Rollercoasters: No Fun at All

Even on a roller coaster, Curtis finds a way to have no fun at all.

Anniversary

13 years ago today.

Fast Sunday

Tate: Is today Fast Sunday? Me: No. Tate: Boo. I hate Slow Sunday!

Sunday School

Sunday School: Learning the names of every MLB team.

Picture Day

Most important day of the season. 

Traci and Tate Spend a Lot of Daytime Hours Together

When a Four-Year-Old is Your Best Buddy

I'm pretty lucky to have a little guy who wants to spend every minute of every day with me. 

We do lots of fun stuff together. We play football and soccer. We play drums and guitars and ukuleles (which are the perfect size for a preschooler). We walk to church and go to Home Depot and mow the lawn. We make paper airplanes and watch hockey and play the Wii. It's awesome. 

But sometimes things just get a little too familiar. 

Like last night when he said excitedly, "Dad, dad! Guess what?! I used your toothbrush!" 

Or when I tried to go into the bathroom by myself and he insisted on coming along. "Buddy," I explained. "I just need to go in by myself for a self for a second."

"I'll just come with you," he replied. 

"But what if I need to poop," I whispered. 

"That's okay," he whispered back. "I'll just hide in the tub."

Which he did. 

I guess that's what best buddies do. 

Manifestogram

First year of preschool is officially in the books.

Manifestogram

Curtis' special place: My backyard.

Manifestogram

A lady an a bug.

Manifestogram

Sutherlands on Mars.

Manifestogram

Looks like Paige is already preparing to be a Buzzfeed writer when she grows up. She made this quiz for Curtis and Tate last night.

Manifestogram

Somehow, what starts as soccer always ends as pro wrestling.

Paige's Acting Debut

Paige was born for the stage. She started dancing when she was four [video]. She had her first piano recital when she was five. And she started singing in the school choir when she was seven. But this weekend was her biggest moment so far. Her big theatrical debut.

For the past eight months, she's been rehearsing for a play called Frostbite (which is in no way affiliated with Frozen, despite starring main characters who just happen to be named Anna and Elsa).

Paige had two roles: Lily Bo Peep and Snowman in a Hat. The world has never seen two more confident and animated characters. She knew her lines, hit her marks, and had the jazziest jazz hands of anyone on in the cast.

When she walked off the stage, she was absolutely beaming.

So were we. Proud dad and mom moment, for sure.

Mother's Day

Curtis can be incredibly sweet sometimes. He made this little Mother's Day card for Traci at school. But it was more than just a card, it also included coupons for stuff like a free back rub, a hug, and a song. 

After Traci thanked him, Curtis looked at her quietly asked, "Is there a coupon you want to use right now?"

"How 'bout a free hug?" Traci replied.

"You have to use the coupon."

She used the coupon. 

Tough but fair. 

...

Tate's Mother Day gift wasn't quite as sweet. 

On Mother's Day Eve, he fell asleep on our bed. Traci and I were downstairs watching TV and had kind of forgotten about him -- until we heard a bunch of screaming and crying. 

When we got upstairs, we saw that Tate had thrown up over every surface of our bedroom, with Traci's side of the bed being the epicenter. I took kid clean up duty. Traci was stuck with laundry details -- four loads after all was said and done. 

Happy Mother's Day, indeed. 

Manifestogram

If anyone needs some help with their Dutch skills, this little gem will soon be available at the Deseret Industries in Murray. #springcleaning

Curtis on Religion: Hymns

Curtis told me he wasn't going to listen to General Conference. True to his word, he played the iPad for pretty much the whole session. But that doesn't mean he wasn't listening. As conference ended, the organist played a postlude of Families Can be Together Forever. 

Without looking up from his game, Curtis said, "I don't even know this song. Every time we sing it in Primary, I don't listen. And I just mouth the words."

So there you have it.
---
In sacrament meeting the next week, all the kids were asked to come up and sing that very song. Paige marched up to the front. Curtis, as usual, refused to participate and instead hid under our pew. Tate, now a Sunbeam, had his first chance to sing with the Primary choir--but he was asleep on my lap.

We're not great at church.

Back on the Pitch

Today was the first day of Spring soccer. Tate was so excited about his new uniform that he hadn't taken it off since he first got it on Tuesday (he's even been sleeping in it).

Given my gimpy hip, I decided not to coach his team this season. It was nice to be able to just relax and watch Tate play. I've never seen a kid who spends more time smiling while he runs around. He had a hard time following the ball because he was too busy grinning--not at us, just at life in general. 

