We're On The Countdown...

...for the 4th of July!!!




For those of you who aren't familiar with our countdown to the 4th, see this post from last year:

http://myownlittlecircus.blogspot.com/2008/06/we-love-america.html

You can look at posts after that for pictures of finished products as well if you'd like. I just didn't think you would like a list of links!




So this year we changed the way we made our countdown a bit. Instead of flags, we used patriotic pinwheels.


And then we put all four of them into a bud vase to keep them from getting smashed (or ripped to shreds by little fingers!)

Lana even sealed her patriotism with her blood. The poor girl put a staple right through her finger. She was pulling the stapler open and then closing it again (after we told her not to play with it and I had told her she could staple her finger) and sure enough - the obvious happened. I felt bad for her. But that is probably a write of passage for childhood right? Hasn't everyone stapled their finger?

Anyway, the countdown is officially ON, and the kids are so excited for our activities to celebrate the 4th of July! For our activity today, we are listening to Take Your Hat Off and then are decorating foam hats to wear to the parade the morning of the 4th. I can't wait!

Welcome Baby Danika

My sister, Brooke, and her husband, Andy, just had their first baby yesterday. What a cutie pie she is!

Welcome to our family, little Danika Christine. We love you to pieces already.

Rylee and Lana actually got to go to the hospital twice to visit today. They went once with my mom this afternoon and once tonight with our family. This picture is from the daytime visit. They were so excited to meet their new cousin for the first time.

My mom and dad with their newest grand baby. They are obviously as in love with this sweet little one as the rest of us.

Lana snuggling baby Danika tonight. (Notice the wet hair and pajamas. Yup, I made them all take baths and get nice and clean before we took them up to the hospital. No germy kids allowed!)

Bill holding Baby Danika. He loves babies possibly even more than I do. He couldn't wait to see her. He was so anxious all day at work to be able to go visit after he got home. Once he got to hold her though, he didn't dare hold her too close because he got SOAKED running into the hospital from the parking lot. It was pouring so hard. So he dropped the rest of us off at the door and met us inside. What a guy!

Me and Hayden snuggling the sweetheart. You forget so quickly how tiny they are when they are born.

Rylee can't get enough of her.

Hayden loved her too. He couldn't wait to hold her. Check out the grin on that kid's face. Do you think he's thrilled with his new cousin?

And the grand finale is definitely the proud new parents with their little angel baby.

Congratulations Brooke and Andy. She is beautiful! You will be excellent parents. We love you all so much!

Bill and the Kids...

...On Father's Day...


Oops, I'm late in posting this.

This was Bill and the kids just after church on Sunday. What a good daddy to still love the kids after wrestling them for three hours at church!!!

We love Bill and are so glad to have him in our family. He is the best daddy these four sweet kids could ever hope for. He loves them like crazy and they love him too. The end of his work day can't ever come soon enough. The kids are always dying for him to walk through the door. Hayden asks me all day if daddy is coming home from work.

Rylee even wrote her daddy a poem for Father's Day. I love that girl and her poetry, so I'll share:

The Father's Day Poem

Roses are red,

Violets are blue.

We have a nest,

Because you're the best!

I hear a BLING

When you give me something.

You're the best of every Dad,

And THAT makes me glad!

You always make me really Happy,

When I'm sad you make me Snappy!

When you wake me up from my nap,

You only give me a little tap!

You're a dad that I'll keep,

So I'll give you a BEEP!

We love you and wish you a late Father's Day!!! I am so lucky that you are my husband, and the kids are very lucky that you are their daddy! :)

Jordan and Nikole...

...Happy Wedding Day!!!

My little brother, Jordan, got married today to Nikole. We are so excited to welcome her into our family and are grateful they let us share in their day.

They were married in the Draper temple, and it was gorgeous - a little windy, but gorgeous nonetheless.

The kids attacked them as soon as they came out of the temple.

Hayden loved the attention Uncle Jordan gave him.

Look at those cute, pudgy little Kate arms trying to open the doors to go into the temple.

How I got Kate away from the temple doors. Picture time!

Our fantastic friends, Marja, and her son, Alex. Alex is the most amazing teenager you will ever meet. He offered to help watch my kids while we were in the sealing and he did it without batting an eye. He is going to make someone very happy someday. He is amazing. And if you meet his parents, you can see why he is turning out so incredible.

The eight grand kids on my side of the family with my dad's mom. We love her and are so glad she came down to spend this time with all of us.

Jordan and Nikole, before the reception, with all of their nieces and nephews from both sides.

Jordan and Nikole looking amazing!

Our brood with the lovely bride and groom.

The bride and the girls.

The groom and the boys.

My parents. They looked so nice tonight! I had to take a picture of them!

My sister, Brooke, and her husband, Andy. Poor Brooke is days away from having a baby and was such a trooper all day. She needs a nice, long nap!

Rylee, sporting her new, short hair. I love it on her! When I was getting my hair done this week, she decided she was ready for a change. So we had a haircutting party.

Kate loves my dad, and he is so sweet with her. They looks so nice and cozy in the shade together.

Kate keeping cool with some yummy watermelon!

Probably the coolest wedding cake I have ever seen. The bottom is four square glass jars filled with water and flowers floating in them. What a fun idea!

