Line 'em Up

Just a cute picture of Bracken being Bracken.

Short yet Sweet

Yesterday we had some special visitors come to our house.  

My Mom has been down in Queen Creek this week visiting her family for the year anniversary of Grandpa Bluth's passing and they decided to drive up North and spend the afternoon with us.  It was great to have them in our home to chat and enjoy playing in the beautiful weather.

My cousin Tamaron and her adorable little boy Conrad came up too.  It is always fun to see her and reconnect.  We were born 9 days apart and spent a good chunk of every summer playing Barbies, swimming, eating, playing hide'n'seek, and reveling in the great outdoors at our Grandparent's home in Mexico together.

Four generation picture with my beautiful Mother and Grandma.

When Mom leaves...

...things can go South pretty fast!

Wii Fun

Who needs a Wii wheel when you can use Mommy's new headphones?

Not Marco.

Headphones are awesome!

Christmas 2013

Christmas Eve we enjoyed our usual feast with a new movie (Monsters University!) and it was wonderful.  The boys were full of wonder and excitement and we drank in every moment of it.  After we tucked them in around 8:40 pm I settled in for some stocking stuffing, but soon found my eyes growing increasingly heavy.  I laid my head back on the couch to rest for just a little bit.  

Five hours later my eyes flew open in a panic.  Curtis was asleep at the kitchen table, big surprise there, so I woke him up and these two little elves got busy at 2 am!  Let's just say there was one item that needed some assembly and a few bows and tags that needed to be placed before Santa had officially visited our home.  I was sure that Nathan was going to walk into the living room at any moment and I had no idea how I was going to talk my way out of that one.

Finally at 3:30 am everything was stuffed, hung, placed, tied and ready to roll!  We took our annual "Santa's Little Helpers" photo and tucked ourselves in for a few more hours of sleep.  At 4:50 am Nathan came tiptoeing into our room whispering that he didn't think Santa had come to our house yet because everything was still dark.  We decided to try something new this year by turning off all the Christmas lights and barricading the way into the living room to throw the kids for a loop.  I guess it worked because it bought us a little bit more sleep.  We promised Nathan that if he slept with us till at least 6:30 it would give Santa enough time to visit our home and allow his little brothers their much needed rest.  Curtis went immediately back into a deep slumber but Nathan kept me half awake with little updates about what time it was.  "Mom, it's 5:10." "Mom, now it's 5:27." And so forth, you get the picture.

We officially started our Christmas Morning around 7 am.  We let the boys enjoy their Santa gifts and their stockings first.  Then before we got carried away with opening presents we had family prayers and watched The Nativity video.  The rest of the morning proceeded as usual with lots of surprised whoops and hollers as the boys finally revealed what was wrapped up in all those boxes.  

One fun twist we added this year was labeling our gifts in reindeer name code.  I assigned each family member a reindeer name and as I wrapped Christmas presents I would label it accordingly "To: Dasher, From: Mom & Dad".  Using the code eliminated comparison issues.  It didn't matter who had the biggest gift under the tree, because nobody knew who it really belonged to.  When I revealed who was who on Christmas morning, Nathan was a bit disappointed because the biggest gift was not his, but he soon learned that good things come in small packages too. 

After all the gifts were opened Papi made some egg and sausage croissants for breakfast and they were delicious.  We also enjoyed a Skype session with Tia Marci in Arkansas and Grandma King, Grandpa King, Tio Kendal, and Tia Aubrey in Idaho.

We also enjoyed a Christmas Brunch hosted by Brian and Emily for the entire Kleinman Klan.  There was yummy food galore and great people to share it with.  

In the evening Tio Dan, Tia Chelsea, James and Sam came over to our house for a little visit since they were in town for Christmas again this year.  Time with their sweet family is precious and we take them any time we can get them!

All in all it was a great whirlwind of family, food and more family.  Just the way Christmas Day should be.

Kleinman Family Newsletter 2013

Keeping It Simple

The theme for this year has been “less is more”.  Our little house seems to shrink as our family expands, and Courtney is ever looking for ways to downsize here and de-clutter there.  With these tough economic times, we’re all trying to do our part to “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”

Nathan (6 years) is doing with less these days as well, less teeth.  Our little boy is growing up and growing out of his baby teeth.  We’ve enjoyed listening to his new slurred speech and are looking forward to the awkward “big teeth” Lifetouch portraits that will inevitably follow; you know, the ones that we’ll pull out when his first girlfriend is brought home for dinner.  In that vein Nathan, came home from 1^st grade last month and said, “Dad, I have two friends at school who are girls, and I don’t know which one to marry.”  With some prodding from me, he eventually decided on the one who likes Ninja Turtles more—wise choice.

It is tough to talk about Nathan without mentioning Bracken.  Their love/hate relationship has only grown deeper with the passing of time.  One of their favorite games is called “Bonky” and it is entirely of their own invention.  Here’s what they do.  They both go to their bed and take the pillow off of their mattress.  They then go into the living room and slide the pillowcase over their heads so that the soft pillow creates a buffer between their faces and “bonk-able” objects.  Then, the object of the game is, and I quote, to “just go around and bonk into everybody”.  They keep playing until someone needs stitches or mom walks into the room, whichever comes first.  I especially enjoy it when, in the heat of bonking, the soft pillow rotates around to the back of the head, leaving the bonker completely unaware of his vulnerability.  In this very condition Bracken ran face long into our entertainment center and nearly knocked himself cold.  Yeah, as you might imagine, we’ve pretty much already abandoned all hope of valedictorian for these two . . . well . . . I guess, unless we home school.   

