Autobots roll out!

Ready to race!

Fast car

Today was Levi's first pinewood derby.  A few weeks ago he chose a design, and let Jordan tweak it a bit.  She just finished an aerodynamic segment in class a few weeks ago and was sure that her design would help him win.  After a bit of discussion, Levi decided he wanted his car to be black and yellow.   Then when we painted it yellow, he thought it looked like bumblebee, so we cut out some vinyl autobot symbols and stripes to put on it.  Basically, we painted and put the decals on it last night.  Then this morning Mike took him over to a friend's house to get the wheels fixed up and moving fast (Thanks Russ!).  The graphite got smeared on the yellow paint, and it looked AWESOME!  Mike was worried I might get frustrated with how it turned out, but I love how it looks like it has been around the block a time or two.  Kinda like the first Bumblebee

Looks about the same right?

Anyway, we had to tear some weights off of Tristan's car from last summer and put them on Levi's car.  We got it to meet the exact weight requirement with no problems.  Levi wasn't enthusiastic about the race at all until his first turn when his car SMOKED his opponent.

Some of the competition

Who will win?

Then he couldn't settle down.  He won all his races with time to spare, and had the fastest car in his pack. 

"car talk"

Next Saturday he gets to go race against other pack winners.  Now he is really excited about it!  It was fun.  We were told by several people that now we have a reputation to keep up.  Ha!  That made me laugh since we didn't do much to this one.  Now Tristan can't wait til he is in scouts and can race in the derby. 

Tris with his old car and a buddy.

Racing Champ!

Way to start off the new year!

We are starting off the new year in typical Leavitt family fashion, sick.  Last week was a week I will gladly forget.  All of us, yes, all 7 of us got stomach flu.  Tristan started us all off early in the week, and every day another one of us fell.  Thursday was memorable since it was the first time I have had 3 kids throwing up simultaneously.  Talk about the laundry!  But, even with sick kids in the house, life doesn't slow down.  Mike got sick too, but refused to stay home from work.  The girls had presidency meetings, school projects, and I have my dressers to refinish (more on that in a bit!).  By Saturday, the boys were feeling better which was convenient since we had a birthday party and an eagle court of honor to attend.  The weather was great for a party at the park.

Jax enjoying the park

I love Tristan's excited face in the back.

  Mike however, was positively GREEN when he was presenting at the court of honor.  I remember feeling very nervous about getting sick since I teach RS on the 3rd Sunday.  We now start church at 8 a.m., so it makes it really bad when you have to call in sick!  I was pretty happy that I hadn't been sick yet, but at around 2 a.m. on Sunday, it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I was down for the count and stuck in the bathroom all morning.  The kids all missed a bunch of school, and I thought "okay, now we've all had it, everyone will be back to normal and not missing school!"  Wrong!  Last night Tristan started coughing like he had croup.  NICE!!  So, he's home today, and I'm starting to feel my glands swell up and my throat start to hurt.  COME ON!  This is so not cool. 

On a good note, last night my little sister Nicole, Taylor, her friend, and I all went to Tucson to see Wicked.  I loved it.  I smiled the whole time.  I cheered and clapped so hard every chance I got.  I want to go again.  I was a bit sad throughout since Taylor's friend got sick on the way to Tucson.  Yup, you got it.  She had finally got the flu bug we had just got over.  She couldn't eat the awesome pizza at Grimaldi's (my favorite!), she couldn't get comfy through the show, we had to find new clothes for her to wear, it was sad.  But the show was so great that it made up for the sadness.  Nicole says I just attract vomit.  Hmmm, she could have a point there.  We didn't get good pictures.  No cameras are allowed and we didn't want to risk leaving one in the car.  This is the best we could do.

Double "T" (Taylor and Tessa)

Me and Nic

So, as I mentioned earlier, I've been trying to but can't cause I'm dealing with puking kids working on a project this last week.  I scored some cute dressers off craigslist in Tucson for $40/pair.  They are pretty rough and need a lot of work.  I was determined to start the year off right and not put off projects that I have on my list.  I started out feeling very lucky.  I found drawer slides just the right size, and a new top for the dresser that was exact (this stuff never happens for me so I thought maybe my luck is starting to change!).  Anyway, the project got put on hold after all the puking began, but I am about to finish ONE dresser today.  The other one I hope to do next week.  I love how it turned out and am anxious to start the next one. 

not in the best shape

yes, it looks purple.  I hate the handles too.

wood veneer peeling off side

nearly finished!

looks so much better.

