We got to go to Grandma Olsen's house for Thanksgiving this year. All of my brothers and sisters were there except for Stephanie. The day after we got there, Sydney leaned over to me and said, "Mom, I haven't seen Andrea yet." I had to explain to her that Andrea lived in Arizona which is a lot farther away than Logan so she couldn't come. She got a little sad and said, "I've been waiting and waiting for her." Gotta wait until summer little one. We couldn't resist taking pictures of Matt, Zack, and Kyle - the three babies born in my family this past year. This makes 11, 12, and 13 for Grandma and Grandpa Olsen. We do what we can.

Tansy did all right for Thanksgiving up until Saturday. Friday night she came down with a cold that left her feeling pretty miserable. Saturday afternoon, she decided to stand on a small plastic chair, which fell over. She landed on her face on the tile floor in Granma's kitchen. Her nose is swollen and bruised and she has a fat lip with a blood blister. We checked for head injuries, but she escaped unconcussed. Then at 8:00 that night, I realized she had picked up pinkeye. We made a quick trip to the after hours pediatrician with Aunt Kim and got some eye drops. All in all, not one of Tansy's best days. This picture says it all. She usually hams it up for pictures, but she just didn't have it in her after all of that.

Sydney also came down with the cold as well as a cough. She kept me up most of the night with her coughing, gagging, sneezing, sniffling, insert your own disgusting sound, etc. We decided to head home early today since none of the kids was up to going to church (Zack has a mini version of the cold). When we got home, we realized that Sydney has pinkeye too. It has infected both of her eyes and she is coughing so hard, she throws up (thus the bowl). Don't get me wrong. We had a great break to prepare for Ben's last week of school and finals. We just didn't come out of it very well. Hope everyone else enjoyed their Thanksgiving!

Tansy has taken a great interest in the dishes. She insists on helping me unload the dishwasher. Every time I open the dishwasher, she rushes into the kitchen and starts handing me silverware. She also picks up our heavy dinner plates. She hasn't dropped any yet, but judging by the coordination her head wounds display, it's only a matter of time.



She also loves to try to undress herself. It is not uncommon to find her with her shirt like this. She hasn't figured out how to get it off, so we don't have a streaker. . . yet.






Sydney finally got to be the VIP at preschool last week. She has been waiting for this all school year. To be clear, the VIP gets to hold the flag at the front of the class for the pledge of allegiance, stand at the front of the line when school is over for the day, and bring a snack for the class on Thursday. I know - big stuff. She would ask me every week who the VIP was and be so disappointed that it wasn't her. In September I made the mistake of telling her that she might be the VIP in October. Imagine her reaction when she brought home the October calendar and wanted to know when it was her week to be VIP. I told her that she wasn't on the calendar this time, but she would be next time (there are only 11 kids). She said, "Or maybe never." She wore her preschool shirt in honor of the occasion of her first day of being VIP and wanted a picture.

Tansy has decided that she can use the computer now. She hasn't done anything too disastrous, but her random mouse clicking and keyboard pecking has me constantly worried. I actually had to shut the computer down because everything was frozen once. I've got to watch this girl like a hawk. If she isn't on the computer, she's coloring the dining room floor, climbing on the table, or terrorizing the fish.

Zack is just a little bundle of chubbiness. He is so happy almost all of the time. Don't know what else to say. He just likes to spread his happy baby smiles around.

We are all looking forward to a much needed vacation this week. Ben is finishing up another semester at Utah State, and his job ends on Monday. The kids are dying to see their Grandma and Grandpa Olsen. Everyone is ready to unwind a bit and have a great time. Hope everyone's Thanksgiving is great.

So, here are the long awaited Abshire family Halloween pics. Zack is in camo, so if you can't pick him out, that's why. Sydney was excited to be a witch, Tansy was a super-cute puppy, and Ben was just stylin'. I wore a really long blond wig with a cowboy hat and lots of makeup. I had one little girl ask if it was my real hair. I had to tell her no. She seemed disappointed.

Ben and I went to an ROTC Meet and Greet this week, so we had to get a babysitter. I have a weird quirk that Ben really mocked me for this time. When I have someone coming over who has yet to witness the disaster that is the usual state of my house, I clean up. Shocking, I know. Actually, the funny part is that I will intentionally leave a few toys out to try to make it look like I didn't clean up and that my house looks like this all the time. Please tell me I am not alone in my strategy to fake people out. Everyone who reads this post has seen what a horrible housekeeper I am so I don't mind confessing here.

