Silly Preston

These are Jared's words describing what Preston said when he woke up this morning. I HAD to share:

When Preston woke up this morning he was talking to me and said some funny things. He came into the bathroom and said "Dad, I don't like to drink Coke because it makes me bounce off the walls and it makes me have stinks in my mouth." Then he immediately said "Dad, I love it down in Snow Canyon because I can climb on the rocks like Spiderman. There aren't any snakes there because they don't live in the snow, they live in the desert."

What an imagination...

Chandler came home from school last Wednesday very excited and said that it was his "school" birthday on Monday (today).  His real birthday is the 21st, so I was a bit confused, but figured his teacher must want to spread it out since  his falls over Christmas break.  Without a chance to contact his teacher since it was Thanksgiving break, I bought treats and sent them with him today with strict instructions to bring the treats back if it wasn't his "school" birthday.  His teacher just called me and wanted to double check when his birthday was since he thought it was today and had already passed out the treats out and had everyone sing Happy Birthday to him.  He even shared his big plans to play laser tag today with the class.  I don't know where he gets it, but this kid has imagination to spare!

Coldplay

This weekend has been TONS of fun, and very little sleep. We are usually pretty boring people, but we actually went out this weekend, so please forgive the excessive amount of posts today. Saturday night, we went to see Jared's absolute favorite band in Concert--Coldplay. The concert was amazing and we had an absolute blast.

The requisite self-portrait.

This picture is terrible and doesn't do justice to the show. There were tons of laser and light effects that really added to it. We can't wait til they come again. Our boys know most of their songs, and would have loved the show if they'd been a little older and more capable of staying awake that late.

Boys Night Out

Thursday night (prior to my date with a certain vampire movie), I went with the Young Women to a BYU Women's Volleyball game. Since I wasn't going to be around anyway, my Dad took Jared and the boys to the BYU Basketball game. The boys loved it!

Notice the "Red Vines" on Preston. It's all about the snacks when you're that age (and my age).

Preston and his favorite person!

Twilight

If you've been reading my blog at all, you know how excited I was to go to a Midnight showing of Twilight opening night. Unfortunately, I didn't buy my tickets as quickly as I needed to and was left stranded. That was, until, I realized there was a brand new movie theater only a block from my house that was just about to open and likely had not sold out of their Twilight tickets. Thinking I was pretty smart, I drove over there 3 days prior to the theater opening and bought enough tickets for some friends and family members. Knowing there would be long lines, we decided to show up 2 1/2 hours before Midnight. What we didn't count on was our theater seating for the movie WAY before we got there. My initial thought was, "Great! We don't have to wait outside!" A fraction of a second later, however, reality set in and I thought, "Oh no, we're going to awful seats!" I was right on both accounts. You can just call us all Front Row Joes.

Melissa and Natalie passing the time until the movie started.

My sisters, Natalie and Melissa, and my niece Hailey

Me and my sisters

Me and my friend, Laurie, and her friend Kami. I love the look on Laurie's face. :)

My mother-in-law, Joyce, and sister-in-law, Natalie, also came with us, but we were done with pictures by the time we got there. Sorry, guys.

It was a lot of fun to be among the first to see Twilight, and I really liked the movie. I'm trying to talk Jared into seeing it with me now. He doesn't want to see it since I've already seen it even though I promised not to make a peep the whole time. We'll see who wins out in the end. I just heard today that they are set to start production on New Moon, so we'll all have to do it again in a couple of years!

The problem with learning to read...

Today was our Primary program in sacrament meeting. Chandler was unexpectedly nervous when he got up to do his part in the program. Instead of reciting the part we had gone over dozens of times at home, he looked down and read what was written on the script word for word. "I can help strengthen my family by share one way you can help strengthen your family." He then sat down and the primary choir sang a song. The primary president, probably feeling my pain, then let Chandler get back up and say his real part. "I can help strengthen my family by being nice to my brother." We got a good chuckle out of it, as did most of the congregation.

