Merry Christmas 2010

{below is the Christmas letter that never got printed and mailed}

The Condie Clan 2010 Update

2010 has been our first “uneventful” year in years! With no graduations, no military moves, and no house buying our year was filled with our everyday moments that make us smile, keep us moving and make us The Condie Clan!

Jared continues to love being a dentist! At years end we will be part owners of Condie and Tuft Dental in Springville. We are excited for this new change and scared at the same time! Jared works hard each and every day and has yet to take a sick day since becoming a dentist 5 years ago! The highlight of his year was celebrating 10 years of being married to Sydney! While the highlight of his day is walking through the door and having three boys scream his name!

Sydney gets the awesome challenge of keeping three growing boys fed, clothed and out of trouble. Jared bought her a treadmill for Christmas so she can practice her speed and endurance so she can keep up with the energetic boys she is surrounded by each and every day. She will also use it to train for some upcoming races she's determined to do well in. From carpools, laundry, sports and lots and lots of noise, she truly has arrived and found her calling in life.

Gibson graduated from his 3^rd year of preschool and finally started kindergarten! He loves school and is reading, writing and making many friends at school. He LOVES to draw and color and based on the walls in his bedroom, every piece of work is a treasure and must be kept. Thanks to the release of Toy Story 3, he hasn’t lost his love of Buzz Lightyear and Woody and proudly is a super fan for the 4^th year. He’s anxiously awaiting loosing his first tooth and is pretty sure girls have cooties.

Easton attends preschool and loves seeing his preschool friends. He just turned 4 and works hard to keep up with Gibson. He’s a momma’s boy and loves to be held and snuggled but I can often find him practicing his “angry eyes” in the mirror. His blonde hair and big eyes make him a neighborhood favorite. He loves puzzles and proudly sticks his tongue out while he colors. He too loves Buzz and Woody and prefers to dress as Spiderman or Buzz, especially in public.

Creed is exhausting! He’s 3 months shy of being 2 and according to him, he’s already 3! He refuses to sleep in a crib, use a high chair, take a nap or be snuggled as a baby. He’s always on the move, dumping things out, escaping out of doors and trying to be one of the big kids. He’s slow on teething and only has 6 teeth when he should have a mouthful. His vocabulary is improving every day and has started to mimic what you say. He walks with a strut {usually with his blankie} and his favorite person on earth is his daddy. He’s often called “baby Buzz” by his brothers and truly keeps us on our toes.

We are thankful for this Christmas season which allows us to remember the birth of our Savior and the bounteous blessings His gospel allows us to have. We love reflecting on the friendships we have created and we wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy 2011.

With Love, The Condie’s

A new tradition

Grandma Condie started a new tradition with her grandkids this year. She traveled to each home and made a white chocolate nativity set with her grandkids {she has 29 of them and all but 4 live within 45 min}

Today was our day, we're glad it's only a day before Christmas eve, we're not sure a white chocolate nativity could last longer in this house!

It turned out adorable and the boys really enjoyed the one on one time with grandma while they melted, poured and waited for the white chocolate to set. They are very excited to be able to eat this creation, I'm sure they will put in the request tomorrow night right after we read the story about the birth of Jesus from the Bible.

Such a fun tradition, we can't wait for next year. Thanks Grandma Condie for such a wonderful memory.

A Special Visitor

You know you've been pretty good when Santa and Mrs. Clause stop by for a visit a few evenings before Christmas!

Our boys {as were we} were completely surprised when the doorbell rang and Santa and Mrs. Clause were outside. They stopped by to tell the boys Merry Christmas since Christmas Eve would be so busy he would most likely not have a minute to wish them a Merry Christmas! They checked on their elf Buddy that they sent earlier in the month, gave the boys a candy cane and went on their merry way!

Pure Bliss and Pure Happiness!

Thank you Santa and Mrs. Clause, see you next year!

Starting to feel like Christmas

We woke up to snow this morning. Lots of it! The sky was hazy and the snow fall lingered. It was pure bliss. I had no where to be, I stayed in my pajamas all day, blasted the Christmas music and got into the Christmas spirit by wrapping gifts, reading books to the boys and finally, getting my Christmas cards addressed and ready to be mailed.

