SON


How can I ever repay you

for what you’ve given me?

A daily opportunity

to change the world

for the better

simply by spending time

with the person I love the most..
 
Dallas Clayton

Wanna win some Sweet Stuff?

My friend Lynsee and her friend started an etsy shop The Pretty Poppy.  They also have a blog where they show how to do and make all sorts of cool stuff.  Right now they are giving away a necklace and earrings and possibly a $50 gift certificate to Antropolgie.  So hurry and go check it out NOW!!

http://www.theprettypoppy1.blogspot.com/

or go to Etsy and look at ThePrettyPoppy

Okay Bye.

Phew..........Glad that's done

I am now caught up on our summer's worth of blog posts.  Be sure to go back and read about all our adventures. 

Hey Tyson you can get off my back now. 
P.S.  Don't you have a swingset to build?  What has it been like 4 years? 
Love, Wifey

Kindergarten

I heard the front door slam, and that big yellow school bus took my boy away.  Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got til it's gone.  

I snuck over with a friend to make sure he was ok.  He was, I wasn't.....

Nixon is so smart

One day the boys were coloring and practicing writing.  Nixon was so proud to show me this.  I love this kid.

Also known as POOP.

I'm a Spudman

In January of this year I registered to participate in the Burley Spudman Triathlon.  The race is a 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and 6 mile run.  I started to train in February.  Having never swam or rode a bike more than a few miles at a time, I was a bit freaked.  And so began my everyday journey to the rec center.  All other priorities were put on the back burner until my training was done for the day.  On July 31 at 7:30 am I was treading water in the Snake river with about 300 other women in my heat.  Overcome by panic, I flipped on my back and floated the first ten minutes of race on my back.  Thanks to the current I finished with an okay time despite me thinking I was going to die.  The bike was cake, the run was horrible and I finished beating my goal of 3 hours.  Official time 2:58:51.  I couldn't walk for about a week after. 

Looking pretty fly in the bike shorts. 

My family that didn't even get to see me cross the finish line:(

Next stop Dirty Dash on September 18.  Here I come mud.

30 is Dumb

I turned 30 on May 5th.  It was stupid.  I am old, have stretch marks, no college degree, mom boobs, and drive a mini-van.  I got no presents and got no cake.  GOOOOO 30.  Booooooooooooo.

4th of July

On July 3rd we went to a Boise Hawks baseball game.  We had awesome seats.  The fireworks after the game were pretty sweet.  On the fourth we shot off fireworks at our house and tried our best to annoy all our neighbors.

At the game.  It was all a dream.......

Hey grandma's am I a good mom?  Look what I am letting my kids do!

Hitching a Ride

One of Ledger's favorite things to do outside!  Ride on the back of the trike with Trey. 

What do ya know Nixon pulling Ledge's hair.

Nixon's Birthday

On July1, Nixon turned 4!!  He is a funny lil guy.  Still barely weighing in at 30 lb.  He loves to play games with Trey.  His best friends are the same as Trey's whoever that might be for the day.  He likes to help me cook.  He likes to read books to his favorite toys, and lines them up to watch cartoons with him.  He loves animals, especially his kitty :(  He wakes up everyday and asks if he can get a puppy.  He is a pest to Ledger and is often caught taking cheap shots at him, whether it is pulling his hair, tripping him, and whatever else I haven't caught him doing yet!  He misses Trey terribly when he is at school, and is very anxious to start preschool on September 9th.  He loves to read books. He loves to go swimming at the rec center.  He gets shy and embarassed easy, and when he does he sticks his tongue in his check and looks down.  He is on prayer patrol at our house, and not a meal is skipped with a blessing being said.  He is also obsessed with taking his vitamins, and reminds me everyday that he needs to take them.  We sure love him a lot with his cute little dimples and sweet laugh.

Opening the gifts from Grandma Nancy.  She always spoils them rotten!

If you zoom you can see Nixon's tongue in his cheek.  He does this when he gets shy, or embarassed.

L-R Porter, Asher, Shaydon,Ethan, Trey  He wanted a Lightning McQueen Birthday.

Opening his presents. 