It's FINALLY back!

This Sunday, Jack Bauer is back! Jared and I love 24 and have been waiting a LONG time to see it again. Sunday night is a 2 hour 24 movie that will bridge the gap betweeen last season and the upcoming season that starts in January.

Be afraid; be very afraid!

Sorry the quality of this picture is not that great, but the pose itself is priceless! See what I have to deal with on a daily basis! Preston routinely brings 2-3 weapons to the bus stop each morning as we wait for the bus with Chandler. All of the older kids get a kick out of being chased by someone so young. He's very serious about it. He even told one of the girls that he was going to 'get that pretty girl.' I was mortified that he said that, but glad he called her pretty. She knows he is 3 and wasn't overly concerned for her safety.

Jared's boys

A couple of months ago (that's how behind I am on this blog) we went to Salt Lake to pick out the carpet for our basement. Since we were there anyway, Jared wanted to go to the University of Utah bookstore to get something for Chandler because he thinks he is a Ute fan (thanks to Dad's brainwashing being more effective than Mom's brainwashing). Have you ever been in a church that is not your religion and it just feels kind of wrong? That's how I felt being in the U of U bookstore! After dropping some serious green on the red stuff, and throwing up a little in my mouth, we got out of there! I must admit, they do look cute, though.

NYC 2008

Last weekend I had the awesome experience of going to New York with my 2 sisters and my mom! This was our second trip to the Big City. Our last trip was 2+ years ago, so we were definitely due! Unfortunately, the other "Tucker girl", Amanda (Tyler's wife) couldn't join us because she just had a new baby! (I guess it's fortunate, but her missing the trip was unfortunate--you get what I mean!) I'm going to mix in the fun stories with the pictures so bear with me! This is as much for my 'journaling' as it is for your entertainment. My mom ended up taking most of the pictures of us girls so she's not in very many of them. Lame on that!
This was the three of us in the back seat of our cab on the ride from the airport to the hotel. This cab ride was one of the craziest I've ever been in! Melissa and Natalie were both nauseous by the time we arrived at the hotel, due to the erratic driving of our driver. We were laughing our heads off, though, and texting my mom in the front seat about how sick they were getting. Lucky for me, I don't get motion sick.

This was after arriving at our hotel. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in the financial district of Manhattan. It was nice place to stay. Good beds, good location and FREE hot breakfast in the morning. They may not be excited to have us back, however. While enjoying our FREE breakfast, my mom decided that the biscuits were a little stale for her liking. She decided it would be a great idea to split it in half and put it in the toaster. KIDS DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! It left huge crumbs in the toaster which would, of course, be a HUGE fire hazard in the toaster. The next toaster patron was me. You see where this is going? Smoke! Fire! Smoke alarm! Fire trucks! Fire fighters! (Melissa, the single-and-looking sister missed out on that since she decided to sleep late). Natalie, not realizing, who caused the 'situation' had some choice words for the dumb-@&*$ who put a biscuit in the toaster. After quietly slipping into the elevator to avoid being 'caught,' we had to tell her that her own mother was the dumb-@&*$.

The sisters with kids had to have their picture taken with Elmo when we ran into him at Times Square.

The night we arrived, we saw Legally Blonde the musical. If you like the movie (we LOVE it) you will love this musical. I think I heard that it is shortly closing, though. We really liked the show. It was Melissa's favorite of the trip. 'Woods comma Ella' is an honorary sister now.

After a busy day shopping, we saw Disney's Little Mermaid on broadway. There was about 10 new songs in the stage production and they were great! The effects and music were awesome. We all loved this one. It was Natalie and my mom's favorite!