Each year our Christmas card list grows and grows! I love that. I should do labels, writing out 150+ Christmas addresses hurts my hand. Sorry for those later in the alphabet, your address is probably less than pretty.

The highlight of the day was this- moving Creed to a big boy bed. The little stinker has been crawling in and out of his crib for months. It took us hours to get him to bed each night and without a doubt, he crawled out and ended up in our bed before morning. The crib was taking up space and basically used as a trampoline.

We took it down and put up the bed that we used years ago with Gibson. I was thrilled that I hadn't gotten rid of any of the bedding or the bed itself. Now there's room for one of us to lay by him if needed and it's low enough to the ground that if he does need to climb out and come to our room, we don't worry that he'll get injured.

Jared and I have reminisced over Gibson at the same age. He never crawled out of his crib, even when we moved him to a big boy bed, he never got out. He would sit and holler our names until we came and got him. Such a contrast to his brothers.

Easton and Creed both starting crawling out at about 18 months. Exhausting!

So time will tell if we made a good decision of putting away the crib, but I'm certain that I'll be thrilled that when he pushes me out of my own bed, I'll at least have another bed to go to.

Easton turned 4. We celebrated with pancakes, presents and a donut cake. We ended our celebration by going to see Tangled and purchasing giant tubs of popcorn, large drinks and movie theater candy. {It may have been cheaper to have a birthday party}

The birthday boy wanted a donut cake. How easy is that. I added some hot wheels to make it cool and the birthday boy came dressed as Spiderman. How Easton is that?

We made the most delicious pancakes which we make at least a few times a month. Heavenly I say. Cooked up some sausage, bacon {made the fire alarm go off a few times} and served up some juice, milk and fresh fruit.

Start to finish, the birthday bash was an hour. Perfect for a Saturday two weeks before Christmas. Easton was floating from all the attention and Jared and I were beaming with pride over our handsome little boy who seems to have grown up so fast.

One highlight was seeing this grandpa at the festivities. My grandpa Taylor drove 2 hours to come to Easton's party and we were so thrilled to see him there. Grandma died six months ago and we all worry about grandpa. It was nice to see him and be able to give him a hug.

Easton was spoiled with presents. Toy Story was the theme of the day but he also lucked out and got some great hot wheels, motorcycle, remote control car, blocks, a pillow pet, etc.

The donut cake was a hit with the kids!

The party goers. All but 3 are cousins. We have a huge influx of boy cousins around here and we're lucky to have a neighborhood of boys as well.

Mom and Dad with the birthday boy. We sure love this kid. A few things about Easton.

- loves to be cuddled and held but practices his "angry eyes" in the mirror.

-Toy Story fanatic.

-Loves his blankie. Has two of them of which he calls "the good one" and "the bad one"

-Will eat anything with ketchup.

-has the longest eyelashes, blue eyes and blonde hair.

-wears size 11 shoe

-favorite show: Phineas and Ferb

-favorite thing to do: Play

Happy 4th Birthday Easton!

These are a few of my favorite things......

Gibson is 6 now which means he prefers not to take a bath with his little brothers. He'd much rather take a shower because 1} he can be alone and 2} bath water is gross and dirty {his words, not mine}.

The other night he got a wild hair and decided to take a bath with his brothers and I was delighted because I got this picture.

The tree is up, the Christmas music is playing and gifts are starting to find their way under the tree but I can honestly say, honestly, I have all I could ever want. I know, I know. sounds cheesy but I can't help it.

Among a million other things I am blessed with; like a home, food and clothing, a husband who works so hard each and every day so I can stay home, etc. etc. etc. I have 3, healthy, happy boys who love me!

Nothing like a chaotic bath time with dirty clothes strung from the bedroom to the bathroom and water dripping from the shutters to help me realize that I'm one lucky girl.

Buddy, our Elf

I had never heard of Elf on a shelf until last month. It's a brilliant idea.