The holidays

Once again, time is flying by.  It seems like just last week was Thanksgiving, and it is already January!  We had a lot of fun this holiday season.  It was too warm to ever feel like Christmas though.  We had some record highs for December (80 + degrees for lots of it). 
Every year, I notice that I have 1 kid who is especially excited for Christmas.  This year that one was Tristan.  He started worrying that he was "naughty" too much this year early in December.  He wondered what he would be getting, and tried to guess who all the presents were for and what was in them.  He was so cute!  Jax also got into the spirit of things.  He wanted to draw pictures of snowmen, santa, trees, and presents.  I had a hard time feeling the mood of the season with it being so warm, so I blared holiday music a lot this year! 
Christmas eve found us watching our old stand by, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.  Taylor did all of our baking this year, and then went to a Christmas performance to watch her friend Tessa sing.  That night the boys were too excited to go to bed early.  We let them stay up a bit late, and fortunately for us they slept in til after 8! 

Let us open up presents already!

Tris is always a good sport!

Santa was good to us this year.  He brought paintball gear for us so we can go out into the desert and shoot each other.  Now we just have to find the time to do that!  I got the camera I have been bugging Mike to get me, and we got an IPAD from Todd at his Christmas party.  We also had time to spend together all day and think about our blessings.  That night Mike made wontons (mmmm) so we were all a bit too full to eat our huge Christmas dinner.  It was so nice.

Christmas dinner with our cracker crowns

Then last week, we decided to head to Phoenix to celebrate the new year.  We left on Wednesday, and went straight to Dave and Busters to meet some friends of ours from Washington that we haven't seen in ages.  It was so great to see the Bagleys and catch up on life.  They were our best friends when we lived in OKC and were in school.  I still consider them some of my closest friends and will always treasure them. 

Thursday was a fun day too.  We went to Mesa to buy some stuff from the beehive clothing, and while eating lunch, it started to snow.  It's not often you see snow in Mesa!  Later that night we went to visit our other close friends, the Farlee family.  Clay was one of my buddies growing up, and we were fortunate enough to be around (in the same ward even) when he met his true love Sara.  They are more like family than friends, and we love hanging out with them.  We had dinner and played games til late in the night.  I can't wait to visit them again soon. 

Friday was New Year's Eve.  We spent half the day running errands, and then went to my sister Nicole's house to celebrate.  Mike thought it would be fun to shoot firecrackers off this year since AZ finally decided to allow it.  He bought a whole box of them for each of the kids to shoot off.  We played games to keep all of us adults awake til midnight, and then Nicole encouraged the kids to jump in the pool.  It was 37 degrees outside!  Only a few of the kids were brave enough to do it.  Then we shot off all the firecrackers.  Mike was the only adult to stay outside, and the rest of us watched from the picture window cause it was just so cold out!  Mike is like a kid when he gets around firecrackers, and it was fun to watch him with all those kids and FIRE! 

The polar bear club!

fireworks in the back yard

Saturday was yet another fun packed day.  We took Jax over to Nicole's house, and the rest of us went to the Fiesta Bowl.  My brother Allen and his son Kendall went with us.  We were so happy to be there and cheer for Mike's team!  It was Levi and Tristan's first game, and they had so much fun.  We sat with friends and were even right across the aisle from the Bagleys!  Clay and his boys were there too and toward the end of the game they came and joined us.  We got excellent seats, and had so much fun.  Taylor was a bit embarrassed by my hootin and hollerin, but I couldn't help myself.  All in all, it was a super fun trip.

Mike, me and Allen

the family before the game

the view from our seats

The Farlee boys

This week though, it was back to the schedule of work, school, and nap time.  I love having a schedule.  It is now 2011, and I hope this year will be even better than last!

an ode to places other than Sierra Vista

Around this time of year, I get really nostalgic.  It actually starts when fall hits and lasts through the holidays.  Tonight I was thinking how I really miss the places I have been and where I have lived that aren't Sierra Vista.  Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it here.  I will likely be stuck here live here the rest of my life.  I have found ways of being happy here.  The weather is great, I have superb friends, Mike has a great job, and my kids like their schools.  But there is something missing here.  Something that makes me sad, and wish we lived somewhere else.  The first thing that really bothers me, especially around this time of year, is the lack of history here.  There is no "center", no "downtown", no "historic" neighborhoods.  I remember when I was very young, my parents would take us kids to "downtown" Safford at Christmas time to see the lights, and look in the store windows.  One store had a mechanical Santa that was sleeping in a store window.  His belly would move up and down like he was breathing.  I was there just a few days ago.  The Santa hasn't been around for decades, but the lights are great, and the feel of Christmas (despite the warmth) was there.

