Cereal Cocktails

Every morning when Aiden wakes up he will come find me and say, "Good morning Mom, can you get me some breakfast?" He has started to ask for more than one cereal in his bowl at a time. "I want Trix on the bottom, next Froot Loops then Rice Krispies on top." That kid loves breakfast.
Kaylee woke me up at two yesterday morning and told me she threw up. Poor girl was up and down throwing up for the next four hours. I came out to help her and Ashton, the sweetie that she is, was in the bathroom trying to help Kaylee feel better. I am really glad they are such good friends. We get comments from people at church about how impressed they are that our kids take care of each other so well.
Dalin had his six month check up on Monday and he is 18 lbs 14 oz. It's kind of funny because he has a cousin who just turned one and he weighs 20lbs. I think because all of our kids are so much bigger than Dalin, I don't realize how big he is compared to other babies. I just can't believe how fast he is growing up.
Chris has to drive to Tonapah tomorrow to pick up a computer server then turn around to come home. It's about a four hour drive each way, and the guy he is getting it from is coming from Reno, which is also about a four hour drive away from Tonapah. They could have sent it same day Fed-Ex, but hey this is our Nevada tax dollars at work. Luckily, Chris likes to have adventures and go to new places so it will be okay.
That's all for now, thanks for coming by!

Track Break

Few and far between, I know our postings have been a little irregular, but all I can say is that I’m working on it. Chris even left his laptop home as a not-so-subtle hint to write, so here I am taking the hint. The girls have been on track break from school since Thanksgiving. They have the whole month of December off. This track seemed like a good idea when I signed them up, but it has put a kink in my Christmas shopping schedule. Okay I don’t really have a schedule, but taking four kids with me everywhere doesn’t really motivate me to do any sort of shopping. Oh well I guess it’s okay to give a little now so they will have six weeks off for the summer instead of just two like all of the other tracks. Since we’re on break, I decided to sign the kids up for swimming lessons so we had something we had to go to. I am ashamed to say that they have only taken lessons once before, and that didn’t go so well for Aiden. On the first day of summer lessons, Aiden stepped off the step of the pool and he was under for what seemed like a long time but was probably only six or seven seconds. After that he had a bit of an aversion to the pool, and he made sure he had a good grip on his teacher every time he had to go to deeper water. When I told him we were going to take lessons again he was a little apprehensive, but he didn’t want to be left out so he was willing to give it a go. He did really well, but he was the only kid with dry hair at the end of the class. All three of the kids are really enjoying going to the pool, and even Dalin is having fun watching. Ashton likes to see how long she can hold her breath and it makes me really nervous to watch her. She always comes up, but it seems like she takes a second longer than I would like her to. We went to the library last week, and we probably brought home ten or fifteen chapter books and Kaylee has already finished them all. Granted they aren’t super long, but she loves it. She has probably read all of the books at least twice. I am pretty impressed. She’s also taken up instant messaging Chris’s Aunt Joan, and really any one else who will write back to her. Well I will leave you tonight with a few of our kids “isms”;Kaylee: “Dad I always win the arguments with you because I use logic, and you can’t fight logic.”Ashton: Isn’t our Christmas tree pretty, the lights reflect in the drool on Dalin’s chin.”Aiden: ‘This song makes my bum dance!”

Best Buy Sleepover

Chris has become an after Thanksgiving sale-a-holic. Yesterday marked the second year he has stayed in line overnight at Best Buy. He left home about 4:30 and he said there were already about 40 people in line, so he's not alone in his insanity. I will admit that he gets really good deals, but I'm glad I have the kids as an excuse to stay home. I'm not a big fan of big crowds so he can have it. His brother Nick has been his shopping buddy and this year he recruited my brothers Brandon and Austin. They had snacks, video games and movies so I guess they weren't suffering to much. Chris will have to tell his stories later.
The kids and I went to visit my parents and my granparents were there also. It was nice to see all of them, and it was the first time my moms parents met Dalin. Speaking of Dalin, he is feeling much better, although he is still a little congested. When we went to the doctor on Wednesday he weighed 19 lbs. At his well check last month he was 16 lbs.12 oz. I forgot what big babies we have, but they are the cutest.
That's all for now, but we are going to teach Kaylee how to do her own blog, so we'll get the kids perspective on life soon. Happy day to all!