Okay, this picture cracks me up. My other little brother, Andrew, is on a mission right now. But Jordan wanted him to be his best man. So my mom got a cardboard cutout of Mitt Romney, and stuck a picture of my little brother's head on it. So here is Bill, carrying Andrew to stand in line. Hehehehe.

10 Years...

...And Counting

Tomorrow is our ten year wedding anniversary. Wow, a lot has happened since our early beginnings in our little "love cottage." Here are ten things that have changed in honor of our ten years:

~ We have moved five times.

~ We have had four little stinker kids.

~ Bill finished school and has worked at four different jobs.

~ Bill claims he is getting a little thinner on top. If he is, then that darn hair is finding its way to my face. Nice.

~ Bill continues to look just as good (or better) as the day we got married while I get a little flatter up top, saggier on bottom, and wrinklier everywhere! GROSS!

~ Bill impresses his co-workers with his skill and level head while I impress my children with my mad whoopie cushion skills and toilet cleaning abilities. (It all comes down to poop, right? Especially when you're a mom!)

~ Bill can still make me laugh, but now I make him pull his hair out (Oh, I just think I figured out the "thinning hair" issue.)

~ Our marriage has survived the BYU/Utah rivalry somehow, even though we all know BYU is really the best. ;) (Shhhh, Bill is a little sensitive about this one. He is still in denial. Poor guy.)

~ Bill has learned to like my cooking and I've learned that I like pizza night!

~ We have officially fallen off the pop-culture bandwagon. We are now the uncool, out-of-touch parents that we swore we would never become. Why can't our kids just listen to Journey and Bon Jovi, and watch reruns of The Cosby Show, for crying out loud? *sigh* I guess it's time to jump back on that bandwagon now that we have a daughter who is getting into the "cool" stuff.

I could go on for a long time, but you get the idea. Things have changed these past ten years and we've had a lot to deal with, but I still love him and am glad he has stuck these last ten years out with me. I love you, Honey! Happy Anniversary!

No Tumbling Lessons Needed...

...Kate already has the somersaults figured out.

Apparently that is what she does when she is in her bed playing for fifteen minutes before she goes to sleep at nap time. She was practicing for her debut!

Last night, Kate was being SO silly. All of a sudden, she says, "Watch guys," and does a somersault. What the heck!? I figured it must have been a fluke, so I told her to do it again. She did it! Then she really thought it was funny and she kept going and going and going....

Here's the proof! And don't worry, she never does fall off the bed. She comes close, but never does.

Air Show Fun!

Yesterday afternoon, we ventured out with Jordan and Nikole to see some of the air show. We didn't want to fight the traffic or crowds with the kids, so we didn't actually go on base to watch. But we did find an AMAZING spot right next to the runway to watch the Thunderbirds.

The only thing missing was the Top Gun soundtrack. It was so loud - I LOVED it! We were close enough to watch the Thunderbirds take off down the runway, and there is nothing like the sound of those jet engines when you're sitting right there.

Lana kept asking me if they "just push a button to make it louder." Apparently it was a little loud for the kids.




Kate would turn her head into Bill's chest to try to hide from the jets and block out some of the sound. Cute girl.


She liked snuggling Uncle Jordan too.



And Hayden had fun hanging out with Nikole.





We all had a great time. Watching Thunderbirds fly overhead is always a good time!:)

Here is some video of the six of them in a formation. I can't wait for the next air show in two years!

Summertime Is Officially Here Again...

Today was the last day of school - YAY! I love it when the kids are out of school for the summer.

Check out what Rylee looked like on the first day of school:

And today, on the last day of school:

She's changed so much this year and is such a sweetheart. She seems to be growing up on me so quickly. Does anyone know how to stop this from happening because it is really freaking me out!?

Rylee has been asking me for weeks if she could have a little end-of-the-year party. I wasn't going to let her because I honestly didn't feel like planning an official "party." But since Lana got to have a little party the night of her preschool graduation, I thought it was only fair to let Rylee invite some friends over to play to somewhat celebrate the end of the school year.

It wasn't an official party, but the girls had lots of fun either way. We made cupcakes and had ice cream with them. They ran and played and giggled for seven hours straight. I wish I could absorb some of their energy!

They were even nice enough to let Lana in on the fun!

We all enjoyed going outside and enjoying the beautiful day. It was SO nice today. It wasn't too hot, it was a little overcast, and there was a nice breeze (until it got really windy later!)

We watched the Thunderbirds practice for the airshow tomorrow. I always get giddy every time they do an airshow and the Thunderbirds fly right by our house. Hayden and Kate FREAKED out the first time they buzzed our house, but by the end of their little practice I had those two cheering for them! I didn't get ANYTHING done while they were flying overhead. I just stared and stared and stared... Hopefully I will have better pictures tomorrow from the airshow!

We decided to just stay outside and let dinner come to us! :) Bill brought home pizzas and we had a pizza party outside.

The girls are very good multi-taskers. They can play and eat pizza at the same time. :)

Lana and Hayden stayed sitting down to eat and still ended up wearing more of their pizza than the girls who were playing while they ate. Go figure.

I'm so excited to kick off the summer! It's so nice to have all of the kids around and to do all of the fun, summery things together. I look forward to all of the celebrations during the summer, the BBQs with friends and family, the fireworks, the patriotism, the water fights, and the evening walks. Oh, and the extra sleep isn't horrible either! ;)