Christmas Comes and Christmas Goes

Fun Christmas morning.  It's so much better with kids who are excited.  :)

Rachel and I getting ready to Rock!

Uh oh.  Emily wants to go sledding too. 

Yee-haw.  She did this a bunch of times and could go further than any of us. 

Ben on the old fashioned round sled having a great time.

Thanks goodness for Dad.  What would we do without someone to walk up the hill with the sled. 

We had a great Christmas. It was just one thing after another. The Stalker clan got together for some sledding adventure.  It was super fun.  

Whirlwind Weekend!

We had a wild weekend. Allyson's, Nate's sister, got hitched to a top notch guy. It was a lot of fun to be part of their union. They are definitely MFE. We are all super happy for them. Anyway, they had a reception Thursday day night and then the Sealing was Friday morning in the the Salt Lake Temple. Then a luncheon to top it all off. We had a great time. During the reception I sneaked in with chicken nuggets for the kids. We tried to hide so the other grandchildren wouldn't be jealous, but you can't hide chicken nuggets from a bunch of hungry children. They followed their noses right to us. So, we had an impromptu picnic. Lots of fun. We finally made it home Friday night and had a good night of sleep. At nine o'clock Saturday morning Sean, Nate's brother, called. They were trying to get home to Washington, but the Idaho border was closed because of the weather. They were stranded. They spent Saturday enduring our almost clean house and the almost gourmet meals we fed them. We had a great time. We were sad they couldn't get home, but happy that we had the chance to spend the day with them.

So, that was our great weekend. I wish it hadn't ended so soon.

Job Updated

I'm still cruising through my first year of teaching. I've crashed my cruiser multiple times but it hasn't been totaled yet. I have a permanent bruise on my leg because I keep getting kicked by a little girl in my class. I have learned a lot about anger and anger management. Not for the kids. For myself. These kids just know how to push buttons. At work I am busy all the time. If I am not teaching then I am planning or handling a crisis. We have a lot of those. Friday the Superintendent of the district came into my room. I don't know what miracle was at work, but for the ten minutes that he was in my room my students were actually on task, in their seats, and quiet. That literally never happens. It was awesome. I looked like I actually maintain good control of the classroom.

I had to laugh the other day. I went into Ben's 1st grade class at the end of the day. They were all cleaning up and getting ready to go home. Ben's teacher said "It really isn't as chaotic as it looks." just as I was thinking in my head "Here is a class of 27 students getting ready to go home and they are 10 times quieter than my class of 7 students. I must be doing something wrong."

On the positive side, I have gained some really good experience and I have gotten a huge confidence boost. Don't get me wrong, I miss being at home, but I have to admit that it feels good to be earning money and getting some good feed back from other people about how I am doing. That will be hard to give up. And, I was able to renew my teaching license recently which will guarantee me another 3 years of security.

And, I have gotten the opportunity to love. Yea, some of my students really bug me sometimes, but I love all of them. How could I not. They are just children. Children dealing with things that no child should ever have to. I hope that they find a lot of people who will give them a break in life. They deserve it.

"I learned it by watching you"

Nathan and I often joke about that old commercial where a father is getting after his son for smoking pot or something. He ends his lecture with "Who taught you how to do this stuff?" The son replies "You. I learned it from watching you!" Very dramatic, but we like to make fun of it.

Well, Rachel is saying "What in the heck are you doing" lately. I'm pretty sure that I didn't intentionally teach her that phrase, but I am also pretty sure she learned it from me.

Emily is saying "I need to tell you something." A phrase I wish she hadn't learned from Rachel because "I need to tell you something." really just means "I want your attention. Give me ten minutes so I can think of something to say."

Benjamin smiles at me when I am getting mad at him. A trick he learned because the first couple of times he did it I couldn't help but start laughing and he wasn't in trouble anymore. Now he thinks the trick will keep working. He hasn't figured out that I am on to him. He just keeps doing it. I have to tell him "It's not funny Ben" in my very sternest voice.

