My Own Little Circus

Our New Addition

2011-08-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

We have been talking about getting a puppy for the longest time, and the kids have been begging for one for the longest time. Finally we did it! And we are all in love. I left the kids Monday morning with their good friends to play for the morning and went to choose the puppy we wanted to bring home. I fell in love with her black coat and little white feet. The kids had no idea what I was up to, and were SO excited when I picked them up from their play date with a little extra sweet surprise in tow.

We threw around a couple of different names, but as soon as the name "Daisy" was brought up, it stuck. Hayden loved it because Daisy is a character on Super Mario, and the girls just thought it was cute. So, meet Daisy:

She's a ShihTzu/Bischon Frise mix, and is so adorable! She is six weeks old, and such a good puppy. We are feeling so lucky to have such a sweetheart. She is playful, but so mellow and good with the kids too.

It's fun to see the way she acts differently around all the kids, and how they all interact with her in different ways.

Hayden LOVES to let her chase him and play with her little toys with her. He laughs so hard and can't decide if he loves it or is a little bit afraid when Daisy chases him, trying to get her little toy from him. He usually ends up dropping it and running away, laughing as he watches Daisy attack her little toy. The first day she was here, Hayden kept saying, "Please tell me I'm not dreaming." It was so cute!

Kate loves to hold her, but doesn't try to "man handle" her too much. She thinks she is fun to watch, but doesn't quite know how to hold her yet. She loves to have her on her lap, but kind of doesn't know what to do when Daisy starts to move around. But she gets so excited to see Daisy wake up and always wants to know where she is.

Rylee is the little doggy mommy. She carries her around like a baby and is constantly near her to make sure she is okay. She takes her outside to go potty and just dotes on her. She worries about her just like a mom would worry about her child. She feels so bad and sits by Daisy to pet her when she is twitching in her sleep. She is so worried that she is afraid or sad because she isn't with her mommy any more. She is determined to arrange a "doggie family reunion" so Daisy can see her mom and dad again.

Lana mothers Daisy quite a bit too. She is always anxiously waiting for her to wake up from naps so she can play with her and snuggle her. She loves it when Daisy chases her feet and laughs hysterically just watching her play. She had to hold her in the car on the way home and then walk down the street and show her friend her new puppy as soon as we got home with her. She's definitely smitten.

We are all so excited to have a new pet, and it is so easy to see how pets become like family. She is adorable!

It's Been A While...

2011-03-08T11:30:00.001-08:00

I obviously haven't blogged for a while. I wasn't sure I was even going to remember my password to do another post! LOL! A lot has happened since my last post, and this will be my official 200th post. So to catch up and do something fun, I will post 200 random thoughts and some pictures from the past few months. If you actually read all of it, you deserve a huge reward.

1. I don't feel like making dinner, and if this takes long enough I won't have time to cook anything. Darn. Maybe we'll have to order pizza. ;)

2. If we order pizza, it will be from Dominos because we are still MVPs there. I know, we're special.

3. Thanks to "Despicable Me" the kids now love to say "Oh poop" and "Whaaaaaaaaaaattt!" all the time.

4. Rylee got a cell phone (She is so awesome!)

5. Rylee was bored and added that last one on her own. Stinker.

6. Thanks to my dad's help, we were able to get a couple of bedrooms done downstairs. He and Bill spent many nights down there working so hard. It's male bonding, right?

7. Hayden and Kate thought they had new bunk beds downstairs when my dad put them on the shelves of the hall closet.

8. They were seriously disappointed to find out that they weren't really bunk beds.

9. Hayden loved it when we handed him a paintbrush and told him to help paint his room.

10. He marked his territory with a painted "H" on the wall. :)

11. His room looks so cute now!

12. Hayden is convinced that the Mario sticker on his wall talks because he had a dream one night that it did.

13. Talking Mario stickers must creep him out because he sleeps in Rylee's room with her every night.

14. Rylee's room turned out cute too!

15. You can hear Hayden and Rylee downstairs giggling most nights for about an hour after we put them to bed.

16. Hayden will only let me kiss him at bedtime. He tells me, "You can kiss me when it's time to hit the hay." Where does he get that?

17. Since Rylee and Hayden got new rooms, Lana and Kate wanted theirs decorated.

18. Lana loves candy more than anything in the entire world.

19. I promised her a candy room, and am working on putting that together. Here it is so far:

20. Spring needs to hurry up and get here already!!!!

21. I love Girl Scout Cookie time.

22. My figure doesn't like Girl Scout Cookie time so much.

23. My favorites are Samoas.

24. My kids and husband love Samoas too.

25. We ordered 8 boxes of Samoas this year.

26. Did I mention that Spring needs to get here soon? I don't feel like working off those cookies until it gets warmer.

27. Hayden and Kate have been doing lots of puzzles this winter.

28. I think they can both put together a 100 piece puzzle faster than I can.

29. Go BYU basketball team!!!

30. It doesn't matter what pair of pants we put on Kate. She never fails to show some crack.

31. My kids think it's funny to say, "Put a quarter in the slot" when they see her bum crack.

32. Hayden thinks it's funny to tell people to "just hold still and count to ten." When he says that, you know he is trying to pants you. When he succeeds he will then yell, "BAZINGA!"

33. I'm a horrible mom for laughing when my kids think it's funny to pants someone.

34. But in my defense, underwear always stays up in the pantsing. :)

35. Kate loves to lick cake batter.

36. Hayden loves frosting!

37. It's always fun to get together with cousins and grandma for a Halloween party!

38. Bill was a good sport to dress up for the kids.

39. He will forgive me for posting that picture.

40. But he'll probably only forgive me because we have a picture of me looking pretty ridiculous, also to humor the kids.

41. You can't have a Halloween party unless you are eating donuts off of a string.

42. These cousins LOVE getting together!

43. Grandma loves it when her grand kids pile on her!

44. My kids actually stopped long enough for me to take their picture before they ran off to fulfill their greedy little need for sugar.

45. My little brother surprised the kids when he showed up at the ward party dressed as Santa Claus. Sara didn't go for Mrs. Claus. She opted for the bumble bee costume. Dang cute!

46. Believe it or not, we have a picture of all of us together. This never happens!

47. Hayden still loves his cousin, Brielle, and would rather hang out with her more than just about anyone.

48. We actually got my whole family in one picture together when they all came for dinner in December!

49. Rylee and Lana are still the best of pals.

50. I am 1/4 of the way done with my post!!!

51. Rylee has to do some book reports that I find ridiculous.

52. For one book report they had to read a biography and then make a poster of that person that they could stick their head through.

53. We, er, she made a Helen Keller poster.

54. I think she thought it was a ridiculous assignment too.

55. We did something we have been wanting to do for a few years now. We had Thanksgiving by ourselves.

56. Hayden loved it because he never did wear anything but pajamas all day long.

57. The kids' favorite part was the candlelight dessert.

58. Hayden finally got to eat the chocolate pie he had been waiting all day for.

59. He pronounced "Thanksgiving" wrong. He called it "Disgibby."

60. As he ate his pie in the candlelight, Hayden said, "I love Disgibby!" LOL!

61. The kids were all dying to have presents wrapped for them under the tree as soon as it was up.

62. As soon as I put some presents under the tree, the three youngest were counting how many each of them had.

63. When I came into the family room that afternoon, this was what I found:

64. If you didn't know this before, I hate making sugar cookies. They taste delicious, but take so dang long to make, and the mess is so gross to me.

