Spring in Utah!

So we finally made it to April and the winter weather finally decided to come back and bite us! We woke up this morning to snow covering the lawns and having to clean off the car! I should know better than to complain, it is like this every year, and every year I am surprised. Oh well, we are all healthy and enjoying spring soccer and COLD games three times a week. The good news for Taylor is she gets to join the cold outdoors with riding lessons that also start this week - at least the skies are blue!

We are gearing up for Evan's 11th birthday next week and the end of the school year. Everyone is very excited and so it falls to me to record all of our shenanigans! Taylor has started her own blog, which is great for her, however it means I have to take care of my own blog now. This is my attempt!

I did update my music with 10,000 Maniacs - I just love Natalie Merchants voice. Anyway, enjoy the music if nothing else and I will continue to post my goofy thought and pictures!

Best Christmas Present Ever!

Okay so the picture has nothing to do with the blog but I couldn't blog without a picture, it wouldn't be seemly...if that is a word I can use. It is a brand new year and the month has only begun and I have had many blessings in my life. The new year began with a wonderful Christmas present from William. He told me that he had really hit it out of the park this year. I had not ideas and just figured that I would enjoy the surprise. Christmas Eve came and William took the kids to do their usual shopping. Crazy, I know, but he saves it until Dec 24th every year! (little did I know) Anyway, we had a wonderful evening with Grandma Shirley and Papa Dick, Cousin Janice and the Fairbanks. Uncle Jeff came as well, after work. Anyway, the evening was full of yummy food and lots of it, a music recital with all the kids performing their songs and a reenactment of the nativity - Lexi got to play the donkey and sweet baby William just sat in the bean bag patiently waiting his turn. Once everything had been shared and the last of the dishes cleaned up families went home and we all went bed. Grandma, Papa and Uncle Jeff came Christmas morning and we all enjoyed our gifts. My last gift was the one from William. I think the kids new about it but if they did, they kept a great secret. William gave me a 100+ page journal/history of our family for 2009. He wrote about all of our family activities, funny stories, spiritual experiences and included pictures for the year. Now, let me tell you that this was the most UNCHARACTERISTIC thing that my William could have done. I have bugged him for 18 years to write things down, keep a journal. I can't believe it has been that long! Anyway, the book is beautiful and I have enjoyed it over and over laughing and crying all the way! I told him it was THE best christmas present ever and that he can just give me one of these every year and he wouldn't even have to go out on Christmas Eve!

My average day today

Well, here i am again....oh i know it's been a long time...i've only been reminded a kazillion times! Any hoo, i don't have much to say tonight. I've recently found this way amazing website called MyLifeIsAverage.com and it has totally changed my life....haha it just plain cracks me up! It has a bunch of stories from people about average things that have happened to them and some of them are pretty funny....hee hee. For instance, today i read one that said "The other day I learned that if you say 'beer can' with an English accent, you're saying 'bacon' with a Jamaican accent. Mind blown." now i spend my spare time saying beer can to entertain myself and i just crack up every time...it's almost as funny as that YouTube video that's called "make you laugh in 3 seconds" and it's this dog running with this cheesy music and it crashes into a mailbox and it just makes you laugh every time no matter how many times you watch it. There is also a video on AFV that i saw with this guy who is roller blading at an indoor skate park and he's trying to act all cool and he skates down this ramp backwards, falls and smacks into this poll in between his legs and i just crack up...things like this crack me up...people's pain cracks me up...but that doesn't make me a meanie...i just laugh at things.
Anyhoobeans....haha...um, i went and rode my grandma shirley's friend MJ's endurance horses on wednesday...wed nes day...that's spelled funny...and it was SO fun. MJ rides at Antelope Island every year for the Antelope island endurance race with her horses Bo and Rum an they are SO cute and she said i could ride Bo next year in one if i come ride him a lot and that should be pretty dandy....OH! speaking of dandy, my friend Amy at school looked up what Dandy meant in the dictionary and it means a finely and elegently dressed man and now we've started a new trend and people say dandy a lot....go us!
In conclusion, i've saved my best story for last. Today, in Mrs. Lambourne's EXTREMELY boring Geometry class, i was very sleepy because it is right after lunch and it's like really hot in there and stuff. This kid, named Joe, who sits behind me fell asleep during one of Mrs. Lambourne's lectures on triangles and i stared at him for a while. Suddenly, i heard a gasp and a crash. I saw his papers fly and his pencil hit the kid sitting next to him. Me and this girl Bailey sat and laughed and laughed. He said he dreamed he fell off a building in his dream and he jerked awake. We've all had those dreams so it was hilarious. The best part was, Mrs. Monotone-Boring teacher didn't even notice and kept right up with the lecture. It definately brightened my day~
Love Taylor

Christmas in October

Why do you hear Christmas music here on our blog today? A brief explanation...

So for most of the world, October 1st marks the date when kids begin to plan out their costumes; when moms break out the Halloween decorations and when you can find every old cheesy horror movie on late night TV. I have to admit I've never been a big fan of Halloween. Don't get me wrong -- if you want to give me some candy I'll take it, but don't make me dress up for it. If I have to dress up I'd rather just go buy some candy and save myself the hassle. With an attitude like that, October 1st has little to do with Halloween at the Thomas household. So here it is --October is the "pre-Christmas" month.