Sometimes it would be better if kids didn't pay such close attention.

How Emily Plays Hide and Seek

I suppose this is based on the premise "If I can't see them they can't see me". It's possible that Emily gained these amazing skills at playing hide and seek from Rachel, who was hiding and seeking with Ben earlier in the day. Rachel hid under a blanket in the front room. Ben was standing right next to her so she decided to throw him off her scent by yelling "I'm upstairs Ben." Then when that didn't get rid of him she changed her mind and yelled "I'm in my room, Ben."

Oh, October!

Well, this has probably been one of the most beautiful October's Utah has seen in awhile. Day after day of perfect fall weather and we enjoyed every minute. I can't believe it is already over.
We had fun tonight and learned a good lesson. After enjoying a short stint at the trunk or treat at our ward meeting house we decided to take the kids on a real trick or treating adventure. We drove to North Ogden and headed up the hill to a nice neighborhood. We knew we had done the right thing when the first house we went to offered us a choice of candy from a bowl filled with full size candy bars. Our kids were amazed. Needless to say, they came home with a load of nice candy. I am not sure we will bother with the trunk or treats anymore now that we have discovered where the real jackpots are found.
For those of you who are curious, my teaching career is going well. After a difficult beginning I am starting to get the hang of things and feeling more confident. It is definitely a wonderful experience for me to have. Enjoy the slide show.

Husband Tag. . . Just to Bring Me Back.

1. Full Name: Nathan Russell Baxter

2. How long have we been married: We just had our eighth anniversary, barely surviving the seven year itch.

3. How long did we date: If you don't know the story of how long we dated then you don't know me very well.

4. Who eats the sweets: Nathan likes some sugar, but mostly he eats potato chips. I am the one who could eat an entire meal at the dessert bar at Golden Corral. MMMMM.

5. Who said "I love you" first: Me. Of course. I can't keep my big mouth shut. I told him the night of graduation. While I think he was shocked he didn't write me off completely. I was too good of a kisser.

6. Who is taller: Nathan. Too bad, I always wanted to be taller.

7. Who sings better: For sure that is me, but Nate can hold a tune.

8. Who is smarter: I would have to say it depends on what kind of smarts. Nathan is good at science and history. I am good at talking. He is a little smarter but I got better grades.

9. Who does the laundry: Nate helps around the house all the time, but I hate it when he does the laundry. However, lately I don't get anything done, so he has been doing the laundry more than he should.

10. Who pays the bills: Me.

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: Nate sleeps there now, though we have traded depending on whether I am pregnant and need to have easy access to the bathroom or a babies room right after the baby is born.

12. Who mows the lawn: Mostly Nathan, but I have done it a number of times.

13. Who cooks dinner: Nate cooks most of the time right now, but when I wasn't working I cooked.

14. Who drives: I drive 75% of the time because I don't like to take care of the kids in the car.

15: Who admits they are wrong: Probably me, but Nate might disagree.

16: Who kissed who first: Nate gave me a tiny kiss the night of Preference, senior year. Slightly awkward moment.
17: Who asked who out first: I guess Nathan took me out first. We went to the groundbreaking for the Mount Timpanogos Temple. I didn't realize it was a date at the time. He spent the afternoon telling me "Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey. For instance "If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did." I was hooked.

18: Who wears the pants: Nate lets me think that I wear the pants, but really, the we share the load pretty equally when it comes to making decisions. Sometimes he lets me talk him into bad ideas though (like our last car purchase).

It Feels Like Forever

My life isn't as agreeable to blogging as it used to be. Unfortunately, that puts me way behind on things. Rachel had her fourth birthday. Nothing flashy, just a family party, but we gave her some good gifts. Nathan and I went away for a weekend. That was AWESOME!!!!!!! I didn't even fully comprehend how awesome it was until we got back home and took on our day to day duties again. We spent two days sleeping in Midway and playing in Park City. It was one of our best anniversaries we have had by far. A huge thanks to those who made it possible. Mom, Dad, Sandi, and Heather all pitched in to watch the kids and my parents donated a couple of days of their Worldmark timeshare to us.