65. I deserve a prize because I made sugar cookies with the kids for Christmas.

66. Hayden and Kate ate more frosting off of their knives than they got on their cookies.

67. That's why they each get their own containers of frosting. Ew!!!

68. See, I don't think Lana likes the mess either.

69. Hayden and Kate love me to make them lunches in their lunchboxes, and then they have a picinic on the floor.

70. The kids practiced for weeks to put on a Nativity play for us on Christmas Eve.

71. Kate was Mary, and Hayden was Joseph.

72. Rylee was the shepherd, and Lana was the angel. Rylee's stuffed dog had a paper tag tied around his neck with the name "Sheepie" on it. LOL!

73. I LOVE the sleepy Christmas morning faces!

74. Rylee got the Babysitter's Club book that she had been dying to read!

75. Lana got "Wall-e" after begging Santa for it, and still hasn't watched it all the way through. Why do they do that?

76. Hayden got the Mario figurines he was dying for.

77. Kate was so happy to get her princess toothbrush and toothpaste that she asked Santa for.

78. And apparently looking through the rest of your stocking so early in the morning makes you pull faces like this:

79. Bill still has a cute bum.

80. Kate does not want to see it or hear about it though.

81. For New Year's Eve, Hayden had fun making faces on the table with his carrots and cheese cubes.

82. I'm not a great mother because I don't care that my kids play with their food.

83. Rylee turned 10 in January!

84. I cannot be old enough to have a ten-year-old!

85. Rylee loves to do cool tricks with her uncle and daddy!

86. She pulls funny faces when she is getting ready to blow out her candles.

87. Minute to Win it games make for some great pictures!

88. Rylee was pretty good at "A Bit Dicey."

89. Sara giggled through "Johnny Applestack."

90. The slinky was almost as tall as Brielle in "Pink Elephant."

91. Hayden loved playing "Separation Anxiety."

92. Andrew thought "Pink Elephant" was fun.

93. Bill and Mike show their stuff as they try "Junk in the Trunk" and "Pink Elephant."

94. Kate loves hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa.

95. There was a really cool sunset one night. It looked like the mountains were on fire.

96. One day, Hayden and Kate decided to "decorate" downstairs in the newly finished part.

97. I was afraid as I walked down the stairs because I could smell something funny.

98. As soon as I got down there, I realized why I didn't like that smell.

99. This is what I saw:

100. They had used dry-erase markers.

101. I was not happy because dry erase markers don't come off of much.

102. We just painted over it again.

103. Hayden was so upset and couldn't understand why we ruined the artwork that he was so proud of.

104. I used to wonder where the mom was when kids did things like this.

105. I don't any more. They are probably making dinner like I was.

106. I threw away the dry-erase markers.

107. Hayden turned five in February!

108. He got his first baseball glove and ball for his birthday.

109. He is excited to be signed up to play baseball this summer.

110. Hayden loved when it was finally time for cake and ice cream the night of his birthday.

111. After she had a rough couple of weeks in the hospital, it was nice to see my grandma feeling well enough to celebrate her birthday.

112. On Valentine's Day, the kids were so excited about their treasures at the end of the treasure hunt that they wouldn't even look up for a picture. Oh well.

113. Our little Lana Darlin' turned seven last week!

114. She got a lot of candy for her birthday, and LOVED it!

115. Lana loved inviting a friend to come with us to Classic to celebrate her birthday.

116. She was all smiles all day, and was going strong into the evening when we came back for cake and ice cream.

117. I love that Lana is such an easy-to-please kid who just wanted cupcakes for her birthday cake!

118. Bill had a birthday last week too.

119. Now we are the same age again until my birthday this summer.

120. I hate being older than him.

121. He thinks it's funny to tease me about.

122. That's okay. I still love him.

123. My mom has been doing a really cool thing for everyone's birthdays this year. She has been giving everyone a 72-hour kit.

124. If a big disaster hits before July, Kate and I are in trouble.

125. I have four fantastic kids!

126. They are also four cute kids!

127. They love each other and are the best of friends...

128. Except when they are the worst of enemies.

129. But most of the time they love being together.

130. I'm sure Hayden would love to have more boys in the family, but he sure handles a bunch of sisters pretty well.

131. Rylee has been growing up so fast.

132. She loves babysitting - bonus for me!

133. She has a quick wit and makes Hayden laugh hysterically every night before they go to sleep.

134. She is constantly writing little plays and songs that she teaches to the rest of the kids and then they perform for us.

135. She has been in a cheer class and loves it! She's pretty good!

136. She loves to read and has plowed through almost every Babysitter's Club Book in the series in just a few months.

137. Rylee always wants to look nice and takes pride in the way she presents herself. She's very much a girly-girl!

138. She is so responsible and tries so hard to do what is right.

139. Lana is our candy-lovin' girl!

140. She has an infectious giggle and does the best giggles when you give her candy.

141. She is my comfy-dresser. She loves to wear yoga pants or any other comfortable clothes. Most days she just wants her hair in a pony tail. Works for me! :)

142. Every morning, Lana gets out of bed and immediately makes her bed. She has taught Kate to do the same thing. What a great example!

143. Lana is a fun-loving girl who gets along with anyone, and for some reason it seems that kids fight over who gets to be around her.

144. Lana is our little bouncy girl. I think that's why she is so stinking skinny. She doesn't stop bouncing. :)

145. At night, Lana loves to arrange her bed just right. She has her pillow pet that she arranges just so, with her rice bag right under her shoulders, her favorite blanket tucked inside the sheets, and then all of the rest of the bedding tucked up around her. I don't know how she doesn't roast to death!

146. Lana is always worried about how other people feel. She can't do anything to intentionally hurt anyone's feelings. She's quite the tender-hearted little thing.

147. Hayden is so awesome to have around with all of the females we have in our family. :)

148. Hayden has to get his "Mario" fix in every morning. His day just doesn't start out right if he can't play some sort of Mario game on the Wii for just a few minutes when he wakes up.

149. Hayden looks out for Kate, and it is so cute to watch him play with her.

150. Hayden is a tease, and is great at taking funny lines he hears in movies and applying them at appropriate times in real life. For instance: One night I was tucking him into bed and he had picked three books to have Rylee read to him. She was tired that night and told him to only pick one book. He sighed, and threw two Dr. Seuss books aside and said, "Well somebody doesn't like the classics." (That one is from Ice Age 2.)

151. Hayden is the most ticklish kid I know. If you rub the top of his head, he can't stand it. I don't know how he lets me cut his hair.

152. He loves to tell me about every detail when he gets home from preschool or church, and can recount the stories he is told there. I love it!

153. Hayden loves Ranch dressing and would drink it if I would let him. Gag!

154. When I kiss Hayden's cheek at night, he rubs his face with his hand and says, "Aw, shucks."

155. Kate is the curly-haired cutie pie.

156. Every morning, Kate comes in my room and gives me a kiss and says, "Good morning" before she does anything else.

157. If Kate hurts you or does something wrong, she is quick to say, "I'm sorry" in her cute little voice.

158. Whenever I get out the mixer to make something, Kate asks what I am making. If I say it is cookies she get so excited, runs over to the bar, hops up on the stool and says, "Ooohh, I LOVE cookies!"

