts this summer already. X. has been successfully potty trained. I have lost about 20 lbs. It has been busy!

X-- Isn't he proud of himself?

We took the kids to Jordan Lake for Memorial Day for a little hike.

Ivie's Birthday cake!

Quirkiness

A little while ago one of my sister-in-laws blogged about some of her quirks. I never responded (sorry K) but I thought I'd share one of my kids quirks.

My kids love to drink milk and only milk when they have sore throats! Milk is supposed to make a sore throat worse not better but no matter what Xavien and Ivie will drink cup after cup of the stuff when they aren't feeling well. Seriously one week we went through 5 gallons of milk! Ivie spent most of this morning coughing so after I got her to drink her yogurt smoothie (long story) I gave her a cup of milk. She took a sip, looked right up at me and said "Thank you!" and then proceeded to gulp the cup down.

At least I know they are getting all the calcium they need!

Dr. Seuss and Snow day

We have snow once again! In March!! I have to say I am pretty disgusted! The weather was in the 70s Friday and Sunday night we are getting snow. I have no problem with snow (except people don't know how to drive in it here....me included) but I would like the weather to pick something and stick with it. Mother Nature is being very fickle! To make matters worse everyone in our household is in varying stages of a cold...going out to play the snow is not such a good idea.

Today is Dr. Seuss's birthday. Kanayla's class at school had a big celebration planned so we have had our own celebration at home today. I discovered we have more than 7 Dr. Seuss books, which we have read each one today. Kanayla even memorized a section of Green Eggs and Ham. Then we watched the movie, "Horton, Hears a Who!" Last I printed out coloring pages and our home is decorated like a Dr.Seuss book. It's been fun!

It has been nice to have Kanayla home from school today. She helped me plan and organize tonights FHE and Xavien loves having his big sister around to tease and torment (in other words play with.) I hope all of the rest of you are having great Monday's too.

Whatcha doin?

Well, we were hit with a superbug that didn't want to go away. In early January Xavien was diagnosed with a massive sinus infection and it took 3 rounds of antibiotics to get rid of it. Ivie came down with what we thought was a cold but turned out to be a double ear infection. The dr. said that there was so much fluid in her ears that she spent the month of Jan. basically deaf. It took 2 rounds of different antibiotics to get rid of the ear infection. Luckily her hearing is fine now and although she is vulnerable to another bad ear infection for about a month, we are optimistic. My kids fall under the 'show no signs' of ear infections (at least none of the typical ones) but between all three kids we have had a total of 5 ear infections in their lives.

Everyone probably knows I am what you call an obessive reader. It is a bit of a joke in my in-laws family that I will always have a book with me, every picture taken I am reading etc etc. I think you get the point...I love to read! My ereading device broke this week which is incredibly sad. (Yes, I know, I am pathetic! But I used the ereader every day!) SOOOO what free time I have had recently has been spent researching ereading devices and trying to find one that doesn't cost an INSANE amount.

Matthew got to go to the Charlotte Bobcats basketball game. He had a lot of fun and even got to meet the cheerleaders! :)

So now that the kids are healthy, we are a happy family!

Terrific Kid

Kanayla received a Terrific Kid award in school last month! We are very proud of her and her efforts in school. The pics did not turn out too great...we are in no way professional photographers.

Ivie's Hair

I promised a pictures so here it is! Seriously, I have braided Ivie's hair at least three times because she has a never-ending ear infection right now.

New hair-do

Ivie has a cold. Any parent of a toddler girl would tell you that runny noses are awful in little girls! When Ivie wakes up in the morning or at nap, her hair is just nasty. I have tried to put up her hair but it is fine textured and therefore breaks easily. I have tried to french braid it but again that hair falls out of the braid after a couple hours. I am trying to avoid bangs... I don't think that they will look good on Ivie and it is hard on young girls to grow bangs out. So today I started braiding the multiple little braids! She did not have the patience to let me do her whole head but the pertinent part of the head was done. And it works!!! Yipee! Of course, my camera isn't working so I can't show off a picture. Maybe tomorrow!

Tagged

My sister-in-law tagged me! I am a bit slow answering...sorry. The kids are having round 2 of the cold season.

8 Favorite TV shows
1. NCIS
2. House
3. Jon and Kate Plus 8
4. Food Network Challenges
5. Fringe
6. Bones
7. CSI
8. Law and Order

8 Things I did Yesterday

1. Change Diapers
2. Called the dr. AGAIN
3. Read a book (yes only one...it was a slow day) :)
4. Took a bath
5. Finished a craft
6. Folded laundry
7. Talked on the phone
8. Played with my kids

8 Things I look Forward too

1. All the kids healthy again
2. Buying a house
3. I have 2 books on my 'automatic buy list' being published in the next 2 months!!!
4. the snow melting
5. All my kids potty-trained
6. Vacation
7. Retirement
8. Winning the lottery--- I can dream, right!?

8 Favorite Resturants

1. Moe's Southwest Grill
2. Olive Garden
3. Pizza Hut
4. Chili's
5. Red Robin
6. We don't eat out enough b/c nothing else is coming to mind!!

8 Things on my Wishlist

1. Unlimited books!!
2. A trip to China, Austraila, New Zeland
3. More money
4. Live abroad
5. Free diapers
6. Free chicken nuggets
7. Plasma TV
8. Private swimming pool

I think that does it! I am not tagging anyone else, so if you want to do it you can!

Catchup

My sister and some friends have been nagging me to get back on my blog, so Tiff this is for you! We had an excellent Christmas! Lots of food, presents and visits from family. Matthew's brother and his family came to see us. They introduced us to a new game called Acquire, lots of fun! If you have never heard of the game look it up! Matthew's sister also came to stay with us during New Years. It was wonderful seeing parts of our extended family!

For Christmas Matthew made the kids a train table. I have been bugging him about a train table for months and Matthew would alway retort that he could make a table better than those in the stores. I asked Matthew to prove it....luckily he did! The table is great! The kids love it and play with it every day.

We made gingerbread cookies for Santa. We had a lot of fun decorating them and I think it will become a tradition for us.

School is once again in full swing. Kanayla started the year out with a loose tooth. She should lose it very soon and I will try to post pics of her missing tooth smile!

Xavien started sunbeams and the adjustment is moving slowly. He is actually handling sunbeams much better than I expected.

Ivie decided to take a header out of her crib. Luckily the first fall was hard enough and scary enough that she hasn't tried to climb out again. We knew she could climb out (Ivie is our child that has climbed the piano, computer desk and counter without any help at all) but now she knows why she shouldn't climb out of her crib especially in the dark!