Basically, it's a book about an elf that Santa sends to watch over your family before Christmas. Each night the elf returns to the North Pole to report to Santa how everyone was and returns to your house in a new location to watch over and decide if the children should be on the "naughty" or "nice" list.

Buddy, our elf showed up the other night. It's been magical ever since. All I have to say is "Buddy is watching" or "do you want Buddy to tell Santa that you're fighting with your brother" and they are instantly on their better behavior.

So if your family doesn't have their own "elf"- you can grab the book set for $30 at Barnes and Noble or you can do what I did and find an elf at a local store and just tell your kids what his purpose is.

The upside of the book is that you can register your elf and receive messages via email from the North Pole which my kids would think was very cool. The downside of the book is that it's $30 and may not get read that often after the initial introduction to the elf.

Finding an elf with bendable arms and legs is also nice so he can choose to dangle from odd places throughout the month.

We are thrilled Buddy is with our family and we're hoping for a month long of happy reports to Santa at the North Pole!

Thanksgiving Eve

The day before Thanksgiving always proves to be a very busy day. The kitchen seems to call my name as I prepare my assigned dishes for our Thanksgiving feast. This year was no different. I was in charge of bringing an appetizer {I made 2, I couldn't decide} and some rolls {I confess, I baked them, I didn't make them} and the veggie {couldn't do the traditional green bean casserole so I did Pioneer Woman's version and it was insanely delish, more on that later}

I was cooking, trying to keep the laundry going and trying to entertain a houseful of kiddos. The day got away from me, the dishes piled up and the laundry became forgotten.

What's a gal to do? Leave. Leave it all and go to a play and dinner with the parentals and sister Erin.

Looking back i honestly can't believe I walked out on my house in the degree that it was in. It was a disaster. Make that a Disaster with a capital D. However, the chance to see the Scarlet Pimpernel at a local theater and eat an all you can eat meat buffet called my name and I caved.

It was fabulous. I had a wonderful time.

After dinner, my sister and I tried to take a picture. It was seriously 9 degrees. Let's just add in the chill factor and the wind and make that -2 degrees. It was THAT cold. Can't you tell by our smiles?

I haven't felt cold like that since leaving Cleveland 5 years ago. Oh, it was bone chilling.

Lucky for me, Jared and the boys headed up to Thanksgiving early and my sister took pity on me and came over and helped me put my house together before I headed up to the Thanksgiving festivities.

Thankfully for me it all worked out and thankful I am, for a loving sister who helped me in my desperate hour and for parents who took us out on a date. We sure are lucky to have such wonderful people to call mom and dad!

{more Thanksgiving to come, it was stellar day where I consumed more calories than humanly possible and enjoyed the extended Condie Clan over a feast!}

Happy Halloween 2010

This is as good as it gets folks.

We hope your day had a few less tears than ours.

Hopefully we'll get some happy costume shots later this week.

Room Mother 101

When Gibson was just a wee little lad. One of my friends who had children in elementary school was actively involved in her children's school. She was doing this and that at every opportunity she could.

It was then that she let me in on a little secret. She told me that she felt the more you were involved in school, the better your child was treated.

Whether this is true or not, I'll let you know in a few years. However, I have the wonderful opportunity to stay home and raise my boys. I only think it's right that I offer any and all help to the school that is educating my son.

We support fund raisers, we attend the book fair, I bought t-shirts with the schools logo on it and I volunteered to be Gibson's room mother.

I've been able to go on a field trip with Gibson and also be in the classroom helping out with writing assignments. Yesterday I was able to be one of the mother helpers for the pumpkin carving assignment they had. So. Much. Fun!

I could never be a kindergarten teacher. I am however, very happy to take a roomful of kindergartners at small increments!

Volunteering in the classroom has been a great way for me to see Gibson interact with other kids. I highly recommend it.

Life at our house

Most days are a complete blur. We have our up moments and our {my} pure frustrating moments. I look at my kids each day and honestly wonder what I did to deserve such amazing boys. Being a mom completes me. It's who I am now.

We have lots of "everyday" things happen and I'm been trying to capture them by taking a picture a day {or two pictures a day because I forgot one yesterday} and I've loved it. Here are some pictures I've taken in the past few days which document us. Real and unscripted. Just us.