All of us in Times Square. I think now would be a good time to comment on our shopping. A good portion of our fun shopping was done on Canal Street in China town. I'm not even embarrassed to say that we went there 3 times. OK, maybe a little embarrassed, but it was fun! Anyone who has been there knows that there are secret back room in the stores where they keep all of the designer handbags to sell. There are also 'finders' on the street who find out you are interested and take you to a waiting mini van down the street with shelves of bags inside. This is all part of the fun for us. We were actually kicked out of our first 'mini van' because we were taking too long. Big mistake on their part! We also got kicked out of one back room for taking too long. It's a big decision people! It takes more than 3 minutes! I bought 3 purses and I was the third place shopper!

Natalie bought a new sweatshirt and forgot to take off her new purse! He he. I had to post this one! She affectionately refers to her purse as "the cutest purse purchased." I bought it for her for her birthday which is this Sunday!

On Saturday, we saw a matinee of Monty Python's Spamalot. Yes, this is the one starring Clay Aiken. We got the understudy. What's up with that, Clay?!? This was such a funny musical. The voices were amazing and I laughed my head off! This was my favorite.

After Spamalot, we had dinner at the Olive Garden in Times Square. While waiting for our table, we were looking out the window and noticed the bird (see above). It was an injured pigeon and it was very entertaining to watch people almost step on it and almost trip on it over and over again. (I guess you had to be there.) The bird eventually flew away after almost crashing into the window trying to get airborn again. So we had an early dinner and didn't have any more shows scheduled for that night. Hmm what to do... see another show! My mom and Natalie decided to just shop around Times Square and then head home early. Melissa and had other things in mind. She REALLY wanted to see Grease, so she did. I wasn't that excited about that so I got a half price ticket to see Spring Awakening since I had heard great things it. The music was great, but the subject matter is definitely for ADULTS ONLY! There is also some choice language. I just heard today that this one is closing in January. I guess the economy is hitting Broadway hard too, although every show we saw was packed.

We sadly had to go back to the airport on Sunday (after one last trip to Canal street and a quick trip to Central Park). Our flight was oversold so we gave up our seats in exchange for a First Class ticket on a flight 3 hours later and a $200 voucher! Nice! It was so great to be in First Class on such a long flight. The food is actually really good. Who knew? So we got home LATE, but it was worth it. We had such a fun trip and only got lost on the subways a couple of times!

Catch up!

Warning! There will be quite a few "catch up" posts this weekend. I want to get them on here for posterity reasons, but they really are 'old news.' The New York trip is up first, though! Stay tuned...

For your viewing pleasure...

I am seriously thinking I want to go to a Midnight showing of this when it comes out. Anyone want to come? Push pause on the music player on the right side bar.

I'm an aunt....again.

My little brother, Tyler, and his wife, Amanda, just had their first baby! It is a boy whom they will be naming Braxon Tyler Tucker! After a LONG day and night of labor, he was born around 6:30 this evening and weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds 3 oz. I hear he has lots of dark hair. I will be heading down to see him shortly! Congrats to the new little family. I'm sure pictures will shortly appear on their blog. Click here for the link!

Halloween can't get here fast enough

Comic version:

Our version:

Your communites are much safer with these two on patrol.

This will definitely be a must see!

This movie is based on Sophie Kinsella's best selling book, Confessions of a Shopaholic. I have read the entire series and loved every page. The language is a bit naughty at places, but if you can look past that, you will laugh out loud--often. This will be a Girls Night Out Must See! Check out the trailer below:

Lance is coming back!

Today is a happy day if you follow the Tour de France like I do! It seems that Lance Armstrong is pulling a Brett Favre or Michael Jordan! He is joining the Astana Cycling team with his old manager Johan Bruyneel and will compete in several races including the 2009 Tour! Oh happy day! Can not wait! You can read more details here.

What self-esteem?

Chandler was watching something on TV and a commercial for some sort of wrinkle cream came on. "Mom, you should get some of that green stuff! You would be so pretty!" Honesty....sigh.

"Preston, who's your favorite mom?" I asked, thinking I was a shoo-in. "Grandma!" Oh well...