Downtown Safford

As I got older, I have found that I love historic buildings.  Living in the Prescott area instilled that for me.  I loved cruising driving downtown with my friends and looking at all the old buildings.  Even the run down ones!  I especially loved it around Christmas time when the courthouse was all lit up.  I dreamed still do of some day being able to buy one of the old Victorian homes there and refurbishing it.  I toured the old hotels, and imagined being a guest there 100 years ago!  Just thinking about spending time there makes me happy!

Downtown Prescott

When we moved to Oklahoma, the only place we could afford was a little run down 2 bedroom house.  I loved that little house.  It had old wood floors, old ceramic tile, and these windows that were painted shut that just made me feel nostalgic.  What I liked most about that old house though, was that 3 houses down from us began the street with bigger, beautiful, and even older homes (I imagined our house was "servant's quarters for these homes).  I loved taking walks down the street and just staring at the houses.  Then I found out about other even older and fancier homes that I could drive around and dream about.  I spent lots of time driving slow and craning my head out the window to "admire" old homes.  And in OKC, there is an old "downtown".  There is now a huge memorial there to commemorate those who died in the bombing.  There are also hockey games we would go to, fireworks, art shows, races of all sorts, and HISTORY!

Central High in OKC

Mike and I had a chance to visit New Orleans a few years ago.  I loved everything about it.  The historic cemeteries, the crusty old buildings, the refurbished mansions, and the tiny apartments covered with character.

the oldest pub in New Orleans

I even love visiting Bisbee with all the strange hippie people that live there! 

downtown Bisbee

Sierra Vista is a newer town.  The "center" here is the park LAME.  Even if someone were to create a downtown or strip here, it wouldn't be authentic, and wouldn't hold the character that I crave.  The weather is a bit TOO nice for me too.  I want 4 seasons, and we really only get 2.  I know that there are people who would trade me in a heartbeat to get out of their winter right now, but right now I'm yearning for places other than Sierra Vista. 

My folks

My mom and dad are funny people.  They are "old school", and if any of you know them well, you know just what I mean.  My dad is such a generous and kind old guy.  My mom is funny and lovingly affectionate.  I have found that if I ever am feeling down about myself for any reason, I have only to call or visit my folks, and then I'm showered with praise and love.  It pulls me right up!  Yesterday was one of those days for me.  I had the chance to drive to Thatcher to go to the temple.  I knew my folks would be there since my dad works there every Wednesday night.  I got there a bit early.  After I changed, I came out to find my mom and her twin sister coming in the dressing room.  They were excited to see me and we hugged and kissed.  Then I went into the chapel to wait for them.  My dad came to the door to talk to one of the workers there.  He didn't know I was going to be there, so when I went up to greet him, he was full of surprise.  I love it when he is happy like that!  It was great to see him all decked out in his white suit.  It was also really cool to see my dad officiate in the session.  I was very proud of him, and my mom couldn't stop gushing praise of him.  It is a big deal to us since all my life dad wasn't one to attend the temple much.  When each of us kids got married, we had to give him time to make sure he had a recommend.  Now he is working at the temple once or twice a week, and he loves it.

Dad at Levi's baptism.

After our session, I took my mom and Aunt Shirley out to dinner.  Of course, people had to ask them about being twins because they had to go and dress alike.  It is so cute.  I used to be embarrassed by how much my mom and her sister would play up being identical twins.  Mostly because they used to try to dress me and my brother, and twin cousins alike.  Now I think it is adorable (as long as I don't have to dress like Allen!).  This spring they will be 70 years old.  I am so glad they live close enough to spend time together each week.  They also informed me that if one of their spouses dies first, they will move in with the other for the rest of their lives.  So sweet!

Mom and Aunt Shirley

I left feeling uplifted from my temple service, but also feeling much love from my family who gushed love and compliments to me.  I really needed that, and I hope they know how much they are loved!