159. Kate loves to say prayers and is so good at saying them by herself.

160. Kate doesn't walk many places. The girl RUNS!

161. Kate loves to be my big helper. Her favorite things to help me with are folding the laundry and vacuuming. She's getting pretty good at both!

162. Kate loves to play Just Dance and Just Dance 2 on the Wii, and has a few of the dances DOWN!

163. Bill is still the best dad and husband around.

164. He has a quick wit - that's where the kids get it.

165. He is always great to play with and wrestle the kids.

166. He always smelled amazing when we were dating, and it has continued to the present! I love it!

167. He does the grocery shopping. I hate to shop, and he has been so good to take over that dreaded duty.

168. He is always optomistic and is constantly looking for ways to improve himself and our family.

169. He can still write a killer love note.

170. Bill is always good to help me with whatever I need. Even after long days at work, he still comes home and just jumps right in to help with the kids or dinner or errands - whatever the need may be.

171. I am so lucky to have the family that I do.

172. Our whole family thinks "Angry Birds" is the coolest game ever.

173. Bill and I are still convinced that the stuffed animals are reproducing in there. No matter how many of the dang things we get rid of, the dang box is always overflowing. What the heck?

174. You can't deny that Yo Gabba Gabba is a cool show!

175. YAHOO!!!! 3/4 of the way done!

176. I'm so ready for BBQ season again.

177. Four kids equals never-ending laundry.

178. It's weird when our kids drink plain milk - with no Nesquik in it.

179. Hilary still makes the best cookies in the tri-state area, or in five states, or just in the whole world!

180. Hilary is an awesome decorator, as seen above, and can make any room look awesome with her creative touch.

181. Hilary can always cheer our kids up no matter the circumstance. She has a magical way of making them happy so quickly.

182. Hilary writes a daily note/poem to our kids to put in their lunches. It is usally a silly little rhyme that hopefully brightens their day at lunch. We'll see if she can keep up the pace when we have morekids in school. May have to start recycling them.

183. A hug and a kiss from Hilary can make anyone in the family feel better.

184. Uh, Bill wrote the last few while I was not looking. Stinker. But I'll leave them on because that means I am closer to 200!

185. Crap, I just remembered that St. Patrick's Day is less than a week away.

186. Time to start collecting all things green and to scheme for the mischief that will be created that day.

187. Guess what?

188. Chicken butt.

189. I'm pretty sure I hear the word "mom" close to 200 times per day. Sometimes I swear one kid says it about 20 times right in a row within 5 seconds. You moms can relate, I'm sure.

190. We have awesome friends!

191. We also have amazing extended family!

192. I should have made this a gratitude list.

193. I could list way more than 200 things we have to be grateful for.

194. Then I wouldn't be so stuck when I am so close to 200! LOL!

195. Maybe I should have posted 200 pictures - heaven knows I have taken more than that.

196. It has definitely taken me at least 200 minutes to write this post.

197. It won't be another 200 days before I post again.

198. I can guarantee I won't do this for the 300th post.

199. If you have read all of this, I am amazed.

200. I'm done! And I won't wait so long to blog again. :)

Another Awesome Sunday Get-Together

2010-09-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Jordan and Nikole's house for our monthly family get-together. They were amazing hosts! The food was fantastic and the company was as fun as always.

This get-together had lots of Kid-Snuggling,...

...Kid Smiling,...

...Birthday Celebrating,...

...Face Stuffing,..

...Relaxing,...

...And, of course, Bum Grabbing!

Only at family get-togethers, eh?! Thanks again, Jordan and Nikole for the awesome evening. We all had a blast and you were amazing to put up with all of us at your home!

By the way, do I not have the cutest family?!?! I love them all!!!

Hayden Buddy's First Day of Preschool

2010-09-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

I just have to say I love this kid. He is so stinking fun. I love all of my kids, but it is so much fun to have a silly little tease of a boy in the house.

Today was his first day of preschool, and he couldn't wait! On Tuesday, I told him he would get to go to school in a couple of days. He said, "Oh, I go to school in seven weeks?" I love their perception of time. It may as well have been seven weeks to him. He was SO excited.

This morning finally came and he couldn't wait to leave. I tried to get him to slow down long enough to get pictures, but he had his own agenda. The first picture had to be of the all-important backpack. He loves his backpack and just HAD to have it when we went school shopping.

I asked him to turn around so I could get a picture of his face, and he kept pulling faces. That's my boy!

Boys are so different than girls. When I used to take my girls to school, I had to hold their hand into the classroom, sit them down, kiss them good-bye when they were settled and comfortable. Not Hayden. As soon as we reached the preschool door, he said, "Bye Mom!" What the?????

I told him he had to wait and let me walk in with him to help him hang up his backpack and get him situated. So while we were waiting to go into the classroom, he hugged Kate good-bye.

He was all smiles in the classroom. His dream of going to preschool had finally come true!

He showed everyone the colors he was using and was so excited to find a paper that had his name on it. I realized he couldn't care less if I'm there or not, so I embarrassed him and gave him a kiss good-bye.

My mom came to see Hayden off for his first day of preschool as well. Then she took Kate to her house to make cookies so that she didn't feel left out being the only one not in school. What a fun grandma!

When it was time to go pick Hayden up, he really didn't want to leave. He climbed up on a rock to try to get away from me.

He's obviously pretty proud of himself! When we got home, he was talking about climbing on the rock and said, "I was on top of the world!"

As soon as we walked in the door, he asked me for some chocolate milk. He waited patiently on the couch for it, and when I went to hand it to him he was grinning from ear to ear. It was like he was replaying his fantastic day in his head and he was so happy.

I sat down and talked to Hayden some more about his day at preschool, and he said, "Mom, you're my best friend." Aw, how cute! I'm his hero because I took him to Miss Eve's preschool and that made his day.

First Day of School

2010-09-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have a 4th grader and a 1st grader! They are getting so big! It seems like just yesterday, Rylee was going to her first day of kindergarten.

This year, Bill took the kids to their first day of school, so we had to get some pictures of him with the kiddos. Hayden thought he needed to get in on the action too. That's okay with me because he usually fights us when we want to take his picture. We'll see how it goes when I try to take pictures of his first day of preschool. :)

Rylee all gussied up and ready for school.

Lana and her daddy. I think Bill looks more nervous about Lana's first day of 1st grade than she does.

Lana bounding down the stairs, all ready for school. She couldn't wait!

My two cute girls together.

Rylee and Lana being the silly girls that they are.

Another daddy shot with the three oldest ones. Kate wasn't awake yet.

Rylee trying to not look up at me. That sun was brutal!

Lana pulling a classic Lana face for me.

The girls walking away from me together, taking care of each other...

...or not. Rylee stepped on a worm and Lana thought it was hilarious. This picture is of Lana laughing her head off after she told Rylee about the worm she just smashed. Rylee was horrified.

Rylee wiped that worm off of her foot for a good couple of minutes. She couldn't wipe it enough.

Kate finally woke up and got in on the picture action.

These two are very rarely apart from each other. It won't be long before they are the ones I am taking a picture of, holding hands as they walk to school.

Kate giving her daddy kisses good-bye. She is one affectionate little bugger. We love it!

She gets the affectionate trait from her daddy.

The kids had an awesome first day of school, and I missed them like crazy! But they were happy when they walked through the door after school, and as a mom, that is the best end to the first day of school.

Who Needs Mom?