Anatomy and Proper Names

Tonight as Ben was running naked after his bath he was paying a little too much attention to his special friend. Nate, wanting to teach his son good manners gently chided "Ben, stop playing with your thing." To which Ben matter a factly replied "Dad, it's not a thing," Nate and I waited patiently wondering how he had figured out the proper name for his little friend, but then Ben finished "it's a thingy." HAHAHAHAHA. It will be a sad day when he learns it's not really a thingy. Oh well.

Ben's Heading for the NFL

Ben started flag football this week. Of all the sports experiences he has had, I can see that this one is his favorite. He absolutely loves it. His first game he ran the ball. . . the wrong way. . . but he didn't give a hoot. He had the ball in his hands. Tonight was his second game. He chased someone down and got their flag. It was his first success at that and he was so proud. He ran up to Nate and described it in detail. Here is a little clip for you to enjoy.

I Couldn't Imagine Using It . . .

The time-out booth. The first time I saw it I couldn't imagine using it but then I was spit at, kicked, sworn at, hit, threatened with a ruler, threatened with teeth . . . and suddenly it became a lot easier to use. Three weeks into my career and despite the bad days I like it. Despite the children's somewhat erratic behavior I can't help but love them. And, despite my original cringing at the sight of the time-out booth, I find I am very grateful for it. Here are a couple other pics of my room just for fun.

Week Two and Counting!

Well, after a smashing start to my teaching career I have been running in to plentiful road blocks to my happiness. Children here and children there, driving me crazy everywhere. I can handle the hyper activity and the inability to focus. . . but I am struggling with the more severe anger management issues some of my students seem to have. Today was an especially frustrating day in which I spent over an hour with a student who was fighting on the playground. Following that incident the particular student continued to refuse to follow any instructions or take any responsibility. Instead he spent an hour pretending he was a wild animal. In the end, all I can do is get up in the morning and wipe the slate clean. Start over. 4 out of 5 days are manageable. I read the story "The Little Engine that Could" to my kids this morning. That's how I feel tonight. The hill is huge and the load is heavy but "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can". In the end I am doing this hoping that I will make some kids life better, even if it is only one. These kids need somewhere to go and be educated. They struggle in the regular classroom. I can handle them and love them and hopefully teach them something. I really believe that. It will just take getting through the occasional horrible day in the process.

Celebrating Six!

As I made this little album of Ben's first years I realized once again what a blessing he is to our family. He can be so crazy, but he has such a soft heart and is an amazing big brother. We have had such fun with him. And this year, especially, I am blessed to be near him at school. It has brought us closer together. He comes to see me a couple times a day at school to "check on" me. It is so sweet. We just love him so much. Happy Birthday Benny Boy!!!

I'm Here, I'm There, I'm Everywhere

That's how I have felt the last few weeks. My brain has been on major overload. At least the anxiety is letting up now that school has actually started. I have 6 kids in my class so far. All of them are manageable. . . except one girl who I am having trouble with. My class assistant is named Norma. She is great and worked in a behavior unit in the high school for about 8 years. She just does whatever. I never have to tell her that this or that needs to be done. I really like her and I am thankful to have her.
Anyway, give me a month and I will hopefully have the class working well. Until then I continue to arrive early and stay late. Poor Nate.

Speaking of the stay at home daddy Nathan. I have to say that he has been incredible. He has taken over a lot of my previous duties and the girls are loving being with their daddy. He takes them out everyday and makes sure they stay happy.

I did have to laugh today though. When I got home there was a bottle with milk in it on the counter. I called up to Nathan and asked what was up? His reply. "That's what Emily wanted today." The thing is, we took Emily's bottle away about 9 months ago. He seemed to think it was no big deal but to me, I simply couldn't believe he would give her a baba. In fact, she saw it and asked me for it just a few minutes later. When I said no she threw a tantrum and would have nothing to do with me for a while afterward. I promptly threw all the bottles in the garbage. She won't be getting one of those again.