What does that mean? It means that the boys get up on the roof to get the Christmas lights hung -- it just makes sense; we live in a climate where snow is likely to fall in late October. But the real events triggered by the passing of September are that we start watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music. Some say it's just wrong; that it's too early to start watching little Kevin McAllister take down Marv and Harry, too early to head back to Vermont with Bing and Danny for a little White Christmas, too soon to enjoy Tim Allen in any of his 3 Christmas movie offerings (trust me, I could go on and on); or too early for listening to Bing, Frank, Mel, Harry (Connic Jr.). It's one thing to listen in your own house, which we do. Nothing brings on the Halloween spirit in our home like carving the pumkins with Harry C. Jr belting out a lively version of Sleigh Bells. It's all together different to listen in your office and in the car -- out where all can hear and judge and laugh and... Well, I am here today to publicly announce that WE LISTEN TO CHRISTMAS MUSIC IN OCTOBER. Sorry if this offends your Halloween spirit. It's just what we do. If you feel compulsed to short change us when we trick or treat as some sort of retaliatory defense of all things Halloween, then so be it.

And for all of you who worry that we're also short changing Thankgiving -- not so fast. I love it and give the holiday it's due. You see, in my mind, it's the PERFECT mid point of our Christmas holiday season. This also marks THE weekend when you must change over all decorations in the home to Christmas. Just do it -- you'll thank me later.

I have to admit that I've been muting the Christmas music in my office when people walk in -- not necessarily because I can't hear what they have to say, but because I've been a little embarassed to have them know I'm listening to Christmas music already. No more. I'm out and proud of it! As my good friend Johnny Mathis put it "its the most wonderful time of the year". That's my story and I'm sticken to it.

It's 9:30 NOT bedtime

Hi there - Taylor here!
How's everyone? I'm fantastic. I am 15 for the record and i drive our large, hugish bus Cozmo whom we've named lovingly after Cosmo Cougar of the BYU cougars...hee.
Right now it is only 9:30 although mother thinks it's bed time and sends us all to bed anyways. She knows i won't be asleep until probably 10 or 10:30 yet it's been insisted that i get to bed at 9. She is the only one that will actually go to sleep now...tee hee.
Well, i'm going to Bingham. We just got back from UEA weekend which was four days of pure bliss and joy for me. On Thursday, after a hard and stressful 3 day week filled with bad chicken sandwiches, gay spanish teachers, and cold sleety rain, the weekend was finally here. I spent my thursday doing pretty much nothing....wasting time...i'm pretty good at that. Then at 5 i went and helped mary with her 5 o'clock lesson. I was supposed to ride after but then i forgot to call my mommy and she came too early to pick me up and then she didn't want to leave so i had to leave my poor tykers alone and unridden...poor guy. Then on friday i went tothe BYU game with Craig and my dad and Chuckles and me and Craig got a Cougar Tail which is a 3 foot (yes - you heard right) long Maple Bar...yummy! THe funny thing was that me and courtney ate half of that huge delinchious thing in the first quarter and then felt so sick we couldn't finish it. Haha we are tards....just kidding...tards is short for Retards..and that is a lie because i am NOT a retard...maybe a turd..no no you have that wrong...i'm neither a tard or a turd. A turd is a poo. Anyway, we had these "scottish" guys behind us (they weren't really scottish) who would yell "Eurrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhunnnnhhhhhhhuhhhhhhhh!!!!!" every time the play was about to start. They also spoke in fake accents...tards...now they are the REAL tards. Then we had this idiot in front of us who would yell at me because i was kicking him. Not really, i didn't even touch the guy...tard...and then he'd chat with dad and chuck like he was this nice guy but you and me both know he wasn't.
Then i had a rodeo on Saturday and rode Tyke in the events and did good and ate cookies and burned my tounge on hot chocolate and ate pizza and breadsticks. Yum! Then i slept at Aunt Malia's for General Conference. We played "after the manner of the adverb" which was freaky hilarious! Then we played signs and grandma T kept forgetting she had the sign and forgot to pass it...my sign was a gun. Then we played the laughing game and spencer was trying to make Amanda laugh and jumped out from behind the couch hissing like a cat. I laughed and almost peed my pants. Then Alana stuck like 5 candy corns in her lips and looked like she had teeth and that was really funny.
Now it is 9:40 and i must retire to the bed that belongs to me. Well, first i am going to put on my "sweeeats" (said in the Nacho Libre voice) and then go to bed.
Well, good night
(maybe i'll do more tomorrow....after all, i still have an hour til i really go to bed :D)

It's Fall

Today is October 5th and we are loving this FALL weather! We had to add our favorite rap music to the blog! We had everybody dancing and Taylor video taping all the 80's dancing!!

My Poor Toe!

Okay, so I can't get a picture of my toe off my phone and onto the computer...but hear is the story. I had just brought my 27 5th graders in from lunch and was walking up to the front of the room. I was going around a table and as I was taking a step, my shoe came off but I kept walking. I guess you could say that my baby toe did the splits around the chair leg. When I finally looked down, it was pointed straight out from my foot!! Not facing the right way! Needless to say I did not have all my faculties about me because it would have been a really cool picture to get. But I was a bit distracted from the pain and such. When I finally sat down, and I realized that I had really broken my toe, the kids were very helpful in getting me my cell phone so I could call for some help. Paula, my team teacher, Evan and a rolling chair got me down the hallway (yes laughing at how ridiculous it all was) and out to Kat's waiting car. I still couldn't look at my foot, but the shooting pain told me I was still needing a Doctor. So off we went to the Insta-Care. We hopped into the office and got a few staring looks, not "let me open the door for you," but just looks. The xray showed a nice little break right where my baby toe meets my foot! It is a fabulous shade of purple now with little red lines running up between my toes - it would be great for Halloween! So back to school I went the next day and have been crazy ever since. This is the first chance I have had to document this whole crazy thing and I will have to wait until later to get the picture on the blog. Sorry, but tune in later :)