2010-09-06T14:23:00.001-07:00

One day, Kate was crying because I had tried to help her get down off of the counter so she wouldn't get hurt. I know, I am the MEANEST mom on the planet.

So what does she do? She goes and gets Hayden and cries to him. He says, "Come on, Kate. Let's go snuggle." He sits in the rocking chair and she climbs up and snuggles up to him.

He was so cute to her, but after a couple of minutes he was bored. I love his face in this one. He's still trying to be nice, but just wants Kate to be done snuggling.

Don't worry, Hayden, Kate will be there to snuggle you too when you need to pout. This was about thirty minutes later. Apparently the snuggling-your-sibling has turned into a game. :) Hey, who needs mom to snuggle them when they are upset? Certainly not these two. They have each other.

Fun Before School Starts!

2010-09-06T13:21:00.001-07:00

Before school started this year, we took a few days to play with the kids. Bill took some vacation days and we played and played.

The first stop was bowling. The kids always love it when we take them bowling, or "bullet," as Hayden calls it.

Bill with his girls while Hayden takes his turn.

Kate was so excited every time it was her turn, but not so happy waiting for her turn.

Rylee worked on her form this time. She really wanted to get it down. :)

Me and all of the kids. It must have been Kate's turn. She looks like she can't get out of there fast enough.

Hayden and Kate were so fascinated with the bowling shoes.

What a fashion statement!

The silly kids all crowding around waiting for Hayden's ball to come back. You know, it takes four kids to get one bowling ball to come back.

Bill trying to keep Kate contained until it was her turn again. What a good daddy.

Hayden and Lana patiently waiting their turns.

Hayden pretending he doesn't know I am taking his picture. What a cute little guy he is.

The final scores! Can you see who won? Yep, Kate. Go figure.

After bowling, we went and checked into a hotel for the night. The only thing they care to do when there is a pool in the hotel is SWIM!

Lana was happy as a clam in the water.

So was Rylee.

Cute girls!

Bill was the good parent to get in the chilly water with all of the kids while I stayed dry and took pictures.

Kate thought it was more fun to get in and out, and in and out of the pool.

Lana kept swimming in front of me so I would take her picture. She is my water baby for sure.

Hayden thought it was fun to be in the pool for about ten minutes. Then he decided he'd had enough of the cold water. That's my boy!

That evening, we got the kids ready for bed in their new pajamas we had let them pick out earlier in the day. They were all pulling funny faces. Silly kids.

I failed to get pictures of the rest of the adventures that week. The kids had a riot going to Chuck-E-Cheese, Classic skating to play on the inflatable toys and roller-blade, and going to see Toy Story 3. We had sleepovers as a family in the family room for a few nights and just enjoyed hanging out together before school started again.

This needs to be a new tradition. I love enjoying the kids and letting them play hard before they go back to school.

Kate's 3rd Birthday!

2010-09-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

What a busy couple of months! It seems like time just won't slow down long enough for me to catch up.

Kate turned 3 in July. I can't believe it has been three years since I brought my baby home! How dare she get so big?

She woke up, of course, to her gifts. Her favorite was her new bike. She rode it all over the kitchen all day long.

She also loved her new baby doll. This girl plays with dolls all day long and can't have enough of them.

She couldn't wait to get the baby out of the package to kiss it and snuggle it.

Later in the afternoon we headed outside to play with her new water toy! It's so fun to have a birthday in the summer when you can go outside and have a water party!

Then it was time for dinner with grandma and grandpa and the neighbors. Kate couldn't wait to get to the cake, so we pulled it out while the kids were all still outside playing after dinner.

Happy birthday to our sweet little dolly pants! We love you and love your spunk. And boy oh boy do you have a lot of spunk in you. But you wouldn't be you without that spunk, and we love you for it!

First Family Reunion

2010-07-12T16:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday night, we had our first family reunion with my side of the family. Maybe we decided it was time for an official reunion because we are all now married??? Who knows why, but it was lots of fun!

We started the evening at my parents' house for dinner. It was way yummy food, and always good company.

Then we headed over to the church for some "Minute To Win It" games. The adults were paired with a child so they could help them with the games. It worked out great, and it was so fun to watch the adults with the younger ones.

Here is some of the madness! Some of these pictures will make great blackmail some day! ;)

Nikole was paired with Kate. Here they are before their first game!

Danika is just barely walking, so I had to snap a shot of her cute little self wandering around the gym.

Tai watching McKenzie attempting to get 6 penne noodles onto a linguine noodle.

Hayden watching as Andrew tries to sort M&M's.

Jordan helping Kailie try to figure out how to stack the apples.

Andy shooting rubber bands at a pyramid of empty soda cans in order to knock them off the table. He looks like a great shot!

Andrew helping Hayden stack the apples. Andrew was so cute to explain things to Hayden and help him with every game. Hayden ate it up and is still talking about is awesome uncle.

Brooke trying to blow a bubble across the room and through a hoop!

Lana was quite the cheerleader! She got so excited watching her partner, Brooke, play the games.

My mom, successfully got 6 penne noodles on her linguine noodle. (She did have a little help from her cute partner, Brielle.)

Sara and Rylee shaking their booties to get ping pong balls out of the tissue boxes that were
attached to their waists.

Andrew showing Hayden how to properly shoot a rubber band!

Lana trying to sort the M&M's as fast as she could!

Jordan taking a picture of me, taking a picture of him!

Rylee, Sara, and Kate as Rylee gets ready to attempt "Penny Hose."

Bill, Andy, and Danika. Bill was my helper for the night, and didn't get to participate in many of the games. He was Mr. Timer Man while I was Mrs. Picture Lady. :)

My dad attempting to get the penne noodles onto the linguine noodle. Check out that concentration!

My mom flinging a ping pong ball into a laundry basket, using the towel. Look how cute little Brielle is!

Hayden throwing a water bottle at the table, trying to land it right-side-up. I don't think that one is going to stick!

Mike and my dad flinging ping pong balls into the basket.

Cute little Isaak. He wanted nothing other than to get his treat that I had set out at each station for anyone who tried the game. He is so adorable! I asked if I could take his picture, and he did this cute little pose. Then he asked me to take more. He is so fun!

Brooke, also trying to string those darn noodles!

Sara, attempting to get an Oreo from her forehead into her mouth, using only her face muscles. Classic picture!

Andrew helping Hayden stack the cups. Those cups were a little big for those cute small hands.

The cute pair, Brooke and Lana.

Nikole attempting the penny hose game! What a good sport!

Andrew and Hayden shakin' it!

Sara trying to move the blue cup through the stack of red cups. Don't drop them, Sara!

Wow, Andy! That is just the look for you!

Jordan showing us his moves!

Kate showing us how it's done. The little ones could really shake it!

Jordan and Nikole being the sweet aunt and uncle as they help Kailie and Kate. Our kids have the best aunts and uncles!

It was lots of fun, and we had a lot of laughs. Thanks to my awesome family for a fun night! Let's do it again soon!

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hey all, check out me and my bad self! I may be on a roll here. I am doing another blog entry and it hasn't been another month!

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the 4th? Well just in case you have somehow missed that one, I LOVE THE 4th OF JULY! It is my favorite holiday, and this year was so much fun because we had a whole weekend of celebrating. Here's the rundown:

Saturday:

We got up early in the morning to get everyone gussied up in their patriotic gear for the parade. Aw, look how cute they are. The weather was perfect. It was warm enough for shorts, but we weren't sweltering in the heat.