Tough boys eat their pop tart with a screwdriver. Yes, tough boys eat pop tarts. {just to make it known, I, Sydney Condie, have never eaten a pop tart nor do I have any desire to. My husband seems to have been raised on them. He's converted the boys}

This has Easton's name written all over it. He of course was no where to be found but it screams something he would do. {notice the reflection in the car of Jared with his hand on his forehead, we do that a lot when it comes to Easton}

Creed is finally willing to sit down, unaccompanied and watch a few minutes of a show. It's bliss. Pure bliss, especially when taking care of the other two. {notice his buzz lightyear socks that his babysitter gave him. He loves them and they are the only socks he'll keep on his feet}

Homework? What homework? You mean the homework that's due in 2 hours that we've had for 5 days and haven't done yet. Why don't you sit down and get that done. Sheesh, where's your mother?

"But I like the sharp spoon"- Easton prefers to use the grapefruit spoons. Why I don't know but once again, it's not surprising and it something I'd totally expect from Easton.

Oh, what will the rest of the day bring?

Fall break proved to be another uneventful time in our lives. It was great to have both boys home all day for two days, we slept in, hung out in a pj's and cleaned the basement. All thrilling things for a 3 and 6 year old.

We did join some cousins for a trip to the pumpkin patch and the park. The boys loved it and lucky for Gibson, his allergies didn't flare up too much so he could still breathe when we left.

The day was a warm one. Perfect pumpkin patch weather. Here are the kids sitting on top of a huge hay bail. Cousins Abigail and Braxton complete the picture.

Easton loved playing in the corn pile. He loved it so much he enjoyed throwing it up over his head and squealing in delight as others were pelleted with his corn drops.

We ventured into the pumpkin fields to find the perfect pumpkins. Easton got tired of searching really quick and a lovely pout followed. Or maybe he's showing off his belt. He insisted on wearing a belt which I highly encourage, seeing the picture above, I think it needs to be tightened a bit.



Creed found several perfect pumpkins but when he tried to lift them he'd get really frustrated that he couldn't lift them off the vine. Plus there were stickers out there!
Gibson and Braxton searched high and low for the perfect take home pumpkin. Gibson found a great "square" pumpkin that looks a lot like a show on the Disney channel. He was super excited and has been very protective of his square pumpkin. Surely I took a picture of it, surely I did.

The great thing about this pumpkin patch is that it's less than 4 minutes from our house. It's pretty simple but according to my boys, it was the best thing EVER!

I don't know why but my rainy, blah day got a little brighter after I got the mail and saw the latest reading material for Jared.

Are you smiling too?

What did you do today?

I dread being asked the question "what did you do today" because honestly, looking around the house. I'm totally not sure. Living with the Tasmanian devil has really kept me on my toes and off my game lately. I had my camera on me this day, and this was my afternoon.

Creed got high centered on his crib rail when he tried to climb out instead of taking an afternoon nap. Lucky for me he tried to climb on the wrong rail and the wall held him up for a bit. Unlucky for him, I was letting him fuss and he had to stay like this for about 15 minutes while I waited for him to calm down. I think he was so scared all he could do was hang on and whimper.

He hasn't done it again.

Oh, a storm passed through and we have one spot a house away where the water pools and leaves a nice puddle. When he spots the puddle, I can't keep him out of it. He'll play in it for an hour if I'd let him. This leaves me standing in the middle of the road watching him....for an hour.

When I finally do bring him in because I need to start dinner, change over the laundry or anything else. I get a full fledge tantrum as he tries to get back outside. It's awesome.

I have forgotten how exhausting an 18 month old is! Good thing he's cute.

We end the day like this. plum tired and snuggling with his favorite person on earth....his daddy. No matter how hard I try, he won't fall asleep with me holding him. However, wrapped in Jared's arms, he can't help but rest from his hard day of playing.

{contrary to what my neighbors may think. My son does wear pants and shoes most of the time. however, this day, he never slowed down long enough for me to put them back on him after changing his diaper!}

Birdie

Seeing Easton in charge of the class pet is one of the cutest things I've seen in a long time. He was so sweet and so responsible the entire weekend Birdie was at our home.