I've also been trying to recruit people for an Informal Book Club. I think people are afraid of the pyramid scheme feel. It's like a recipe exchange, except with paperbacks. You just pass one of yours on to the person listed on the back of the paper, make six new copies, put the address of the person who sent it to you on the back and give it to six friends. If it keeps going, you get up to 36 books. You all know how I feel about books. If anyone wants to do this, I would really appreciate it.

I've got Little-Miss-Molar, I mean Tansy, begging me to pick her up. We have been trying to get her to say "please" lately, but it is really not working. Whenever I say, "Say please," she launches into a HUGE fit, screaming at the top of her lungs, throwing herself on the ground. The very request to say "please" makes her act like she is suddenly possessed by demons. I have never seen anything like it before.

Sydney has gotten an attitude. If we tell her she can't do something, she starts crying and tells us that we are hurting her feelings and being mean. When we continue to tell her she can't do something. She runs to her room, slams the door, and starts screaming all the bad words she knows at us (i.e. "you stupid, stinky mom"). Harsh, I know. Actually, I usually end up laughing because these are really the worst words she knows.

Zack has developed these two fat rolls near his armpits that are so much fun. If you pinch them, he laughs. He has does this funny grunting sound when he laughs. It's strange, but cute. That seems to sum up our whole family, so I guess it's appropriate.

Most of this week was pretty much just routine, so there aren't a lot of exciting things to report. However, I thought of some funny things that I hadn't posted, so here they are.

Sydney has Show and Tell at preschool every Thursday, and a couple of weeks ago they were assigned to bring a small something for each member of the class. We had talked all week about different things Sydney could bring and had settled on stickers. On Thursday, we were about eight blocks away from preschool when I remembered that I hadn't brought anything. I knew Sydney would be crushed if she was the only kid who didn't bring something, so I was getting a little frantic. We had just passed a gas station, and I was trying to think of something I could pick up there and bring back. I was still trying to mentally take stock of what was already in the car when I remembered the change drawer. I dug out a dozen pennies, dropped them in Sydney's pocket and she was on her way. She LOVES money so she was really excited and I wasn't the bad guy mom who forgot Show and Tell.

Tansy constantly walks around with a blanket draped around her shoulders like a cape. She has figured out how to get her things out of her crib and will come out of her room, draped in a blanket from the neck down with her stuffed puppy dangling from her mouth.

Zack has started patting me on the back when I hold him up to my shoulder and pat him on the back. It's so funny but really cute.

Ben had Escape and Evasion this weekend. A bunch of cadets go up the canyon and have a scenario they act out. Some are agressors and some are evaders. They have campfires in several places to go warm up during the night, since they are literally out all night. They stumble in between 7 and 8 a.m. for a breakfast made by the Spouse Club of the detachment. I didn't make breakfast this year since I have way too many kids who are way too small to be dragging them out of bed before 6.

Sydney had her first Primary program today. Her favorite song is "When Jesus Christ Was Baptized," so that was pretty much the only song she sang. The rest of the time, she took it upon herself to help her teachers keep the other kids under control and out of trouble. Since we have been home, she has been singing the very last part of "Called to Serve" over and over again. However, she sings it "Na, na, na, na, na. Fast forward, and we're called to serve and sing." At least she tries.

This week we set up the Halloween decorations. Sydney just couldn't wait any longer. She was kind of disappointed that she is too tall to fit under the witch's arm this year. Last year she liked to pretend that the witch had her arm around her.

Sydney likes to put on our freaky Darth Maul costume and scare Tansy. Tansy does not like masks.


We also made some Halloween treats. We barely got the pipe cleaners and googly eyes on Tansy's Ding Dong before she dug in. Sydney made most of them. Dad decided that his should be dead. It's the one in the middle with the brown, straight legs. We turned him over for this picture.

Ben had Fall Break this past Friday. We went down to the Ogden area for an Abshire Family Fun Day. We got lunch at Red Lobster, made a quick stop at Hill AFB (so Ben could pick something up - not really high on the fun-meter, but necessary), and went to the Eccles Dinosaur Park. Sydney has been really into dinosaurs lately and both of the girls had a great time. Tansy loved being let out of the stroller and trying to keep up with Sydney. They had decorated for Halloween, and Tansy found a mummy that goes "Mmmmm-mmmmm!" every time someone walks by. She kept walking around the museum going "Mmmmm-mmmmm!" after that. The weather was also in the 70s so the outdoor exhibits and playground were also a lot of fun. We had a yummy dinner with our friends the Palmers. Don't ask the girls their opinion though. They were so excited to be with their friends, they hardly ate. We topped everything off with a trip to Baskin Robbins.