And quite possibly the most exciting part of the whole parade for me was when the fire engines went by and the two younger ones thought it was great. No tears! What a pleasant surprise!

After the parade, we came home and got ready for a patriotic lunch with some of our awesome friends.

And it just wouldn't be the 4th of July without some water fun, right?

Later that afternoon, we had fun making patriotic treats.

Oh yummy!

And, of course, that evening we watched the city fireworks. Well, I took Ryele and Lana to watch them. Kate had pooped out and Hayden wasn't interested in going, so Bill got to stay home with those two.

On to SUNDAY!

We got up and went to church Sunday morning. It's always fun singing the patriotic songs at church.

After church we came home and started preparing more patriotic food, since one day of patriotic food was definitely not enough. This time, we had Andrew and Sara and my parents for dinner.

After dinner, Andrew made his now famous home-made ice cream as Rylee watched every single move he made.

And Kate waited patiently with Sara. They spent the time blowing a balloon across the counter and laughing hysterically at it. We are easily entertained around these parts.

And as the ice cream was churning, Andrew was doing tricks. The kid does more tricks than a circus performer. Seriously, he's fun to be around. He compressed air in his mouth and blew it out so it looked like smoke, he did several magic tricks, and did the ever popular blow-the-ping-pong-ball-in-the-air trick.;)

My mom played with Hayden and kept him out of trouble. Thank you! They were apparently too cool for Andrew's tricks that had the rest of us amused.

Finally, it was time to eat the dessert! I made this patriotic cake. Don't judge. It was my first attempt at doing this one. It tasted really good though!

As if we didn't have enough sugar in our bellies, we decided to go outside and whack at this thing, hoping that more sugar would come spilling out.

Andrew busted the sucker wide open and what do you know, more sugar came spilling out!

Then he got in on the candy action too! Since there weren't a whole bunch of kids, they all ended up picking up their favorite pieces instead of just grabbing all they could. It was hilarious to watch.

The stray Starbursts from the pinata ended up being used in a game of "Starburst Baseball." Andrew pitched...

Dad played catcher. Bill hit the Starburst, and....

as Sara sat...WHAMMO! She took a line drive right to the knee.

Look closely and you will see the square mark the Starburst left on the inside of her left knee. Oops, maybe this 'isn't a good activity.'

We must play safer games from now on. Games like balance-the-bat-on-your-nose...

...or see-how-long-you-can-leave-your-hand-in-the-ice-bucket-after-making-ice-cream...

...or a good old fashioned pillow fight!

The evening ended with our own fireworks at home and a late-night video watching party with just the big people. It was a fantastic day!

Then comes MONDAY:

We were invited by a fantastic family in our ward to come to a party at the park. These people really know how to throw a party!

There was fantastic food,

Lots of good friends, and...

...FUN!!!

Here is the adorable, fun, fantastic host family getting ready to go down the water slide together.

Lana and Rylee making a chain with their friends.

I don't think many of the adults came thinking we were going to play in the water. But it just looked to fun! Here is Bill sliding in the clothes he came in.

And here he is going down the slide with Lana.

Then he let Rylee go down on his back. This was quite popular for the kids to take a ride on their daddy's back. That way, daddy gets to swallow all of the water, and the kids just get the fun ride!

Hayden and Kate had no interest playing in the water, so the played on the swings and the slide. They didn't know the fun they were missing out on!

The men of the group tried being adventurous. It went from "sliding for distance" to standing up on the way down, seeing if they could make it to the bottom without falling.

After watching all of this fun, most of the women decided to say, "What the heck" and slide wearing what we came in as well. I was wearing white pants, so I saved my sliding until just before I was ready to go. Holy cow, was that fun! It is so awesome to have a huge group of friends that you can just let your hair down with and laugh with!

There is talk of another party like this one for Labor Day. I think next time we will all come appropriately dressed and not just have our kids in swimming suits! Now if only we didn't have the sore muscles! Holy cow, who would have thought sliding like that would leave muscles hurting that you didn't even know you had! We may be getting old, but we are definitely not to old to have a good time!

Thank you to all who played with our family over the weekend! We had so much fun and loved all three days! We have so many good friends and amazing family to hang out with! It was a perfect way to celebrate our freedoms that we enjoy in this land that we love!

You Know It's Summer When...

2010-06-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

10) The PATRIOTIC decor comes out!

9) You get to see these gorgeous blossoms every time you walk out your front door.

8) Kate's hair apparently decides to be curly. All of a sudden, the bottom half of her hair decided to turn into ringlets, so I get to curl the rest of it to match. Hopefully it will all match on its own soon.

7) Instead of going to bed early for school the next morning, you stay up late "lifting weights" with your kids.

6) The kids play so hard that they crash out still sitting up on the couch.

5) Kate invites me to her late-night "prompsis." This was her made-up event in which Kate stuck stickers all over my face to prepare for the prompsis and then we went into the living room where she played the kids' keyboard and sang while I had to dance. What fun!

4) The kids can't get enough outside time and they stay out as long as the sun will allow.

3) The 4th of July countdowns are made. We are SO excited for the 4th!

2) The kids can't get enough "water time!" They want to play in water or run through the sprinklers almost every day. In Hayden's case, he wants to ride his Big Wheel through the sprinklers. :)

And the NUMBER ONE way to know it's summer....Drum roll please....

I haven't blogged in almost two months because I'm so stinking busy!!!!

Andrew and Sara's Wedding

2010-05-10T07:32:00.000-07:00

My little (but very much taller) brother married the sweet Sara on Friday. It was a wonderful day, and we are so excited to finally officially welcome Sara into the family.

After the sealing, the girls had fun holding Sara's bouquet and Andrew's boutonniere while we waited for them to come out of the temple.

Brooke and Danika both looked beautiful, as always.

I had fun hanging out with Nikole and Jordan while we waited for the newlyweds to exit. Can you tell it was a little chilly that morning?

And here are the newlyweds, doing what newlyweds do best!:)

Keep those smiles plastered on your faces. You have a whole day of smiling and pictures ahead.

That evening, Sara and Andrew had a ring ceremony. I snapped this shot of Sara getting ready just before the ceremony.

My two handsome brothers just before the ring ceremony. Awww...

And how cute is this?! Look at all the cute little kids standing on the chairs to get a glimpse of the bride as she is escorted down the aisle by her parents.

Okay, and I am a shameless mother. I couldn't resist adding this one of Kate and her daddy.

The kids all had so much fun with their cousins. Lana, Kailie, Rylee, and Hayden all stopped long enough to let me get a picture.

Then the cousins were all off, running again, and dancing together. It was so cute!

And, of course, it wouldn't be a cousin-dance-party unless they all tried to pick each other up. Why is that so fun?

Somehow we were able to corral all of the kids together long enough for a picture with Sara and Andrew.

Then we kept them contained again long enough to eat. Thank goodness for yummy food! They all looked so cute sitting together!

Somehow in all of the kid-chasing-madness, I was able to snap a few pictures. This one is the wedding party.

This one is of Andrew and Sara and my parents. Good job on mom's hair, Brooke! She looked great!

And Sara and Andrew with Sara's parents. They are both such nice people. Andrew married into a great family!

It wouldn't be a wedding without the cake smashing. I was just worried about her gorgeous dress. She didn't seem to get any on her dress. Way to go!