We’ve come to recognize Bracken (4 years) as 100% Kleinman.  He’s a sturdy little boy with a hard head and a proclivity for losing his temper.  We should have named him “Crashen” as large booms and crashes are his norm.  I used to call home every day around noon and start the conversation with, “has Bracken got his stubbed toe yet today?”  Nevertheless, some would say that they’ve seen a softer side of him lately.  Whenever he gets the chance he totes around a little antique Cabbage Patch doll named Jill that Courtney played with as a girl.  But don’t be fooled!  Bracken isn’t honing his nurturing side; he’s in the business of forming up new Jedi.  Bracken considers himself a kind of Qui Gon Jinn, and he’s doing Jill a favor by taking her on as his padawan.  “How’s Jill coming along?” I ask Bracky.  “Perdy good.  She’s getting good with a light saver”.  “Oh, you’re teaching her to use a light saber huh?”  “Yep, she’s getting berry good.  We’re killing lots of bad guys”.  Carry on Bracken, carry on.

Marco is our busiest almost-two-year-old ever.  He’s into high risk and high reward.  He’s a climber.  If he’s ever quiet for too long, you’ll find that he’s scaled some sheer cabinetry face just because it was there.  Marco has a special weakness for things with cords.  Recently, in a rush to leave for church, I said, “Okay, everyone go and get ONE toy to bring with you to church.”  Bracken came back toting a Rescue Bot, Nathan had a coloring book and Marco came around the corner clutching, wait for it, the blender.  Ear buds, power cords, USB adapters, they’re all fair game to Marco.  We joke that soon we’ll have to roll a big cat-yarn ball of black wiring over to the outlet and try about fifteen plugs in the wall before we’ll be able to boot-up my lap-top.  Marco’s favorite playmate though is our Dyson vacuum.  Friends have become used to seeing it out at our house at all hours of the day because Marco becomes furious when we put it away.  He pulls it and pushes it and calls it BFF.  We pull it up to the table like Dyson is staying for dinner.  We’ve even considered adding Dyson to the dishes chart. 

One phenomenon that mystifies Courtney and me with these three is our food budget.  We try to be especially careful to do more with less when it comes to food, but it’s tough.  Nathan has not quite reached bottomless pit status yet, but he’s definitely at the depth of that jail-pit that Christian Bale has to climb out of in The Dark Knight Rises, you know, the one with all the creepy fellow inmates that cheer him on, and if he reaches the top he’s found his inner strength orb, or something like that.  Marco, pound for pound, can also put away the groceries (his first word was “pizza” if that tells you anything), but Bracken is a finicky eater, on a good day.  Yet Nathan and Marco are skinny little rails, and Bracken is stout with adorable pudgy cheeks.  It’s like everything Nathan eats sticks to Bracken, it’s the most amazing phenomenon—we wish we could harness this power and pedal it in the lucrative fad dieting market—“Eat all you want, and watch your husband gain the weight!”    

            

Courtney has led the way with the “less-is-more” philosophy.  She has made a huge effort to cut back in areas that are unnecessary.  She has all but stopped teaching piano, she has stopped clipping coupons and she has even stopped showering, okay, not that last one, but some days she doesn’t check personal hygiene off the list until 1pm (nap time).  But truly, we have been working on saying “No” more, as she wisely realized that we have been living for far too long on what she calls “survival mode” without taking time to enjoy life.  I think this happens to all of us from time-to-time.  Now she enjoys focusing on her little nursery kids at church and making our house a home.  She especially loves making our healthy meals and exercising.  Her calendar is filled with running, Zumba and yoga and she has begun to train for a ___K (distance TBA) in 2014.  We’ll let you know when she makes the cover of Runner’s World.  Sorry for forgetting to apprise you when she was the featurette on BH&G.  Stay trendy by following her on Pinterest.   

And finally, I’ve cut back too.  After months of vacillation, I finally made an executive decision—I cancelled breakfast.  Yep, I knew it was time when my bagel kept getting soggy in the shower.  Life is crazy, and mornings are the craziest, and honestly, it’s better this way.  I can say right now that I haven’t missed it.  But you know who does miss breakfast, the 10:30am Curtis.  That Curtis misses breakfast with a wicked vengeance.  In seriousness though, these last six months have seen me very busy.  I usually fall asleep with the midnight APS bill blaring, cuddled up to the warm glow of my computer monitor and 239 pages of “t”s typed by my face.  I often arrive at my classroom, feel for the familiar bulge of my keys and pull out . . . Optimus Prime.  I don’t know what you know about higher ed, but it’s definitely no place for Optimus.  Despite our busyness, we remind ourselves that graduate school, work, and church service are all worth it when we look into the soft brown eyes of our three favorite little medical liabilities.  We wouldn’t change our lives for all the gold protected by that scary dragon in The Hobbit . . . maybe the Arkenstone though. 

  

Well, if you’ve made it this far, either you really love us, or you have nothing important going on in your life; either way, we love you back!  Now, the important part.  From our family to yours, may we keep the Savior in our hearts during this holiday season.  We pray that each of us will peer into the soft eyes of children this Christmas and appreciate the spark of wonder that resides there.  Wonder for lights, and jingle bells, and for a tiny baby, born in a humble manger, whom Mary comforted and who grew into a man who continually comforts us all!  Let’s remember Him this year, and always!  --  With all our love--  Curtis, Courtney, Nathan, Bracken and Marco!    

Family Pictures 2013

Mesa Temple Lights

One week before Christmas we made it down to the Mesa Arizona Temple to see us some Christmas lights.

Before we made it to the Temple we stopped to visit Uncle Brent at his home in Phoenix, ate dinner at McDonalds (not our first choice but it was food) and stopped at Target to do our little family gift exchange shopping and grab some shoes for Marco since we left the house without some.  First time for everything right!

The lights were beautiful as always.  Nathan and Bracken noticed every little detail and Marco tried to walk on or pick up the lights in the ground cover.