Though all of this, Zack was my good little baby. Did I say little? I finally had to stop trying to stuff his into 0-3 month clothes and move up to 3-6. Neither of the girls made this switch until they were about 4 months old, so I didn't see it coming when Zack is only 2 1/2 months old. He's a good eater and putting on a lot of weight. He is also a super sleeper. He now sleeps from 9:00 to 7:00 each night without waking up. He's then ready for a nap at 8:00 and takes a couple more less scheduled naps throughout the day. Plus, he puts himself to sleep. When he starts acting tired, I can usually just lay him down in his crib, put his blanket on him, admire his sleep smile, and walk out while he puts himself to sleep. He is such a good baby.

I'm really blanking on what we have been doing the past couple of weeks. On the 1st we took Tansy and Zack for well-child visits. They are both doing great and are not only on the growth chart, but putting up big numbers - at least for our family. Tansy's weight was in the 33% and Zack's was in the 46%. Of course, both of them were in the 85% for head circumference, but we Abshire are known for our huge heads, I mean intelligence. Don't get me wrong; we love Sydney for being "well proportioned" and "growing on her own curve." It's just nice not to have to wonder if we're doing something wrong. I wonder if I will ever stop feeling new at this whole parenting thing. Maybe, if my kids stopped growing up long enough for me to get used to them.

On the 2nd, we broke into a set of fingerpaints we'd had for entirely too long. They had congealed into a strange, thick consistency more akin to bread dough than paint. Well, all except green. We had a great time with green. Actually, we had a great time with all of them, rising to the challenge. Get it? "Rising" to go along with my bread dough parallel? Oh, never mind.

Ben and I enjoyed a great trip to the dentist on the 8th. That is actually not sarcastic! We went in expecting to spend hundreds of dollars on my tooth sensitivity issues and Ben's cavity. We came out with free sealants on four of my teeth (my dentist is truly a saint) and the news that Ben didn't have a cavity - it's just a divot. We felt really blessed not to have those expenses with Christmas coming.

Zack got his first haircut on the 9th. Most people think I'm crazy, but he had this fuzz in the front, a spot that was an inch and a half long in the back, and a fringe down by his neck below where he has rubbed off his hair in the back. He now has a very cute, but manly, blond buzz over his whole head. I think he's very handsome. One day, I might write about Tansy's first haircut. I don't see that coming for many, many years.

Yesterday, we had family pictures taken. I will post those in a few weeks when we get them. This is always such an undertaking. It felt like it took the whole morning the get the kids clean, napped, and fed at convenient times to have the greatest degree of happiness and cooperation possible for the ten minutes of actual picture taking. When it was time to view and choose our pictures, we had less than half of the shots to choose from. First thought: the kids were that bad? No. I was assured there were lots of cute shots of the kids that had been eliminated. Why? you ask. Because of the curse of taking a picture with Melanie in it. I had my eyes closed in seven shots and a really weird face in another one. Sigh. At least the kids were cute, and that's all anyone wants to see anyway.

Greetings from the house of death. We have all been sick. I hesitated to post since the most exciting thing to report was the various colors of the snot I have been wiping for the last couple of weeks. Riveting, I know.

On Friday, we met Danny and Emily and their boys and Kathleen and her boys (sorry you had to work, Steve) at the Hill Aerospace Museum. I forgot the camera, but the kids had a great time looking at all the planes then playing in the kids area. We all went to Denny's for dinner afterwards and got an exceptionally patient server. This was vital to the success of the meal since we had eight kids ages five and under. We all had a crazy and fun time.

Tansy finally made it to nursery today. The first Sunday she was old enough, we blessed Zack so we didn't stay after Sacrament meeting. Last week she had this amazing green snot blazing two thick trails down her face no matter how often I wiped it, so she was a no-show again. Today she woke up super early and fell asleep in Sacrament meeting. She was out cold until the end of Sunday school. She woke up just in tim for snacks and had a great time. I couldn't even get her to pay attention to me long enough to say goodbye. Ben kept Zack for priesthood, so I had an incredibly enjoyable third hour at church.