Happy 3rd birthday, Preston!

I can hardly believe my little Preston is 3 years old!

He has gone from being a sweet, easy-going baby to a very fun, high energy little boy. I guess that has to do with following his big brother around. He adores Chandler and really enjoys playing with him. I don't know what they would do without each other for entertainment. He has toughened up to the point where he can definitely hold his own with bigger boys.

Preston is always busy with something. I have learned the hard way, never to leave him unattended for more than a moment (see above). He is very creative and adventurous. The most innocent looking of household items quickly becomes a sword or gun in his hands. He is definitely "all boy!"

There certainly is a downside of being fearless. Almost a year ago, Preston broke both bones in his lower leg. You would think this cast would have slowed him down some. You would be wrong! It was only 2 days before he was climbing out of his crib with the cast on. He quickly found himself in a 'big boy bed.' They even had to recast the bottom of his foot because he wore through the cast. Fun times!

Preston is such a joy to our family and things wouldn't be half as fun without him! We love you, Preston, and can't wait to see what your third year holds for us all. 911 is on stand-by. :)

Jared has gone to football heaven

Jared has always wanted to go to a football game in 'The Big House.' In case you're football illiterate, that is the stadium at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. It holds 100,000 people. His beloved Utes are playing them even as I type this.
He went to Michigan with his dad and his brother, Jon and his family were able to come up from Indiana to join them for the weekend. Jared even got Jon to dress in all red for the game. If you know Jon at all, you know this is a big deal. He, like me, bleeds BLUE.

The view from their seats on row 90! Yes, there are at least 90 rows! Crazy! I'm sure more pictures will follow when Jared returns. (These are sent via Jared's phone). Who knows, maybe he'll even post about his experience.

Back to school-part 2

Well life as I know it is over!  Chandler started Kindergarten today!  He was so excited and not nervous at all.  I thought this would make it easier for me.

All ready to go!

He has been dragging his new backpack all over the place (filled with toys) for the past couple of weeks, but last night it was empty and waiting.

Waiting for the bus.

Posing for the requisite pictures.

He was the last one to get on the bus.

I managed to hold it together until I got back to the house.  I didn't expect to be so emotional.  I was really excited for this day.  While waiting at the bus stop, it hit me that my baby was really growing up and going off to school.  I guess I'll get used to it....sigh.  He is home now and had a great day at school.

Could this be the next Roger Federer?

Chandler did a session of beginning tennis with the city this summer.  He really liked it even though the majority of what they did was learn to balance a ball on their racket.  I've been taking tennis lessons for the past few summers and have had so much fun with it even though I'm not very good.  You'll have to depend on the paparazzi for those photos.

Learning to hit the ball.

What a little stud, huh?

Farm country

Last Friday we dropped everything and decided to take the kids to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point for one last hurrah before school starts.

Jared getting cozy with a goat.  Should I be jealous?

Chandler loves going on the pony ride there.  He looks a little nervous, but really he loves it.  By the way, I noticed that Chandler is wearing the same shirt as the previous post.  He really does have other clothes.  For some reason, he seems to like that one.  :)

Preston, on the other hand, was nervous.  Too nervous to ride, in fact.  Being scared is really out of character for Preston, but I never knew a mom who would frown on too much caution.

Chandler on a fake sheep.

They have a little play country jail there.  Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come for Preston.

Back to school-part 1

My baby started preschool this week!  It's very exciting and a little sad for me, but we'll go with exciting in the spirit of positive-thinking.

Preston with his teacher.  Notice he's already trying to rip off the name tag and school hasn't even started yet!  I bet she wasn't smiling quite as big at the end of class.  ;)

Chandler is taking a class at the preschool to help him stay up with his reading and math.  It complements what he'll be learning at Kindergarten.  Expect Kindergarten pictures after it starts next week!  Am I really old enough to have a Kindergartener? 

