Cameron FINALLY lost his first tooth! He is 7 years, 3 months, and 1 week old and he has been looking forward to this day for a long time. His permanent tooth was already growing in behind the baby tooth so you can't really see a major hole. But he's excited anyway. And the tooth fairy came!
In other news, Owen is practically potty trained! I'm expecting a few more weeks of minor accidents but overall he is doing great. We're so glad to be out of diapers!
Just wanted to share 2 stories that have happened in the last 24 hours that have taught me that the way you treat people really matters...
Last night my parents drove to town to get gas in my mom's car (about 10 miles, one way). It was snowing and their gas light turned on just as they pulled into Maverik. My mom said to my dad, "I sure hope you have your wallet because I don't have my purse." My dad responded, "I thought you'd have your purse so I didn't bring my wallet." My dad decided that he would go talk to the employee to see if they would allow them to pump their gas, drive home to get the wallet, and then come back to pay. He says he buys a lot of gas at that location and they should trust him. As my mom was telling me this story last night I was thinking, "ya right, maybe 30 years ago they'd let you get gas without paying, based on your word." But my dad walked in, talked it over, and came out of the store and immediately pumped the gas. Then he drove my mom home, got his wallet, and went back in to pay. Who would've thought that a Maverik employee would allow such behavior. Guess it goes to show that my dad is a man of his word and it's evident in his demeanor.
Story #2: We go to the library every week. We check out a lot of books, children's CDs and children's DVDs. Lately my boys have loved Veggie Tales movies so we get at least 2 each week. Last week was no exception. We got "Silly Songs by Larry" and a Christmas double feature. Friday Owen tried to get out the Christmas DVD of the case. (We do have rules about who can and can't touch DVDs but Owen disobeyed.) He didn't push the middle release button and it broke in half. I called the library and explained the situation and they told me that the cost to replace the DVD was $24.99! I told them I'd be in on Thursday to settle with them. The man on the phone told me they would look at the DVD to see if it was new or had previous damage and they may take off a few dollars. I went to the library this morning as I said I would. They lady looked at the DVD, determined that it had been checked out nearly 60 times (which I guess is a lot in the life of DVDs), looked at my account and then said, "We'll just take this out of circulation." I asked how much I owed and she said, "Nothing. You come in regularly, your account is great, and this DVD was a little hard to remove from the case. It could've happened to anyone." I was so relieved and glad that I had dealt with this particular librarian numerous times. Makes me so happy that I've never been rude to her. See, you never know how your behavior will affect your future.
Anyone have a story they want to share?
It's not supposed to be like this outside...we thought it was SPRING!
When you read that title, think of the song by U2 not Mr. Rogers. If you're having a hard time thinking of that song, scroll over to my playlist...it's near the bottom. Thanks.
It is finally warming up and looking like spring outside. Last week when I had the flu, my mom had Callie bring these tulips home to make me feel a little better. So pretty!
Yesterday afternoon we went out in the backyard to bask in the sunlight. We played soccer, basketball, and the boys ran and ran. (Owen still insists on wearing gloves when he's outside.) It feels so good to get OUT OF THE HOUSE! The Styer's have spring fever!
This is a little shout-out to my fabulous husband. Yesterday, I got hit HARD with a flu bug. I sent Spencer a text and asked him if he could come home, I was unable to function or take care of the kids. He came home almost immediately. He kept the kids entertained all day, did some dishes, made dinner (and chocolate chip cookies), and went and picked Cam up from a friend's house. He helped Cam with his reading homework and got the boys into pajamas and in bed at a reasonable hour. I'm feeling much better today and know I couldn't have gotten through yesterday without him. I love you.
Today is Emily's husband, Jeff's birthday. He is a great uncle and my kids love whenever he comes to our house. He often takes the boys downstairs and has them do "warrior training" complete with foot races, push-ups, sit-ups, stretching, and other fun things. He also took them on a hike behind his house once. They still talk about it because they found "deer tracks." Jeff is a good example and we're glad he's part of our family.
Yesterday cousin Jamison joined us for Sunday dinner. After we were finished eating, we decided to break out Rock Band for the first time in a long time. Emily & Jeff came over for their weekly visit and we had a lovely jam session. 