Working with Dad

On some of his longer work trips Tyson takes the pop-up trailor to sleep in.  Fun stuff.  He finished up some projects in Nevada.  On one of his trips there he was able to take Trey and Nixon with him.  The had fun fishing with the customer's boys, and camping with Dad. 

Melissa Get in Here!!!!!

Remember that stupid stray cat.  She is a gypsy.  She just comes and goes as she pleases.  Uses and abuses us.  She left in February and came back beginning of May.  Big, fat, and pregnant.  Great.  We ignored her.  I know very Christ like.  On Mother's Day the boys and I were enjoying the warm weather.  We continued our evening just like any other.  Put Ledge down to sleep around 8, closed his door nice and tight so the others wouldn't wake him.  Tyson arrived home from Nevada around 12 that night.  We are all snug in our beds until around 3 am.  Ledger is screaming bloody murder.  I give Tyson the hello, get up and get your kid, kick.  A few minutes later Tyson  comes screaming back into our bedroom.  "Can't you hear me?"  "That damn cat had kitties under Ledger's crib!"  Frick.  I spent the next 45 minutes cleaning up you know what underneath the crib and relocating them to a comfy cardboard box.  We raised all 6 of them, and got rid of them thru craigslist.  Excpet one that Tyson ran over (it's okay), and who Nixon thought would be cool to throw in the air and make do a flip.  Yeah, she got a bloody face from that.  Nixon named here Sally.  Fastforward to today September 5, and know that we don't have either.  Both ran away.  Momma stopped by the other day.  All nice and plump.  I hate cats.

Ledger, the proud papa!

I really do feel bad for Nixon, he loves baby kitty and misses her:(

Preschool graduation

Another successful year of preschool.  If you consider success telling a girl you don't like her, and don't want to sit by her making her cry.  ( I wouldn't either, she was annoying.)  Then telling another girl she was poopy and making her cry too.  What can I say, the kid doesn't like girls.. 

Trey as shepherd boy 1.

Trey receiving his diplioma from Mrs. Haro.

Trey and his best friends.
L-R Nixon, Trey, Asher, Jonah

Red Green

Growing up in rural Nebraska with 3 channels on my tv left my viewing options to ABC, CBS, and my beloved PBS.  I grew up watching The Red Green Show.  Soooo, imagine my excitement when I saw that he was coming to Boise, Idaho and doing a meet and greet at the D&B in Boise.  If you (which honestly, who has) haven't heard of him, his whole show is about how he fixes up stuff with duct tape, and a bunch of other nonsense.  Go youtube it now!  Holy shizzle I was excited.  I went and bought some rolls of duct tape, and loaded the fam up on the Saturday he was here.  After a long wait I was able to shake Red's hand, get my tape signed, and have some nice photos of us taken.  I have my roll nicely displayed in our living room.

I never thought this day would come.

Can you sign that, To Melissa, my #1 fan, Love, Red Green.

Mission Call

Tyson's parents were called to serve a mission at Heber Valley Camp, in Heber, Utah. They serve a six month mission, come home for 6 months, and then return again next spring. It's pretty amazing. Check it out here www.hebervalleycamp.org/. They are the camp host at the Lucy Mack Smith campsite. Over Memorial Day weekend we were able to go and visit them. Tyson's mom was able to get us tickets to go see Day Out With Thomas.

Tyson's parents in their front yard.  How would you like living in your 5th wheel for 6 months?

On a hike.

Tyson on the swing thingy.  It's snowing on May 31!  Welcome to Utah.

Swimsuits

It's true.  I wish I could lounge around the pool or beach, laying soaking up all the wonderful rays the sun has to offer.  Turning every half hour to keep my tan even.  Sipping a tasty beverage, reading smut on perezhilton.com.  But, no, I am at the rec center.  So much chlorine my lungs hurt, no chance of sunshine in here.  But seriously, I can deal with all the kids, chlorine, nasty dudes and there ginormous guts.  What really chaps my hid is that in 2000 some years no one has invented a swimsuit for chicks that doesn't snag when you sit on the pool bottom or on the edge.  I can't lounge around.  I got three kids for hecks sake, there's no lounging.  So please someone I need a suit that will not snag, if not I am going to start wearing cutoffs and wife beaters to the pool.