Catching Up

Happy Thanksgiving! I am truly thankful for how blessed my family and I have been, and I hope you all had a great day. Chris has been on my case for not writing often enough, so here I am trying to catch you all up on our lives.

Chris did really well on the test he took in California, so the trip was a success. I knew he would do fantastic, but he never believes it until he gets the test results.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US! Yesterday Chris and I have been married for nine years. It has gone by faster than I could have imagined, but it's been great to be with my best friend every day, and to still look forward to him coming home from work everyday. I have to admit I still get butterflies sometime when I look at him. I love you Chris. To celebrate Dalin got croup. Poor kid, he's getting better, but he was dealing with a fever and he still has a cough. H's a real trooper though, he hasn't been extra cranky, and he only cries when he needs to cough, because it hurts. I feel so bad for him, he loves to hear himself talk, and he can only make soft noises. It would be cute if he wasn't sick.

My brother Aaron initiated the first ever Hafen Turkey Trot today. It was mostly a race between my brothers Aaron, Brandon and Austin but the rest of us walked around the track. After the first lap, my dad told me that Ashton told him there was a dead body in the bleachers. I called her over so we could investigate. As we headed up the stairs I suggested that it was probably someone sleeping. "No mom he wasn't breathing." I'm pretty sure I saw him move so we decided that he was sleeping. Why he was at the top of the bleachers we'll never know. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that she wasn't more freaked out.

I have to go for now, but I do have more stories for tomorrow.

Secret Sunday Phone Calls

Chris is in California for training this week, and I'm not getting alot of help from Dalin when I try to do the blog, so I don't know how much or how often I will get to blog.

We dropped Chris off at the airport on Sunday before church, so I did that solo. It went pretty okay,(our kids really are well behaved), except in the middle of the first meeting Aiden was sitting on the floor coloring, or so I thought. I hear him say, "Ashton do you want to talk to dad?" I looked down and he had dialed Chris on my cell phone. I quickly took it from him and tried to whisper to Chris that we were in church, while giving Aiden the sternest look I could, trying not to laugh. Aiden thought it was hilarious and ended up dialing Chris four more times, before I got the phone away from him without a scene. I tell you that kid gets away with to much because he just does the funniest things.

Speaking of funny, Kaylee likes to make up jokes, and here are a couple of my favorites. What kind of animal does a Jedi keep in his zoo? A light-sabertooth tiger! What kind of teeth does a dollar have? Buck teeth! Funny girl. She is having a Thanksgiving program next this week, and she gets to be a pilgrim. I haven't quite learned how to post pictures yet, so I'll have Chris post pictures when he gets back.

Ashton is student of the month, I thought it was just for her class, but it was for the whole school. She got to have cookies and milk with the principal last Thursday, and she thought it was great. I've been really happy with the kids school, and the attention they give to the kids. I hope it continues when they go to other schools. The school they go to only goes to second grade, then they go next door for third through fifth, then they go across the street for sixth through eighth. I don't know of any other schools that do that, but I'm hoping it doesn't throw them off when they have to switch schools.

That's all I have for now. Have a great night!

