Pardon the Inconvienience...

Due to maintenance, the services from the office of Sommer L. Christoffersen will be limited for the day. There will be no walking of the dogs in the wind, no encouraging 4 year olds to eat lunch, and no persuasion that naps are necessary. Services that will be provided involve the repainting of toes, edible nourishment with a good friend, and mindless shopping. A temp by the name of Gramma Jeri will be working in the office today, but she will be occupied with the CEO, Wyatt, and is not to be disturbed. Verizon Wireless customers are encouraged to text Ms. Christoffersen often, and all others are to send Facebook messages and emails. Thank you for your patience. Have a wonderful day.

I found this paper the other day in my mess of a study (yes it is messy again!) I created this list over a year ago, and for a while I was doing a really good job. But lately, not so much. Its time to re-evaluate where my time is being spent. Let's check off what I feel have become habits or completed goals:

1. Spending mornings teaching my son
2. Playing with my son more


3. Having play dates with Wyatt's friends, and making better friends with the moms


4. Finding joy, time, and desire to have a clean, orderly home
5. Being a better friend to my husband
6. Spending Wyatt's nap time crafting and being creative for myself and my family
7. Having a simplified schedule in my life


8. Taking my dogs on longer walks (more exercise for them and me!)


9. Seeing my family more, especially my grandmother
10. Taking care of myself (exercise, regular haircuts, pedicures)

Two! Just two check marks? I might give a half a check mark to #4, 5, and maybe 6 (but only through blogging and one scrapbook project). Not cool. The really important ones were #1 and #2, and boy it is just not working out. I feel like my time is being sucked away from me! How do I re-prioritize all the things that I feel or others make me feel that I HAVE TO DO with the things that I WANT TO DO AND SHOULD DO (those things being on this list)?

Ski Boot Camp!

We went skiing (again???? as my friends have said to me recently) and enrolled Wyatt in, not one, but two days of ski school. He had a great teacher, didn't seem more than a kid himself, but he was one of the most positive people I ever met, and whatever happy drug he was taking, I want some. I didn't hear a single cross word any of the times I was spying, oops, I mean observing him, while he was teaching my son and about 3 other 4 and 5 year old kids.

Day one in the Tiny Tracks class was great, but I could tell Wyatt was the youngest of the group and just couldn't quite perfect that slow plow thing. But he still skied for 4 hours and listened to everything his teacher told him. By the morning of day 2, Wyatt was hesitant to go back. It was a lot like swim school, those first couple of classes when he realized that there was some "work" involved. But our teacher told us that after lunch, he was really taking off and the other kids were following Wyatt's slow plow example!

We thought for sure Wyatt would be too exhausted to ski a run with us after the class, but he ended up skiing four runs with us on the bunny slope! It was such a great feeling to ski down a mountain with my four year old, parents, and Byron. It was a great day, and I can't wait to do it again (again????? Yes, next week, as a matter of fact!)

KB Plumbing is Going for the Gold!

Had another conversation with my husband yesterday...

Byron: So your dad has a meeting with one of our general contractors today.

Sommer: Yeah?

Byron: Its just a remodel job.

Sommer: Well, its something.

Byron: The general contractor said it has to be finished before the owner comes home from DANCING WITH THE STARS!

Sommer: What? Are you kidding me? Who is it?

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Nice! I'm sure I'll need to check on things after that job is done, just to make sure Evan is comfortable!

Up, Up, and Away!

This was a conversation with my husband after he came home from an auction of a hunting organization:

Byron: Guess what I bought honey?
Sommer: No! No! We both agreed no hunting trips this year!
Byron: I didn't buy a hunting trip.
Sommer: Well...what did you buy?
Byron: A hot air ballon ride for us to go on!

It is at this point my stomach grows sick and I look at Byron in disbelief. Was he not there with me at the Hot Air Ballon Festival where my mother convince me to get in a tethered ballon and go feet into the air, all the while, I thought I was going to die and that my father was going to allow his only grandchild to fall to his death?

I could feel the basket move and crack beneath my feet! That's not a good feeling! Why in the world would my husband want to put me in that kind of torture, not just a few feet up in the air, but 1,000?

Byron: It'll be fun!
Sommer: Well, Happy Anniversary, then! (I was really thinking this might be the last after I fall out of the dang basket!)

As much as I hate to admit it, riding over the south-west part of the Las Vegas Valley really was great, and so I am required to say it: Byron was right! It was fun! And not at all scary as my first experience. There were some moments however that I turned to Byron in fear. Such as when the balloon pilot was trying to find the right elevation to get us to move and I swear, he was going to land on a house. Then after he landed, his workers were laying out the tarp to let the balloon deflate on, when the wind picked us back up, and we started to drift into the truck parked nearby. It was also fun to watch a Summerlin security guard run and huff and puff up the dirt road to yell at the pilot that he landed on Summerlin property and we were destroying the dirt crust(?) and therefore polluting the enviroment. Guess you can't make everyone happy!

I rediscovered a few things in that 45 minute balloon ride. Las Vegas weather is beautiful! The Las Vegas valley is beautiful! Las Vegas people are beautiful, all running out to wave to us and take pictures of us, as we flew over their homes (the ones we almost crashed into)! If you do not agree with me, if you do not like the valley or the people, would you please leave? You are certainly not seeing the same things I am, and you might be better off somewhere else. Kind of mean, but hey, its how I feel!