License and More

This week Taylor got her license.  She was so excited and nervous to take her test, but passed with flying colors.  Now I have to get up enough nerve to just let her drive places without an adult in the car with her.  It was great to see her so happy and proud.  She has also started to play the sax again in band which she really likes.  Taylor has some proud parents!

16 already!

This month has been jammed full of fun stuff.  We have already been to 2 Christmas parties, a Christmas parade (Jordan ROCKED the trumpet), Tristan's birthday, and tomorrow is my last soccer game.  Whew!  I think I need a nap. 

It was a night parade.  That's her with the glasses.

Yesterday I worked on gifts for my visiting teaching ladies.  I found something similar online and decided to make these myself.  I haven't attached the metal bar and magnets yet, but once I do, they will be picture holders.  I think they turned out nice, and may make more.  I also finished my glass block.  I cut out the phrase on my new cricut, and then added the silver spray to the vase to finish off the shelf.  I love decorating!

Tristan turned 6

Yesterday was Tristan's 6th birthday.  I can't believe it.  After Levi's scouts, we had Outback for dinner (take out), and an ice cream cake.  He opened his presents (legos!) and we put them together.  We didn't get to do much because yesterday Jaxson threw up all day.  It was so sad and frustrating.  Nothing like adding to the laundry! 

We had a great Thanksgiving last week.  Taylor and Jordan cooked most of the food.  We ate the best turkey we have ever cooked ourselves.  It was quiet with just us at home, but I loved it that way!  We took some food over to the Leavitt grandfolks, and then played games all night.  I didn't take any pictures because the house was a mess, and my camera was dead anyway.

 Friday we decorated for Christmas.  It was perfect weather for it (cold and blustery).  I finally filtered out all the old decorations I never seem to put up, and some of the ones I put up but wonder why I even bothered every year.  I took them to donate, but then felt like I needed to replace some of the decorations.  I'll see what I can come up with that won't be too expensive.  Here's something I made today that only cost about $5. 

cheap dollar store frame

after removing ugly picture

up on the wall

Baptism, birthday, and some Boo!

October is always one of my favorite months.  I love all things Halloween, I love fall, and I love the sports season here (football and soccer).  This October has been jam packed full of stuff (what's new right?).  Levi was baptized on the 9th.  My sister and her family came, and my dad was able to make it too.  It was a really sweet baptism.  His friends gave the opening and closing prayers, and Jordan and her friend Emma gave the talks.  After Mike took him into the water and baptized him, Levi told his dad that it was so "cool" to know that he was clean from sin and that he could now take the sacrament and be clean again every week.  It was very sincere and not prompted at all.  He's such a loving kid. 

cousins!

brothers and sisters

Later in the week, I took the kids and Taylor's friend Stephanie to Apple Annie's for our yearly pumpkin picking.  We toured through the corn maze, ate shaved ice and kettle corn, picked our own pumpkins, and then went to the local restaurant that is built in and around a train car.  It was so fun.

kids at the Depot

I was lucky enough to take a short leave of the family and head to Phoenix for Time Out For Women.  I try to go every year.  I think this year had the best speakers to date.  My two friends were there with me and we ate so much good food!  Best part of all was NO CLEAN UP!! 

Saturday was the stake fall fun festival.  I got to help head the thing up, and it was so much fun.  I didn't actually end up doing much, but I was proud to be a part of the fun.  The kids loved it and didn't want to leave.

Monday we celebrated Jaxson's 2nd birthday.  Tristan said "I can't believe Jax is only 2.  It seems like he's been around forever!"  I am really bad at planning birthday parties.  I don't mind doing them, but this time of year is just way too busy (and nearly all the kids have birthdays one right after the other!).  So, we got his favorite food for dinner (pizza), and an ice cream cake for his birthday.  He was shy when we sang happy birthday.  Man, I love that little boy!

Today, the kids had a costume parade at school, so last night we finished costumes and hopefully we will find time to carve pumpkins some time today or tomorrow.  

Things won't slow down here at all!  Tomorrow is Levi's last football game of the season so I hope to get a few pictures.  We will trunk or treat, and maybe attend a Halloween party.  Monday Taylor turns 16, and we are going to plan a trip to Tucson to celebrate that with her.  Ahh, I need a nap just thinking about it all!