Tate also spends a lot of time falling down (he's learned from his older brother that ending every run with a dive or dramatic roll makes soccer way more fun). 

He did manage to score a goal--it was during a timeout, but he didn't know that and there was need to tell him otherwise--and that made him even happier. 

After all of that running and smiling, he went to bed exhausted--wearing his uniform, of course.

What's the Opposite of a Selfie?

It's nice to have a kid who is now old enough to take pictures. Paige snapped this shot of us--on her fourth try. The first had her finger in it. The second and third were blurry. But with her last attempt, she got this gem: A picture of a husband and wife who are happy, despite being generally exhausted all the time.

Manifestogram: Birthday Eve

The face of a boy who is six for just one more day.

Night at the RioT

Thanks to tickets from work, we had some sweet Real Salt Lake seats on the fourth row, right next to the Goal Gong.

Afternoon at the Art Museum

Paige preparing a masterpiece

Our life isn't always hockey games and monster truck shows. Sometimes we get a little bit of culture.

It was Families Free Saturday, so we spent the afternoon at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. The staff always tries to make the exhibit interactive and fun, but some collections are better suited to kids than others.

Latino protest art is a toughy.

Manifestogram: Baseball Days

The boys had a great time at the baseball game.

Manifestogram: Weezer

Island in the Sun just came up on the shuffle. Paige said,"I don't really care for Weezer anymore." My heart is breaking.

Manifestogram: The Four-Year-Old

Happy birthday to our favorite four-year-old!

Manifestogram: Tennis

What do you call the tennis version of Friday Night Lights...on Saturday?

Manifestogram: St. George

Go figure: About a gazillion other people thought St. George would make a great Spring Break destination, too. A bit crowded, but these monkeys don't seem to mind.

Manifestogram: Spring Break

Dear Spring Break, I hope you're ready for the Sutherlands.

Manifestogram: The Bosstones

The other night I had a dream that the congregation was singing "The Impression that I Get" in sacrament meeting. I found this incredibly curious until an old lady in the ward told me that the Church had licensed the Bosstones' entire back catalog and now all their songs were in the hymn book. I was happy to hear that my tithing dollars had been spent wisely.

Here's hoping we sing "Hell of a Hat" on Sunday.

Manifestogram: Paige the Artist

I absolutely love everything about Paige's artwork.

Manifestogram: Reading

Who knew that a headlamp was all it would take to finally get Curtis excited about reading?

Manifestogram: Butler

Nothing's funnier to a three-year-old and his six-year-old brother than a jersey that says butt-ler. Snicker, snicker, snicker.

Tate's Transgressions (or De Overtredingen van Tate)

When I got home from work, the Wii was missing. So I knew things were bad. 

Tate is no stranger to trouble. Referring to SpongeBob Square Pants as "Butt Butt Butt Pants," for example, gets him a stern look. Hitting his brother gets him sent into timeout. When he's really bad, the Wii gets taken away. 

Luckily Paige, our family's second mother--or more accurately, the resident narc--documented all of the reasons for Tate's punishment: 

• Hit Curtis
• Bit me
• Using bad language
• Yelling at mom
• Putting the remote in your pants
• Trying to pull down my pants
• Fighting with Curtis
• Throwing  ball at Curtis
• Making a mess
• Nearly ruining my homework
• Stepped on Curtis
• Threw tantrum
• Spitting
• Lying 
• Making me write this list

Sounds like a busy afternoon. 

It's pretty clear that the punishment fit the (many) crime(s). But the real victim here is me. 

Tate and I play Super Mario 3 on the Wii every night. After weeks of work, we'd finally made it to level 7. When Traci unplugged the Wii, we lost all of our progress. Just like that. 

It's a dark, dark day in the Sutherland house. 

A dark, dark day. 

Manifestogram: The Artist Department

Paige just made her first business card. I'm impressed by her marketing skills. Now we just need to work on her pricing model.

Manifestogram: Football Guy

NFL bound.

Manifestogram: Sunrise

The payoff for getting up early to go to physical therapy.

Curtis shows off his masterpiece (and his forehead band-aid) at the school art show

Maybe the Yankees Should Consider Horizontal Stripes

If you're Tate, pajamas are the right outfit for anything.

Birthday Boy

As a rule, Curtis doesn't show a lot of emotion. But at 7:30 a.m. he shuffled into my room, holding his blanket. He pushed his head into my chest and gave me a small squeeze. A hug. He turned around and shuffled back out.