Here's Jamison displaying his vocal talents:
Emily rocking hard on the drums:
Cam getting in on the action:
Callie keepin' the rhythm:
Me on guitar:
A little known fact about Spencer is that he always wished he had been the lead singer in a rock band. Here he is doing just that. Also, check out his new trendy specs. Doesn't he look fab?
We had a great time. Anyone else want to come over and ROCK?
Gavin's preschool is celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday this week. Yesterday he came home with a hat that he made to look like the hat from Cat in the Hat...
Today is Funny Food Friday and each student was supposed to take a snack for themselves. Gavin kept telling me he wanted to eat a Wacky Hat. So I got online and found an idea...
It's a dollar-sized pancake on the bottom layered with strawberries & cool-whip to form the red/white stripes. He was thrilled--except when he tried to pick it up, he knocked the stack over. Oh well. It'll still taste good.
We went to Cameron's Parent Teacher Conference last night. It's interesting to me that they ask you to bring the student and they have all the teachers sitting in the gym. When I was a student, the parents just went and they met in our classroom. I know this because my mom used to write us a note in our notebook and I always looked forward to that. Anyway, Cameron's teacher from the first part of the year moved during their winter break so he now has a new teacher and she is fabulous. She had many nice things to say about Cameron as a student and as a person. She said he is a little above grade level in his reading and math (almost contrary to what his other teacher thought.) She had him write a few papers that we brought home. One was a card that says "Mom and Dad, I love you because..." 
Spencer and I nearly died laughing when we read why he loves us. If you can't read it, it says, "I love you because you get exspivs (expensive) toys. And I just love you." We're wondering if he's referring to the toys we buy at the dollar store or the toys he gets from a happy meal?
And last but not least, Emily and I have started going to a water aerobics class. It has been fun but mostly just because we're together. We laugh a lot. Emily has flat-feet. I do not. We took this picture last night when we got out of the pool to show the difference between our footprints. Her's is on the right, mine is on the left. Giggle, giggle.
I'm not sure how it became March so quickly. I only had 4 posts in February...so unlike me. I was going through my photos and found a few pics that I'd taken but hadn't posted. So besides the 4 posts that I did in February, here's what else has kept us busy in February...
My boys loved Valentine's Day this year. They got 2 packages in the mail, one from Granny Jane, one from Grandma Tisa. They were spoiled! They got new shirts from the Tew Grandparents and some fun mugs and candy from the Styer's. 
Owen and I were able to help out at Gavin's preschool class and Cameron's 1st grade class for their Valentine's parties. Somehow I only took 1 picture...
I had the opportunity to accompany a lady from our ward who sang at a Retirement Home. We put together a full hour of music, 14 songs. I truly enjoyed doing it as I had a reason to practice the piano. Another added bonus is that they paid us and asked us to come again! Many of the residents are retired musicians, BYU professors, etc who really appreciated our talents.
We went to Idaho last weekend and accomplished a lot of things. We put our home back on the market. (Keep your fingers crossed for us.) We got to visit the Sharps and drive through our old neighborhood. We celebrated my parents' 33rd wedding anniversary. Ruth came and took family pictures. Then we all went BOWLING! 
And Baby Jette was blessed on Sunday. She is the cutest baby girl. I got to sit and hold and feed her and loved every minute. Not sure why I didn't take a picture of her. I had my camera with me the entire weekend but only came home with 2 pictures.
As you know, we started www.kitchentokitchen.blogspot.com. There are already 53 fabulous recipes. Check it out if you haven't already. And thanks to those of you who have shared recipes.
We also found out in February that Cameron's school will switch from a Year-Round to a Traditional schedule in August 2009. We are thrilled. We registered Cam for soccer. It doesn't start until March or April but he's looking forward to it. I felt a little bad registering him and knowing that he wouldn't be on Dawson and Noah's team. But he will be on the same team as Parker Paugh and a friend from school. Yippee! We all have spring fever and keep thinking it's finally warming up, only to wake up in the morning to a new blanket of snow on the ground. Grrr.