Jordan took great pride in making sure the car was a complete mess. It was AWESOME! And I love that his cute wife was right in on the action! That's why I love her so much. She's so much fun and just jumped right in to the family.

Congratulations, Andrew and Sara! We love you both and are so excited to have Sara officially join the family!

To Be Inside the Head of this Kid

2010-04-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

I think that if I could get inside the head of my little Kate, I would be entertained for hours on end.

What in her head makes her think I would appreciate her tracing her hand with marker on the kitchen floor? I could see how she could think that would be fun, and it is pretty cute.

And what do you see here? This is just my run-of-the mill elbow, right? (Pardon the picture. Have you ever tried to take a picture of your own elbow?)

That was what I thought until the other night. I was putting Kate in the bath, and had my ugly-ole arm hanging down in front of her. She pointed to my elbow and said, "There's a meanie guy." What?! Apparently my ugly-ole elbow looks like a meanie guy. Then the other day she came to me, pointing to her elbow saying, "Look Mom, I have a meanie guy too!"

Whatever. She knows it's an elbow, but "Meanie Guy" is so much more fun.

Highlights...

2010-04-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

...of the past couple of months, since I have been a slacker blogger. I keep meaning to blog these cute moments, but just keep getting busy. I keep hesitating to blog current things because these older things are sitting there, waiting to be blogged about. Now that I am finally catching up, maybe I can stay current. Do you think?

Valentine's Day

The kids on their treasure hunt to find their Valentines from Bill and I.

These next two pictures are so cute. Hayden and Kate were both trying to "read" their cards.

And the traditional Valentine's Day cake!

They can't wait to eat it!

Too bad. You can't dig into it until we take about a thousand pictures.

Hayden talking to his buddy, Rylee, as he eats his cake.

Lana, loving her cake. Kate was taking a nap and had her piece of cake later. The rest of us just couldn't resist digging in.

A Proposal!!!!

And why would these two look so happy?!?!......

Andrew proposed to Sara on Valentine's Day weekend. Sara has been an unofficial member of our family for so long. It's awesome to make it official! They are getting married on May 7th, and we can't wait! Congratulations, you two! We love you both.

Mario and Luigi

Hayden has had older sisters his whole life, and has been dressed up as a girl more than once. I think he figures that since he is the older brother, he has the same right to do to his little sister the same that his older sisters have done to him. So, he dressed Kate up as a boy! It was so cute.

They would both lift up their hats and say, "Mario time!"

Date Night With Sara and Andrew

Rylee getting ready for her first date. Her uncle, Andrew called earlier in the day and asked if he and Sara could take Rylee on a date. They went out for ice cream and to a movie. She thought it was pretty cool that she got to stay out so late with her cool uncle and soon-to-be-aunt.

What girl wouldn't love to be greeted this way for her first date!?

All three of them getting ready to leave. Thank you two for making Rylee feel so special. She loved it!

School Picture Day

Since I don't like to buy the pictures that I don't think turn out very well, I take pictures of my kids on picture day. Hey, it counts, right?

Rylee, doing her classic head tilt.

A pretty close-up.

Lana being my sweet little giggly poser.

She is so sweet!

Rylee's Creative Animal Costumes

Hayden showing his bunny tail and ears that Rylee made for him.

Rylee showing her elephant costume she made.

All three kids showing their costumes Rylee made for them. Rylee just gets creative when she has free time, and I am always amazed at what she comes up with. Once she had made her elephant outfit, the youngest two had to get in on that action. Kate was a monkey. She had a cute, long tail in the back. They had so much fun! Lana wasn't interested in joining the dress-up fun.

Brian Regan Concert!!!

Lana, Rylee, and I waiting for the show to start. We took the girls to see Brian Regan because we all love him! The girls can recite any line he says, and were so excited to see him. It was so fun to go and laugh our heads off for two hours!

Bill, Lana, and Rylee still waiting for the show to start. Do you see how many empty seats there are around us? Yep, we were there early. :)

Family Get-Together/Monthly Birthday Party

Andrew playing with Danika.

Danika kissing/eating Andrew's face. Who can resist kissing a sweet baby?

The big birthday celebration for March birthdays!

All of the girl cousins together. Aren't they so cute!? My mom wanted a picture of all of the girls together, and then the two boys together to put on her wall...

This was the first picture we got of the two boys. She should have used it, don't you think? Hayden digging for gold and Isaak freaked out that Hayden may flick that gold on him.

Never fear, Grandpa is here. We got some cute pictures of my dad with the two boys.

That is some of our cute moments over the past couple of months, and I feel somewhat caught up. So, here's to regular blogging again!!!!

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-23T11:22:00.001-07:00

Whew, I am finally able to sit long enough to blog about St. Patrick's Day.

As always, the kids decorated their boxes the night before St. Patrick's Day.

Then they are so excited to wake up the morning of St. Patrick's Day to see what the leprechauns have done to the house, and to follow the different trails to find their boxes.

Those silly leprechauns made the biggest mess this year! So we had to hurry and clean up the trails and pick up just a little before Rylee had to go to school. But don't you worry, we had plenty of time. The kids were so excited, they were up at 5:30. Sheesh.

Rylee got ready for school. We had plenty of time, so we took pictures. Silly kids.

The day was gorgeous! It was so nice outside. So the kids ran and played all afternoon outside. They loved it! So did I! I will admit that by the end of the summer, I get tired of going outside to chase the kids every time they want to play out there, but I was loving the nice weather! It was so fun to be outside playing with the kids!

That evening, we had to have some green food for dinner! My kids usually don't eat things that are food colored green very well. I must say, I don't blame them. It isn't too appealing to me either. So we improvised. This year, I did twice baked potatoes and used the food coloring spray to just color the tops of the potatoes green before I put the cheese on top. One layer of green isn't too bad, right?

Some of the other green food included a green salad and green french bread. They actually ate the bread, to my surprise.

Don't they all look so thrilled to be getting ready to eat their green food? Mmmmmm......Yummy!!!!

Okay, I lied. Not all of them ate the bread. Hayden took one look at it and handed it right back. No way in heck was he eating something that looked so wrong. :) Not even a chance. He didn't even want to look at it.

They can't complain too much when dinner ends with rainbow cupcakes though, right?

The End of Our Birthday Season

2010-03-11T08:47:00.001-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR SWEET LANA DARLIN'!

Lana's birthday was last week, and she had a lot of help opening her presents, of course. Do you think she was excited to get some roller-blades? She has been dying for some ever since she saw Rylee's. Now they have matching ones and will have so much fun outside together as soon as it warms up just a little.

This girl is so funny. She LOVES candy like no other child I know. She was almost more excited to get a treat than she was to get her roller-blades. :)

After school, we took the kids and one of Lana's little friends from school to Chuck-E-Cheese. That was what Lana wanted most to do on her birthday. So I consented to take them to the germ-fest.

And, yes, those are pajamas that Rylee and Lana are wearing. It was pajama day at school, so I didn't make them change. Lana loved having some new PJ's to wear to school on her birthday. I think they are enjoying themselves; what do you think?

Sheesh, why take them to a real amusement park when we get the same reaction on a single-token-ride? Definitely much cheaper than an amusement park.:)

It's always fun when Grandma comes along to party with us!

Hayden ran a million miles a minute in that place. It was so hard to keep up with him.

Just so you know, Kate put her outfit together. She is going through that lovely phase. It isn't worth a fight. She still looks cute though. Giddy up!