Benjamin is liking the new school and it is a lot of fun to see him there. I try to keep my distance but I love it when I get to watch him on the playground. He comes to my classroom after school and helps me get ready to go home. I am really proud of him. He is just a good kid.

In other news, we changed around the kids sleeping situation. Benjamin now has his own bedroom upstairs and Emily has moved downstairs with Rachel. Everyone is struggling to adjust. Ben, who didn't worry at all about the dark downstairs, is suddenly afraid of it. Rachel also gets scared now that she is the biggest kid in the room. Emily simply can't get used to having someone in the room with her when she is going to bed. She just wants to play. Crazy days.

Last but not least, I had a mission reunion last weekend. It was really neat to see that once a close mission always a close mission. And, the old mission President was still amazing. Even Nate, who dreaded the whole event, was impressed. Juliet, one of my closest friends and old companions came to sleep over that night. We stayed up late talking. I enjoyed having her at my house so much. Thanks for coming Juliet. It was so much fun.

That's it for now. If you made it to the end of this novel then you must truly care about my life. Ciao!

Just for the "Twilight" Fans

Here is a little humor for you "Twilight" fans. I thought it was funny, but it's possible I am just really bored.

Don't Be Jealous

Ok now, don't get all jealous, but I am currently on vacation. No, I am not in Hawaii or California. I am at home while Nathan and the kids camp for 3 days. Yes, I have three whole days to myself. I started some teacher training this week so I was forced (I could just cry buckets of tears) to stay home while the rest of my clan went to Payson Lakes. Now, Payson Lakes would have been fun, but when you compare it to the option of being alone and not worrying about kids for three days. . . frankly, there is no comparison.
Maybe you are wondering what I will do with my free time. Well, I am cleaning up all of the annoying piles of junk around my house and filling Nathan's truck with stuff for DI all while I watch as many chick flicks as possible. I started with the BBC version of Sense and Sensibility last night. I know, it may seem like I could have thought of something better to do, but to be honest, I have been wishing someone would take away my kids for quite some time so that I could seriously spring clean. So, I am happy.
It would have been nice though, if some of you lovely ladies lived near by. We could have done a ladies night. Oh well. Maybe someday.

Logan, Still Part of Home

This week I packed up the kids for a day trip to Logan. We lived there for three years and had great friends that I really miss. Myself and these other two women, Korby and Medina, lived in the same condo area for a couple of years. We got together frequently to just hang out and talk about whatever came to mind. When we got together this week, even though its been a while since we've seen each other, it was like we had never parted. In fact, we had such a good time catching up that the afternoon passed away like a minute and suddenly four hours had gone by. We were all surprised. Thanks for the good time ladies. Let's do it again soon.

Jordanelle 2008

This is always a fun family reunion with the Stalker side. We have been doing it for about 8 or 9 years now and this is the first year I braved trying to ski behind the boat. Well, it wasn't really skiing but I can't remember what that board was called. Anyway, I payed dearly for my adventurous spirit. Sore muscles for several days. We all had a blast. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa and Sandi and Scott who provide all the toys.

Girls Play While the Boys are Away

The Boys went camping. Ben has been asking Nate when they were going to do their "just the boys" camping trip ever since summer started. Finally, last weekend they braved the wilderness. I don't think Ben could have loved anything more. He came home and told me all about their "stars game". Who ever saw the next star to appear was the winner until there were so many stars that they couldn't play anymore.

Now, the girls can't just sit around while the boys have fun. . . so we met up with Aunt Tiffany, Sophie, and Gracie to build bears and have dinner. Those girls walking down the mall packing their little bears on their backs was so adorable. I can't tell you how many looks we got walking through that mall.

Writer's Block

I've been staring at my blog for several days now, trying to come up with something to add. Unfortunately, I am just all blocked up. I need some inspiration . . . I need a vacation. If I could go anywhere in the world right now I would go to Bolzano.





Unbelievably, I lived there for 3 months. It is simply the most charming, beautiful, peaceful place I've ever seen. I wish I was there.