He made sure that he had a pillow in his cage to sleep with, played outside and was able to watch a show.

He was protective of him and very sad when it came time to return him to school.

Lucky for me, Birdie is stuffed and lucky for Easton, he has a small preschool class so Birdie will be making many visits this year to our home.

Creed woke up before anyone else this morning. He woke up whining and I rolled out of bed to go and answer his call. I fed him breakfast and yet the whining continued. By now, I'm really confused. Mini pancakes usually do the trick for him, especially since he can dip to his little heart's content in his bowl of maple syrup goodness but alas, the whining continued.

I took him downstairs in hopes that a basement filled with toys would help his little self and it did. For a moment. I tried to sneak some additional snoozes on the worn, comfy green couch we've had for 10 years now. It just knows how to mold you and, mold me it did.

However, Creed still whined. Unhappy with anything for a long moment of time.

The airplanes wheels got stuck and he couldn't get them out. Whine.

The bat cave tipped over. Whine.

He got stuck squeezing through the two couches. Whine.

Oh, it was never ending.

So, I changed a diaper. Got a sippy cup, wrapped his blanket around his shoulders like he loves and yet, it still continued.

I put him in his crib, opened up the shutters and hoped he just needed more time to wake up. He was content for a few moments and then the whining continued.

I went back in, swooped him up and felt beyond helpless. The whining had to stop and yet, I didn't know how to make it stop or what my little guy needed. Then, I saw it. The secret weapon laying comatose, unaware of my struggles, laying on our bed. Jared.

Creed loves Jared. Oh, does that boy love his daddy.

So, I took the wiggly, whining boy and laid him on my pillow next to his dad. I got his blanket and put it over him and walked away and what I heard next was amazing.

Nothing.

What I saw next was tender.

Who wouldn't love that?

Hakuna Matata

We had a perfect Saturday afternoon. Seeing The Lion King at Capital Theater and then lunch at Olive Garden. Fabulous!

We had great seats and I must say, I had great company. The majority of my family also went but our tickets weren't near them. However, we did get to sit by Erin and her friend Paul.

Jared enjoyed Lion King better than Wicked and I think they were pretty equal, but if we would have had the same seats for Wicked, it would have been fantabulous!

Note to Self

This is what happens when you leave the strap of your nice, expensive camera dangling from the counter.

Yeah for Gillian who encouraged me to buy filters for my lenses when I got my first SLR several years ago.

Hopefully several things will come from this accident. I will begin to understand the power of a 17 month old who likes to pull, push or throw items from wherever he's standing and said 17 month old may be one day closer to being out of this destructive stage where he insists on body surfing on the counter and table to see what he can knock down or what big mess he can make.

Thank goodness he's cute.

Time Out

Earlier this week I looked at the calendar and found nothing scheduled for Friday night or Saturday. NOTHING! No where to be, no one expecting us or counting on us. NOTHING!

I checked with my sister Erin and her calendar showed the same thing. Score! {she ended up ditching us on Friday night but luckily grandma Taylor came to her rescue and allowed the boys to have a sleepover}

I booked us a hotel downtown Salt Lake, packed our bags and put them in the car. Dropped the kids off at my moms house and came back home to pick up the hubs for dinner, as he was told we were doing.

We went to a fancy restaurant where we had a gift card {we've had it for two years} and our fancy meal ended up costing us $2. We did a little shopping with another gift card that's been lost in the pit, I call my wallet and then headed to SLC.

I was driving and told Jared that I needed to show him something {we've been furniture shopping and he assumed we were going to another store} but I stopped at a downtown hotel and got out to check us in. Surprise!

We went to a late movie {Scott Pilgrim vs. the World}, ate lots and lots of popcorn, slept in a king size bed, went out to breakfast, did some furniture shopping and came home to get the boys from grandma and Erin.

So much fun! So needed.

Next time, we're leaving the state!

My sweet neighbor saw me giving my bushes a haircut and decided to reward my ambition with some fresh tomatoes from her garden.