Once you reach age 25 (when you can rent a car without paying extra), there isn't a lot of benefit to having a birthday. It's jut a reminder that you're getting old--old enough to need glasses, to lose your hair, to have hip surgery. But there is one great thing. How much your kids love it.

Tate on (Soft) Rock

Tate: If I have a band, I'm not going to have speakers. Because the speakers make it too loud. Dad, why do you have speakers in your band? Why can't you be more quiet? 

---

Tate: If I have a band, it's gonna be called The Toots. Tate's Toots.

Piano Lessons

Paige hates playing the piano. And she reminds of this fact every single time she has to practice. 

This afternoon, as I was driving her to a piano recital at the University of Utah, she asked, "When can I quit piano?"

My Little Buddy

It's nice to have a mini-me.

Our Romantic Valentine's Day Adventure

How did the Sutherlands celebrate Valentine's Day? With a trip to the monster truck show, of course.

Traci had to work today, so I figured the best thing for me to do was to take the boys to Monster Jam at the Energy Solutions Arena. Though Paige made it very clear that she does not like monster trucks, she agreed to go as well.

Hip Recovery: Day 9

Bringing sexy back: ice machine, compression socks, and a Bluth's Frozen Bananas t-shirt

Alright. Here's what's happened since my last hip update:

Hip Surgery: Day 4

The hip surgery went well. Better than expected, actually. I'm now four days into the recovery and feeling pretty good--as long as I lie still on my bed and keep the ice machine running the required 22 hours per day.

A Date to the Rock Show

My last year of college, I got my first PR job. I worked at Salt Lake Community College for a great guy named Joy, who plays music with a guy named Eric, in a band (cleverly) named joy&eric. 

The other night, Joy invited me to his next show. I gladly accepted and let him know I'd be bringing Paige. 

My Hips Don't Lie

Apparently my hips are on backwards. Seriously.

So on Tuesday--a few weeks shy of my 35th birthday--I will be having hip surgery.

It all started innocently enough. I was having some soreness on the outside of my left hip. I thought I had just tweaked it playing basketball or something. It didn't hurt too bad, but it bugged me quite a bit. And it just wouldn't go away.

Luckily, my friend RB came to the rescue. He's in Utah for his last year of medical training, specializing in hips. Last time I saw him, I suckered him into giving me an impromptu hip examination (in the visitors' center at the Salt Lake Temple).

"Huh," he said, followed by a pause. "It's probably not a big deal, but you might want to get some x-rays just to make sure."

I didn't really want to get x-rays to make sure, I just wanted the pain do go away with me actually doing anything.

But it didn't.

So I got the x-ray. RB looked at it and said I needed to go to a hip doctor--and actually hooked me up with the specialist he's training with.

Chilly, Chilly St. George

How do you get rid of the post-Christmas blues in Salt Lake City? Take a trip to sunny St. George, of course.

On New Year's Day, we headed south for the weekend. There was just one problem. St. George was sunny, but it wasn't much warmer than Salt Lake.

This wasn't our first winter to trip to Southern Utah, so we know what "cold" feels like there. It's usually in the 50s or 60s, which is too cold for swimming (we tried last time) but great for playing outside at the park or going for a hike in Snow Canyon.

Unfortunately, when we got to the condo, it was just 34 degrees. And it never got much warmer than that. Because it was too cold for most outdoor stuff, we had to figure out had to stay entertained indoors.

So here's what we did:

It's a Pearson family tradition to go bowling on New Year's Day morning. Though we missed it this year, we spent the evening at the bowling alley in St. George. Good times had by all.

We also made our first visit to the Wildlife Museum. The kids were instantly hooked, thanks to the little plastic binoculars they got to wear and the radios they got to carry with the pre-recorded tour narration.

The learning didn't end there. We headed north to Leeds, where we visited the abandoned mining town of Silver Reef. Not too much to see, but we had a good time all the same.



By day three, we had kind of run out of things to do in St. George, so we headed to Las Vegas. How do you entertain three little kids (especially two little boys) in Vegas? Go up and down a million escalators, throw in some elevators, and take a two-minute tram ride from the Mirage to Treasure Island and you've got yourself a pretty entertaining day. Add in a visit to the Lego store at the Fashion Show Mall and a trip to M&M World and Las Vegas is pretty much the best place in the world. (Though Paige did have a few questions about various people we saw on the street, including the bearded old fat man wearing a wedding dress and the legless woman playing the accordion and singing opera.)



Tate had such a good time he couldn't help but do a little interpretative dance.



Despite the disappointing weather, it was a great getaway.