**By the way, for security, I'm not saying where or when they go to school, so please don't say it in the comments.  If you want to know, email me.**

Good news Vampire lovers!

Twilight, the movie, has moved up its release date (from 12-12-08). You can now get your Edward/Bella fix on
November 21, 2008!

Technology Rules!

Before you click away from this post, what I'm about to tell you is for everyone! Even, my Republican friends and family! You can find out who Barack Obama picks for his running mate via text message before it is released to any new media (other than those who are signed up themselves). Even if you're not a supporter, you should still be interested in who he chooses. Sign up yourself by texting VP to 62262. Standard text message rates apply, of course :) P.S. If you haven't registered to vote, click on the link on my side bar and DO IT!

Toronto 2008

Believe it or not, it has been 5 years since Jared graduated from dental school.  He was President of his class (brag alert!), and thus was obligated to help plan the 5-year reunion.  We decided to take the opportunity to return to Toronto for the first time since we piled into our UHaul and made the trip home to Utah.  We were able to make the trip sans children thanks to a lot of help from our families (Thanks again, everyone who helped).  It was great to get away with just the two of us and to see all of our old favorite places.  We stayed at the Sutton Place Hotel which is as close to our old apartment as we could get.  One of the nice things about being without our kids is that we were able to see 2 movies during the weekend.  We used to go to a movie almost every Friday night when we lived there.  We also were able to walk all over the city without someone whining about being tired.  It was a blast.  Jared has more pictures so there may be a supplemental post of our trip at a later date.
One of the first places we stopped when we got into town was Spring Rolls Express on Yonge Street.  We used to eat here all the time and loved it!
Our first morning, we grabbed some breakfast to go at Tim Horton's and ate it in Queen's Park.  There used to be tons of black squirrels that lived in this park, but they aren't there anymore.  (Any Toronto people know why?)
Me on the University of Toronto campus.  You can see the CN Tower in the distance and convocation hall (where graduation was held) on the right.

Jared and I in front of one of the famous Canadian Mooses (or is it Meese-just kidding).

The view down from the top of the CN Tower.  At one point, it was the tallest free standing structure in the world.  There's probably something taller now.  Google it if you're interested.  It's still really, really high.

Looking down from the CN Tower.  Isn't the city beautiful?

Jared in front of Toronto City Hall.

Me at Nathan Phillips Square downtown.  They have ice skating here in the winter.

This is the best steak dinner anywhere in North America!  (That we've had, anyway).  You can find it at the Keg Mansion.  I got a seafood version that is covered in lobster meat, crab and shrimp.  Yum, yum, yum!  And I'm generally not a steak fan!

This is the hospital where Chandler was born.  5 1/2 years ago!

Me in front of the Royal Ontario Museum.  They have totally remodeled the outside.  We were going to go in, but the line stretched clear around the outside of the building.  Next time, for sure.

The R.O.M.

A sand sculpture outside of the  R.O.M.

We took the subway out to one of our favorite areas-Greek town.  One of our favorite places there was Mr. Greek.  It has also been remodeled since we left there, but the food was fabulous as always.
Sorry about all of the food pictures, but the food really was a highlight of our trip.  This is the yummy pork souvlaki with tzatziki sauce, greek salad and veggies.
Jared in front of the street sign of our old apartment.  We loved living on Charles street.  We even recognized one of the "transients" selling newspapers outside of the Manulife center.  I guess he's doing something right if he's survived there for the past 4 years. 

Another visit to Queen's Park.

Jared on campus.

Jared with some of his best friends from dental school: Gurjit Dhuga and Dan Hagi.  It was great to see these guys again.
These are some of Jared's classmates who were at the reunion.  This was taken early in the evening, so some of the people weren't there for the picture.

Us at the reunion.

One of the last things we did before heading to the airport was have a hotdog from the vendor at Bloor street and Bay street.  They slice the dogs and grill them to perfection!  The yellowish buns are also slightly grilled.  Yummy!