Easter

Easter was BORING.  Stayed home.  The Bunny came and left some light sabers (what was he thinking) and a movie. Attempted to cook.  Then we drove around the valley all afternoon,  venturting to places we have never seen. 

Visitors

PF Changs

My brother Dallas, sis-in-law Diana, and their boys Austin and Zach came to visit us in February!!  The first time Dallas has ever been out to visit me in like 10ish years.  My wedding doesn't count!  We had such a blast.  Our boys had so much fun tagging along with their older cousins. I tried my darndest to convince them to relocate.  Please, please please hurry and move here.. Unfortunately, Diana left with a crappy souvenir.  A partially torn ACL from their ski trip to Bogus Basin. 

T-Ball

Trey started his first year of t-ball.  Tyson signed him up for baseball camp over spring break.  It was put on by the Columbia High School baseball team.  The first day Trey came home and called me a pussy.  Which is about the extent of what he learned.  We are so proud. 

Tyson's Birthday

In case you were wondering Tyson's birthday wasn't so horrible.  A few days after his birthday he came home from work, and the kids were starting to feel better, so the kids picked out a Thomas the Tank Engine DQ ice cream cake.  And he got some Olive Garden, and probably some sex I can't remember. 

Dear Tyson,

Happy Birthday.  Go buy your own cake.  I am covered in boogers and throw up. 

Love, Wifey

Help

See the pictures below.  See the piece of crap wannabe swing set thing.  Could somebody come and set fire to it please..  I am begging.  And take the damn cat with ya too.

Trey's Birthday Party

Trey's birthday landed on MLK day this year.  No school.  So we held the party on Monday.  4 of Trey's friends came for his Scooby Doo party.  Have no clue why he wanted Scooy doo.  I stayed up til one on Friday night designing a gingerbread, haunted house for the cake.  Have I ever mentioned I flunked art.  I suck.  Totally pathetic at anything art related.  I can't cut a straight line to save my life.  Yeah well had this haunted house pimped out, even had a light on the inside and scary ghosts behind curtains.  Well it was pimped out until Ledger came and pulled the cord from the light inside.  It crashed into a gabillion pieces.  Total suckeroo.  Fine..  Whatever.  Went to walmart.  Bought some paint and construction paper.  Decided to stick to a medium I know.  Cardboard and duct tape.  Spent way less time, haunted house turned out way pimper.  Printed the characters from the show.  Okay so it's not like I will be putting Cake Boss out of business....ever.  Trey liked it.  Hid the cake.  Gave the kids clues to find the cake.  Had 16 year old neighbor dress like ghost.    The clues led the kids outside where the 16 yr old neighbor was to run around scared of little meddling kids, and mad because they found him.  Get last clue.  Eat cake.  Went more like 16 yr olf neighbor scarred the shiz out of kids, kids came running in house crying, didn't want last clue, and found cake anyway.  Tyson had to pretend beat up the ghost to redeem ourselves.  The kid in the red running for dear life is Trey.  The end.

My Favorite Five Year Old

Treyton Connor Downs

This guy is my favorite five year old.  Born on January 18, 2005.  Eight days before his official due date.  An absolute nightmare to push out.  Great baby, hardly fussed.  That was the quickest 5 years of my life. 

Obsceneness

Took the kids to Arby's last night.  Sick of all the puking, had to get out of the house.  I mean really what better to settle a stomach then some over priced fast food.  An otherwise shatty day had a funny ending when Trey brought me these, and asked me to help make his Superman bobble head toy thing that came with his meal.  What kind of pornographic, finger flipping super hero did my kids get I wondered?? 