They all stopped playing for about two seconds to eat pizza.

I have decided that the next time we go to Chuck-E-Cheese, we will not be eating there. It isn't worth buying the food because all the kids want to do is play.

After dinner (if you want to call it that), we went back home for cake and ice cream. What a cute birthday girl.

Lana with the whole gang. She couldn't wait to dig into her cake.

Happy birthday, Lana. You are such a sweet girl who is always trying to help and do what is right. Your giggle makes us all laugh, and you are so much fun to be around. We love you so much, sweetie!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL!!!

It was also Bill's birthday last week. Now he is as old as I am! And you better believe I won't let him forget it!

He had lots of help opening presents too. In fact, he didn't open a single one. Kate took care of that for him.

See, he is looking at one of the gifts I gave him while Kate works on opening the next gift.

That evening, my mom and Sara came over to celebrate and have yummy ice cream cake. It's a good thing I didn't put 31 candles on the cake. It would have melted. :)

Happy Birthday, Honey! We love you!

Happy Birthday Gazedo!!!

2010-02-10T07:35:00.001-08:00

Hayden has been affectionately nicknamed "Gazedo" because every time I try to text his name to Bill's phone, the predictive text puts his name in as Gazedo. It has stuck. Now I don't even change it in the texts, and we sometimes call him by his texting nickname.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAZEDO!!!!

Our sweet little guy turned four on Sunday. He wanted nothing but "Super Mario" stuff for his birthday. We tried to oblige. He woke up on Sunday morning so excited because the house looked like this for him:

He, of course, had to wear his hat on backwards as he opened presents. He wears that hat all day every day. Silly kid.

He opened some new Super Mario pajamas, and couldn't wait to put them all. So he stripped.

Look how happy he is about having his new pajamas.

He was so excited to open his Mario lunchbox. He even took it to church that day and used it as his scripture bag. Inappropriate? Maybe. But, hey, a kid only turns four once. At least we didn't let him take his pajamas in his bag. He did try to sneak them, but we took them out.

And he got a Super Mario costume. Now he has Mario and Luigi, and is thrilled about it.

Of course, there are always a lot of extra helpers when it is time to open presents.

And now he has a backpack to match the lunchbox. He had to name all of the different characters on the backpack.

What a cutie with his costume, slippers, and lunch box. He was not too happy when we told him he had to take that stuff off to get on his church clothes.

He thought it was fun to take off his hat and say, "Mario time." Such a cute boy.

That afternoon we had lots of family over for cake and ice cream. This gathering was playing "What color are my eyes" with Kate. I think all of them had their eyes poked at least once.:)

Lana was excited to see her Grandma Eccleston.

This is the kind of circus we run around here. Kids all over the place, and plenty of adults that love them to pieces.

If you want to be Kate's best friend, offer her your lap and a story. She loves to be read to.

Hayden giving his grandma a big hug after he opened the gift they brought for him.

Time for cake!!!!!

Hayden loved having everyone sing to him. He was grinning from ear to ear the whole entire time. It was so cute. It made me want to sing the song all over again just to see more of that sweet face.

He did a great job blowing out the candles. No slobber or spit flying.

I also made a chocolate pie just in case Hayden decided he wanted that over cake. He has been on a major chocolate pie kick lately. He wanted cake. But baby Danika sure loved the pie!

Lana loves babies. She was having fun playing with her other sweet cousin, Bailey Jo.

Later that evening, Grandma and Grandpa Jennings stopped by to see Hayden and give him a gift. He loves the Buzz and Woody that he got. He has played with them constantly.

The day ended with Kate sleeping on my dad. She took a nasty spill off of the bar stool earlier in the evening and bonked her head pretty hard. She needed to be snuggled.

It was a great day, and Hayden is still talking about how much fun he had on his birthday. He is such a sweet little guy, and is my little buddy. We love to play Super Mario Bros. together and will have fun figuring out his new Mario Galaxy game, I'm sure. It's all worth it when he sits next to me and snuggles with me while we play.

We love you, Buddy! Happy Birthday!!!

My Rompin' Roughians

2010-02-03T18:22:00.001-08:00

My kids have been so silly lately. Want to see what I mean?

Kate thinks she is big stuff. She thinks it is fun to vacuum every single day. She also thinks it's fun to pick out her own outfits every single day. Really, I do try to make her look cute. She just won't have it. Oh well. She looks cute in her own little, messy-face way.

Rylee and Lana love to dress up as rock stars.

And if I do say so, I think they are very cute little rock stars. I remember doing the same sort of thing with my sister when we were younger.

They have fun sitting on each other and playing drums on the bums.

They think it's hilarious to hang on to the railing on the bed and jump. Notice again Kate's non-matching pajamas. :) Some parents get upset when their kids jump on the bed. What do we do? Bill grins at them and I take a picture.

Hayden is also choosing his own wardrobe lately. His favorite thing to wear lately is this outfit. He loves Mario, and tries to wear this Mario shirt every day. It goes so well with his "Cars" pajama pants and the backwards Mickey Mouse hat. Oh, and don't forget the ever-important snow boots. Cute boy!

And a new-found activity tonight. Are you ready for this one? The kids wanted popsicles. I told them it's too cold. How do you solve that problem? You eat popsicles in a nice, warm bath. So that's exactly what they did. But if you look closely, you will see a smiley face on Kate's tummy. Yup. as Rylee got in the bath, I painted a smiley face on her back with her popsicle. So guess what they all did? You got it. A new activity was invented. Popsicle bath painting.

They loved it.

Too Funny To Be Offended

2010-01-21T12:04:00.000-08:00

This morning, I was in the middle of my daily ritual. I was taking a shower, and as usual, Kate came in the bathroom to talk to me.

I always take the clothes I am going to wear for the day into the bathroom with me so I don't have to scare anyone while I run around deciding what to wear. Today was no exception.

Kate walks in, apparently gets bored with our conversation, and looks for something more interesting to do. She sees my bra sitting on the counter with the rest of my clothes. She proceeds to "try it on." She got it on, except doing up the back.

She looks at me and says, "Look, mom! It fits, just like you!"

Great. I have boobs the size of a 2-year-old.

Time to consult a surgeon, I think.

Catching Up..Again

2010-01-18T16:11:00.000-08:00

I cannot seem to be able to find the time to blog consistently. I can't seem to be able to put the brakes on life for ten minutes.

We have been so busy! The kids have been sick with the stomach flu for the past two weeks. One gets over it, and another comes down with it. What a joke! But we will skip over the past two weeks because 1) I would really like to forget the past two weeks; and 2) I'm sure no one wants to hear the details of the past two weeks.:)

So fast forward to this past weekend. My first baby turned 9! How in the world did time pass so quickly?! She had a late night with her two cousins, her sister, and four friends on Friday night. What a fun bunch of girls!

There was pizza, a movie, popcorn, dancing, singing, balloon fights, and...

A humongous pillow fight. They had a blast!

Saturday was Rylee's birthday, so she couldn't wait to open her gifts as soon as she woke up.

She got some clothes, and a sewing machine.

I think her favorite gift was her roller blades though. She didn't want to take them off all day (and hasn't taken them off much since.) You gotta love the fashion statement she is making with the dress and the socks and roller-blades though. I think it's adorable.:)

She also loved her new birthday dress. She loves to get a new dress for her birthday. What a girly-girl!

Rylee wanted this cake for her birthday so bad. It was SO yummy!