Where do you go to have fun?

What fun we had playing the other night. And where, you may ask, did we have all this fun. Duh! At the rest stop of course. It is the totally cool place to hang out these days. You have just got to go there!

MMM. . . Chocolate!

What happens when you leave your children to make chocolate milk while you are in the shower?

Wild Fourth

We really packed it in on the July 4th. I am still recovering. Balloons, parade, picnic lunch, rafting on Provo river, bar-b-que dinner, and fireworks at Thanksgiving Point. The kids didn't get to bed until after midnight. Crazy, but hopefully we made some good memories.

A Sacrament Story

I remember how cool I thought those little sacrament cups were when I was little. Well, my children are no different. It is always hard to pry them away from their little hands. A couple of weeks ago we were participating in the sacrament service with our children who were, of course, the perfect picture of reverence (haha). Ben had his sacrament cup sucked into his mouth so I reminded him that it needed to go back into the tray. Ben prepared to power shoot the sacrament cup out of his mouth into the tray. Ahhh, thought I. "Stop! Do you know where your spit will go if you spit that out of you mouth?"
And what was Ben's reply. "Yes. To Jesus."
Not exactly the answer that I was looking for, but on the bright side, at least he knows the sacrament has something to do with Jesus.

Cool Summer Fun

We went swimming this week. It was a blast and way better than just sitting around in the heat. The pools these days are ideal for the younger crowd. The playground speaks for itself and even Emily is tall enough to stand on her own in most of the pool. Where were pools like this when I was young? Man, this generation of children are sure lucky!

Bathroom Buddies

Oh, the night time routine of getting ready for bed. But, occasionally it is entertaining. Like tonight for instance. We were cleaning up the kids room when Rachel jumps up and says "I have to pee." Next thing I know Ben says "I have to pee too." Then the bright idea comes from my oh so adorable daughter. "Let's do it at the same time." Why this comment did not immediately register in my mind as something I should stop, I do not know. It wasn't until I heard the laughing and gentle fall of water that I got up to look. Oh yes. It is true. Rachel was sitting sideways on the toilet leaving Ben just enough room to do his business right along with her. And when a little of Ben's urine hit Rachel's backside . . . what did she do. Was she disgusted. Did she scream in horror as I might have. Umm. . .no. She laughed and said "You peed on me." I'm sorry for the graphic nature of this story and NO. I did not teach my children this fabulous trick. They came up with it all on their own.

Fun Stuff

We had front row seats at the Ogden Raptors Opening Game. It was fun. Well, the game was a bore, but being there was fun. I don't know how baseball players do it. I'd say 75% of the time they just stand around.



























Saturday night we went to the drive-in to see Kung Fu Panda. The movie was actually good. Ben especially loved it. We didn't get home until midnight which was way to late for the one year old. I had to laugh because when the movie finally started Rachel was confused. She wanted to know when we would be going inside to watch the movie. I am not sure what she thought the big screen with a movie playing on it was for and why we had brought pillows and blankets for the back of Nate's truck. Oh well, as soon as the movie really started she seemed satisfied. Yea Motor-Vu Drive-In!

Let's Play Beauty Salon

Rachel before she gave herself a haircut.














Rachel after some time in her homemade beauty salon.
"Why did you cut your hair?!?"
"Because my hair kept getting in my eyes."











Rachel after going to the real beauty salon.
"These people went to school to learn how to cut hair" I told her.














Thank you, oh thank you Master Cuts.

Silver Lake

Nathan called today and said he was going to be home early so I obviously started thinking about what we could do.




















I have been dying to go hiking so we thought we would head to Little Cottonwood Canyon and hike to Mary Lake.




















Unfortunately, we didn't know we would need snow shoes. . . so we walked around Silver Lake.




















The kids thought it was an excellent adventure because we had to climb over lots of snow. I never once heard and "I'm tired." In fact, when we suggested that we go back because of the snow they begged us to go forward.




















We had a great time.