Dear Moms,

Please do not beat yourself up after watching this video. Please realize that I am Mother of the Year, and not all children can be this perfect!

One Last Party!

Wyatt's birthday weekend ended with one last celebration, on his actual birthday, Sunday, March 7th, and can I just tell you, I think we are still trying to recover from all the partying! This time it was simple dinner at the house with Gramma Jeri and C'uncle Stephen. What's a c'uncle? Its a cousin who acts like an uncle. You know, a c'uncle! Doesn't everyone have one of those? Dinner consisted of steak and all of Wyatt's favorite veggies that he and I picked out at the store together: Wyatt and Mommy Mushrooms, artichokes, and asparagus. Yum! Then by request, we had chocolate chip chocolate ice cream sandwiches with M&M's. After a few more presents to open, we crashed from the sugar rush and was thankful that Wyatt's next birthday isn't for another year!

One Crabby Birthday!

When most people ask an about-to-be-four year old what they would like for their birthday dinner, a typical response might be "chicken fingers," or "pizza," or "mac and cheese." My son's response: "Crab please!" If a creature once lived in the sea, Wyatt will eat it, and he did at Joe's Crab Shack to celebrate his birthday with Pappa (KB), Grammy, Nini, Nini's friend Charlene, and Mom and Dad. And as usual, Wyatt was not shy when it came to dancing to "Love Shack!" BTW, is anyone getting sick of my videos yet? Too bad, I have more coming. :)

Blast Off to a Great Birthday!

Friday was the start of Wyatt's birthday extravaganza! 7 of his great little friends, and their moms came over for a fun party! It was so nice to have everyone there. One might think a party of preschoolers would be stressful, but it really wasn't. We had so much fun making flyer saucer pizzas, playing games, shooting rocket launchers, hitting a rocket ship pinata, and eating Galaxy cupcakes. It was a great day. I sure hope Wyatt enjoyed it!

CHOOSE THE REBELS!

Did you know we like Rebel Basketball at our house? We kind of keep it to ourselves. ;) The Rebs just finished the last game of the season before the big tournament. No matter what the outcome will be, who will win, how many wins for the season, yadda yadda yadda, we really enjoyed attending the games this season. It was fun to have a night or afternoon out of the house, something to look forward to, and just to be a part of. Sometimes it would be a date night with Byron, or a family event with Wyatt. It was a great chance to get excited and yell about something, and not feel like a fool! We enjoyed watching the good players, that everyone loved, make great slam dunks and 3 pointers. It was even more fun to watch the so-so players get better and better as the season went along, and become our favorites, the ones we loved. Players like Jones, Hawkins, Marshall, and the Wall, would surprise us with some great shot, or just at the shot of trying! Wyatt really started to get into the games and enjoyed being part of the crowd. I'd cram my purse with bottles of water, Crystal Light pouches, every snack imaginable, and every toy imaginable to keep us all happy and well fed during the game. We'd challenge ourselves each game to get Wyatt on the Jumbo Screen, and was successful most of the time! Having a big poster that says, "Hey Reb! Its My Birthday!" is a big help too! The players are nice, polite boys who say "Yes Ma'am" and give my son knuckles and autograph his shirt after the last game. It was a great season, and a great way to spend the winter when it's too cold to do anything else, and I can't wait until next year!

SKI SKOOL IS KOOL!

Wyatt was very excited to start the "Wee Ski" program at Brianhead a couple of weekends ago. I was not. The thought of leaving my only child with strangers where they would take him out into the cold on 2 small planks of wood and push him down a hill, all the while I'm supposed to be living it up as I ski the day away absolutely TERRIFIED me! In my mind, my son is not old enough to be this independent, and the fact that he was, made me want to vomit! But, I have been determined to never place my fears on to my child, and so with great courage I signed him up for the class, and together we marched into the classroom, hands held tightly.

The classroom was adorable, lots of toys, little tables, it was a lot like Candil Hall, which made me feel a lot better. Wyatt was shy at first, so I stuck around, showing him toys, and introducing him to the teachers. With a promise that I would check on him in a bit, I took a big gulp, grabbed one more big hug, and left my son in the classroom.

I knew he was fine the minute he saw us though the window on our way to the ski lift. We were counseled by the teachers (I remember giving this same counsel as a teacher) not to let the kids see you, because then they would cry and scream for their mothers and never want to try to ski every again. But we all know Wyatt is different. He was sitting at the table by the window having snack when he saw us. And before I knew it he was standing up, waving, and then clapping happily, just excited to see us. Then he sat down, and ate more snack! So much for the crying and never wanting to ski again.

It was a wonderful experience for all of us. I was able to enjoy a day of skiing (except for that one terrible ride on lift 5 that my parents just HAD to go on, because heaven forbid they do anything different, and the wind was so bad that I couldn't see where we were going and Byron had to hold onto me while I cried hysterically because I thought I was going to get blown off the lift!), and Wyatt had a great day! Here are some pictures and a little video of his experience!