Election Results and Bad Hair Days

Our nephew Jayden's birthday was yesterday and he is now four years old. We went to Chuck E. Cheese and a fun time was had by all until iit was time to go. They stamp your hand and your kids hands when you come in so no one else can leave with your kids. For some reason the ink wore off everyone's hands so when we went to leave they asked the kids who I was and my name to verify that they belonged to me. Dalin had a sticker with a stamp on it, but my stamp was gone and he couldn't tell them my name so the lady asked if I had any pictures of him. Shamefully I did not. What kind of mother am I that I don't have any pictures of my kids. So today one of my goals is to get a thing to put in my purse with all of the pictures we have ever taken of our kids.
Well there was sadness in our home on Wednesday morning. Unfortunatelly Tessa did not win the seat in congress. She did however have an excellent showing. She got 47% of the vote and her opponent had 48%. Not to bad for a first time unkown candidate. Nine months ago I don't think any one really believed she was much of a threat, so congratulations Tessa!
Along with election day excitment, we had a little excitement of our own on Tuesday as well. Chris Always wants the girls to get their hair cut, and as I am the one who takes care of their hair, I always veto that idea. I don't know if he put them up to it, but about two months ago, the girls started asking if they could get a hair cut. I told them they had to wait until after Halloween, hoping they would forget. They didn't. They finally wore me down and I gave in. I even let them decide how short they wanted it. Their cuts are pretty cute, but it's hard for me to let go of their long hair, especially Ashton's. I just have to remind myself that it will grow back. We did have some craziness happen while we were there. Chris and I were watching the girls and Aiden was playing with some blocks in the front of the store, when we heard a loud noise and the window crack. Chris and I were sure Aiden had thrown one of the blocks and shattered the window. Upon further investigation it looked as though the window had been shot at. There was a small hole, and it smelled funny outside. Luckily there was tinting film on the window, otherwise I think the glass would have flown all over the whole store. We left before the police came, so we don't really know for sure what happened, but we are thankful that no one was hurt.
I have written more than I intended, so I better go. Thanks for stopping by!

Election Day

In honor of election day, I would like to share a story about Kaylee and Ashton. My cousin Tessa is running for Nevada Congress, and these two girls have become her biggest fan. I think it is because they have never known anyone who was on TV and the internet. They get very upset whenever a commercial for her opponent (John Porter) comes on. One day Chris and I oveheard a "political discussion" between Kaylee and Ashton that went something like this:

Kaylee: Ashton you be Tessa and I'll be John Porter.

Ashton: okay

Kaylee: I'm John Porter and I vote with Bush 90% of the time.

Ashton: I'm Tessa Hafen and I tell the truth! I'm going to make some changes in Washington, because I don't lie John Porter!

They talk about Tessa with great conviction. It's pretty cute. My uncle Andy, Tessa'a dad, was wearing a campaign shirt for Tessa, and when Kaylee saw it and she immediately found me to tell me how much she liked uncle Andy's shirt. They didn't have any kids sizes but she is anxiously awaiting whatever size they have for her. I'll have to keep you posted on how the election turns out.

What is a Muckus?

Welcome one and all to the first ever muckus.com blog. Some of you may wonder what is muckus? Anyone who knows Chris knows he has a thing for unusual nicknames, and they are usually words he has made up. He has tried but failed to brand the kids and me with some of these names over the years, but one has finally stuck. It was meant to be a nickname just for Aiden, but has really come to mean whatever we feel like. For me it is usually a declaration of frustration (You muckuses are driving me nuts). To Chris it's an invitation for Aiden to come fight. For Kaylee it's her crazy dad, Ashton uses it to mean goofy, and Aiden just denies it is him (I AM NOT A MUCKUS!). Anyway it has become a staple our vocabulary, and overall a term of endearment in our family.

This website is a place to share a little of our lives with friends and family we don't get to see as often as we like. Chris has wanted a web page for a few years now an I am finally giving in. It's also so I can tell my dad that, when my kids say something cute, I did write it down. So I will leave you with an Aiden story. Aiden thinks he likes to go shopping with me, but after about ten minutes the "is it time to go?" question is put out there. We were at the mall and he had the chance to go home with his dad, but he chose to stay with me while I was looking for shoes. Before we even left the first store he had asked to go home about five times. When we finally came to the last store, the conversation went like this:

Kristen: What do think of these shoes?

Aiden: Not, I mean, good

Kristen: Good?

Aiden: If I say not good you will look some more and we will stay longer.

This kid is truly his father's son, and at four has already figured his mom out.