Ledger Tyson Downs

Today we are celebrating the birthday of our favorite one year old!  What a great kid.  So far.  It was one year ago on January 12, around 3:30 am when I woke up from a dream.  A dream where Tyson was driving me down the old washboard dirt backroads of Nebraska.  I was begging him to slow down because I was peeing my pants.  I awake to a soaked bed confused whether I had done just as I had in my dream and peed, or if my water broke.  So I did the trusty ole sniff test.  What the H*LL is that?  I gently nudge Tyson awake.  "Smell this," I say.  "What?" He replies.  After a few minutes of convincing him he returned with the same bewildered face I had?  What the H*ll?  That's not pee.  It couldn't be my water breaking.  I had been up for like 10 minutes now, and I had not felt at thing.  No trickling, no gushing, no contractions. What to do, what to do?  I turn to my true friend the internet.  All the birthing sites said that amniotic fluid smelled either sweet, or earthy?  What the heck is earthy?  That smell is NOT sweet, but earthy??  I was confused.  I didn't want to go all the way to Meridian to be checked just to be sent home.  What about Trey and Nix?  It was like 4 in the morning now.  I decided to call the hospital.  I was told to come in and get checked on out.  Yeah right.  I return to the internet.  Finally, a chat room where I find one person that refers to the smell of her fluid, to the exact smell that i am smelling.  (If you want to know ask me, it's gross.)  Then I see someone say to rub some of the fluid on a mirror or glass surface, if it crystalizes it is amniotic fluid, if not it's pee.  Yep, I did that next.  Definitely crystals all over our bathroom mirror.  Frickity, frick, frick, who's going to watch our kids at 5 in the morning.  I know it took me awhile to convince myself.  Then the panic sets in.  Crap you are suppose to be at the hospital an hour after your water breaks, and I need to be on antibiotics for that stupid Strep B.  Crap, I'm not ever having contractions this is going to be a long labor.  Tyson is finally realizing this is the real deal.  He starts frantically calling people to come over and watch the boys.  Thankfully, my visiting teacher from church is able to come over.  Phew.  Then off to the hospital we go. 
We arrive and I talk to the same nurse that I talked to on the phone, who by-the-way, paused for a long, long time after I told her what I was smelling, put me on hold and came back and told me to just come in.  So there I am in the triage room.  I was sweating like no other for some reason .  She takes some little test strip to the pad I was wearing to see if it tested positive for fluid.  Nopers.  What the??  Then she tests some other fluid that is right you know where.  Oh yeah it's positive.   Does that get me admitted ? No.  What are these chicks crazy? Why they aren't just checking me I don't know.  I have been having contractions now since we left for the hospital.  So miss Head Nurse, with her smoke smelling self, decided to swab some more, readjust her nose ring ,and go look at it under a microscope.  Have fun I say as I spread them to a now very obvious display of water breaking, and all the other goodies that develop once you are in labor.  "Oh ,"she says.  "Well I'll go test this to be sure."  Moron I say.  Minutes later she comes back. Positive.  Duh.  Go have another smoke idiot.  Get my room, get checked oh you are at a 5.  It is like 8 now.  It seriously took that long for these dumb nurses to decide if water broke. Call my doctor who is on his way to work right across from the hospital.  Still contractions are so-so, but being my wussy self decide an epidural is greatly needed.  By 9:30 I am begging Tyson to check under the blanket because I know I am crapping all over the bed.  No pooh.  I ask him again.  Then saunter in my delivery nurses who, thankfully, are different.  One was new, so  she was shadowing the veteran.  I say to them I feel like I am totally going to take a huge crap.  "Uh, heheheh."  "Let's check you."  I knew he was right there.  I get so dang nervous when the time comes to puch the little critters out.  I know my life is over.  I know my crotch is going to hurt, my boobs are going to explode.  My stomach which is cute being pregnant, is going to be a disgusting flap of fat that doesn't fit into anything.  Can't I take it back.  Keep him in, I'm NOT in labor.  Just kidding.  Nope, doctor arrives 10:15.  I guess that parking lot is a bitch to get across.  How they keep him (baby) shoved up there I don't know.  Don't push they keep telling me.  Don't worry I really don't want to.  Pain is not my friend.   They suit up in there gear.  Jeez I wonder if I am shooting toxic sludge at them too or what.  What's with the face guards, and shields?  Whatever,  PUSH, PUSH, PUSH baby is here.  He is gorgeous.  7lb 8 oz 20".  Perfect.  I love him to pieces.  So happy my life is over.