Seriously, it was the best.reward.ever!

So for lunch I had myself my FIRST of the season tomato sandwich with Havarti Cheese on good 'ole cheap white wonder bread. It was so good. I ate two.

Yup, we're not afraid of carbs around here.

Yesterday morning I received a phone call from Christina. It was early, like before 9a.m. early. It went something like this:

her: "I need an out tonight, I'm thinking of going to a late movie. Wanna come?"

me: "why, yes. yes, I would"

I started the bedtime routine early. I fed and bathed the boys. Scrubbing the outside dirt off their little feet, slathering them in lotion and in a freshly laundered set of pajamas. Their teeth were brushed, hair was combed and they were ready to be tucked in to bed.

Important Note: All Jared needed to do was to read them a book and put them into bed.

I walked out the door with Christina to go see Eat, Pray, Love. A movie based on a book I really enjoyed. Here's my two cents on the movie.

A little slow. A little long. Julia Roberts is fantastic and I thought the casting all around was great. It's been years since I have read the book and I'm pretty sure some parts were missing but overall, it was good. Not great, but good.

I returned home to find my kids tucked into bed. As I started inquiring about how bedtime went I started to learn that Jared felt it was just too nice of a night to put them kids into bed by 8. So they went outside to play.

Say What?

{sigh} once again the boys played outside in the summer evening with no shoes. They stayed up past their bedtime and well, got dirty once again.

So it's official that Jared and I parent differently in some aspects. I like routine and clean feet and Jared enjoys summer memories and playing so hard they {literally} drop into bed at night.

However the kids go to bed. They wake up happy, refreshed and ready to start a new day so it looks like we're doing something right. Raising happy kids, with dirty feet.

We're lovin' this.....

for the wii that is. Streaming netflix through the Wii is the smartest and easiest thing. We love it!

Easton isn't feeling well. Woke up with a fever and has been dry heaving. Being able to stream movies and tv shows through the Wii without having to endure the ads for Pillow Pets is a dream come through.

I feel bad for our little Larsen Video which I'm sure won't last much longer and Hollywood Video has already shut it's doors here in town but for the same price that I could rent some DVD's for the weekend, I can have unlimited for a month. Seems like a no brainer to me!

Summertime at our house

Consists of chasing Creed down the street. It's almost certain that he doesn't have shoes on and he's got a popsicle stain on his shirt and running down his arms. The majority of the time he looks behind him to see if he is being pursued and once he realizes that he is, he puts his little short legs in high gear and runs.

Luckily this day, I have shoes on. Most the time I don't because I wasn't expecting to have to chase him because two minutes before he was in the house.


At the end of each day, the feet in our house look like this. I don't know what it is about shoes but my kids won't keep them on. Every night no matter the time, we have to jump in the tub and wash feet and once we start washing their feet we realize they are just dirty boys and they end up taking baths to get the dirt off of their tired bodies.

Creed has stolen Easton's "4-wheeler" and cruises around like he owns the road. Lately he's into "popping wheelies" and needs all the help he can get, he says he can get more height when he sticks out his tongue.

Summertime is coming to a slow decline around here. The kids are most certainly going to be in withdrawals when we don't have friends showing up at our doorstep before 9am and we don't allow them to play in the street, while we talk to other parents in the middle of the road until 10pm.

We have loved our summer. It's been as low key as you could get which I think is perfect for a family of 3 boys ages, 5, 3 and 1. Naps have been taken, watermelon has been consumed and wonderful, friendships have been made with our neighbors all while standing under the stars watching our kids enjoy the simpler times of life.

Summer Storms

Last night after dinner we were treated to a fabulous summer storm. We opened up the double doors in the front of the house and sat and enjoyed the lightning, rain, hail and kids splashing in the puddles!

I had a moment of anxiety as I saw my newly washed windows be covered in rain {dirty filthy rain I'm sure} but quickly got over it as my house became cool and as the kids were eager to get outside and ride their bikes through the puddles.

We've needed rain all summer, however, we wish it would have checked our schedule first. We've got a summer party and a scout campout that may be very, very wet!