She couldn't wait to dig in!!!

She loves it when family comes over for cake and ice cream! We have an awesome family!

Blow out those candles, Birthday Girl!!!

Daddy, trying to decide how to cut the cake.

He decided he didn't want to cut the cake, and turned the honors over to Tai. She is giggling trying to figure out how to cut it without causing an M&M avalanche.

These two girls love their daddy so much!

I couldn't resist taking this picture of Isaak. What a cutie pie!

While everyone else was enjoying their cake and ice cream, Kate was enjoying and apple. What the heck? I have no idea where she came from. Who picks apples over cake (with candy all over it, nonetheless) and ice cream? She will be the only healthy one in our family.:)

We snapped a picture of the three girls with my parents as the night was ending. They are the best grandparents, and we are all so lucky to have them so close by. My kids adore them. Hayden would have been right there with them, but still wasn't feeling top-notch after being sick all week. Poor dude.

It was such a nice weekend, and Rylee said her birthday was fabulous. We sure love her and she is turning in to such an amazing young lady. I can't believe it has been nine years since she was born. I don't know what I ever did to deserve such a sweet girl, but we are all so blessed to have her in our family. Her sense of humor is fantastic. She is kind and sensitive to those around her. She is artistic and loves to share her talents. Our family is so much richer with her in it, and we love her so much!

Happy Birthday, Sweetie! We love you!

Christmas '09

2009-12-28T17:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was a blast. We got together with my family for our traditional Christmas Eve party.

The kids acted out the Nativity story the best they could. Did you know Luigi was a part of the Nativity story? I didn't either until that night.:) McKenzie was the angel telling Mary (Lana) that she was going to have a baby.

Bill was a good sport and played the part of Joseph. Here he is with Mary on the long journey around the island, finding that there is "no room at the inn."

Mike and Isaak enjoyed the show.

So did Andy and Danika...until it was time for Danika to play the adorable baby Jesus.

And Tai was also a good sport, and played a shepherd. She is obviously very excited about the news the angel, Kailie, had to share with her!

Then all gathered around Mary and the baby and sang a couple of Christmas songs.

What a cute baby, don't you think?!

Next it was time for some rip-roaring fun with the traditional pinata!

Every child got a turn to whack it, from the youngest, beginning with baby Danika...

..to the oldest. It finally ended with Aunt Brookie and uncle Mike finishing it off!!!

Rylee surprised everyone with some Christmas songs she had learned on the piano.

And Grandma took a turn sliding down the stairs in a sleeping bag, just to prove she is still cool. A bunch of kids joined her at the bottom, probably to make sure she didn't break a hip or something.;)

The festivities continued as the kids decorated sugar cookies for Santa. That's always a fun mess.

Brielle, cutie pie.

Rylee decorating hers ever so carefully.

Lana and Kailie, still inseparable.

McKenzie, probably trying to make sure the sprinkles at aunt Hilary's house aren't poisoned.

Isaak doing what the little ones do best when they decorate cookies.

And Kate attempting to be neat about the decorating.

Mike, Jordan, Nikole, and Andrew being entertained by the Wii and hot fudge brownies! YUM!

Time for Grandma's traditional Christmas Pie. This tradition is so much fun. Everyone grabs a string and pulls on the count of three. Then you get to open a present that is attached at the end of the string. It is definitely a favorite tradition. Thanks again for doing this, Mom.

Then we all opened our Christmas Eve gifts, A.K.A. pajamas. We hung out for a little bit. Rylee, of course wouldn't leave Andrew alone. Do you think she missed him just a little bit?

We asked all of the kids to pose for a picture in their new Christmas jammies. This is the best we could get. Hey, you get nine kids to all look at the camera at the same time at 10:00 on Christmas Eve.

Kate snuggling with Sara. She was definitely getting tired.

The girls were tracking Santa on the computer and were definitely starting to panic. They were anxious to get into bed before Santa got too close to us.

Jordan, Rylee, and Nikole posing for a darling picture.

Before the night was completely finished, Grandpa read a couple of Christmas stories to Hayden. Hayden loved it. Thanks Dad!

Andrew did some magic tricks for Rylee and Lana. They ate it up and were amazed!

Sara and Lana were both laughing hysterically at Andrew's tricks.

The kids all got to open one more gift on Christmas Eve. These were from Jordan and Nikole. They all got a book that goes with a stuffed animal. They were so excited. Thank you so much, Jordan and Nikole!

Lana thanking her super cool aunt and uncle.

The kids were finally able to crash at about midnight, and were so tired. Rylee was the only one who had a hard time going to sleep. She couldn't finally relax and go to sleep until about 1:30.

Time to rest and get ready for Christmas morning and the craziness that brings!!!

Christmas Day was wonderful. The kids loved their gifts and were so cute opening them.

We spent the day as a family, playing with the new toys and games. We had a visit from my parents and Andrew. The kids laughed a lot and had so much fun all day.

We were even able to have the Elders over for a turkey dinner that evening. These elders were so much fun to have in our home. They were fun to talk to and very sweet to the kids.

At the end of the day, we all put on pajamas, blew up a big air mattress, and watched "Night at the Museum 2" as a family. It was a perfect end to a perfect day. It couldn't have been a better Christmas.

By the end of the week, after all of our get-togethers and late nights, we all felt like this:

We hope you all had a fantastic Christmas, and that your New Year is wonderful! We are so grateful for the birth of our Savior and for the special time of year it brings to celebrate with those we love so much. We love you all!

Andrew Is Home!!!

2009-12-28T16:31:00.000-08:00

My little brother, Andrew, came home from his mission last Tuesday. What a fantastic Christmas present that was for my whole family! Andrew left on his mission just a couple of months before my other brother, Jordan, came home from his. So we hadn't been together as a whole family for almost four years.

Jordan and Andrew, finally able to see each other after four long years.

Andrew with his two best friends, Aaron and Josh. It was so fun that they came to the airport!

A few random pictures that I couldn't help taking. The kids were all so adorable and so excited!

It was a fantastic reunion! The whole big bunch of us went to the airport to swarm and overwhelm Andrew with attention.:)

That evening, we all had a good time together at my parents' house.

Andrew quickly turned into Uncle Jungle Gym:

Uncle Mike even had to get in on the action. It was just like old times. It was so much fun!

Kate loved Nikole and kissed her about a million times with her sticky face. Luckily, Nikole is a good sport and didn't seem to mind.

The kids couldn't get enough of their uncle, Andrew, and he seemed to eat them up as well. Every time one of his nieces or nephews would hug him, he would hug them tight and say, "That's what I'm talking about." It was very sweet.

You gotta love ping-pong with all the kids!

I love how much these kids all love their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

It was a fantastic night full of laughs and good memories. We love having Andrew home, and the whole family together again. It's been a long wait.

Now that I have caught my breath...

2009-12-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

...I can update my blog! Beware...Tons of pictures!!!

The two weeks before Christmas were spent going to ward parties, family parties, and running all over doing the same sorts of projects that I'm sure everyone was doing.

We made a gingerbread house and gingerbread train. Can I just say that I LOVE the kits! It makes such a messy project so much easier.

We had so much fun one night because I was making a gazillion rice bags to give out as gifts, and the kids were getting bored. So I told them to grab a sleeping bag. They were so curious why I needed a sleeping bag, but brought one up anyway.

I told them to get in and slide down the stairs. They loved it! At first they were going down on their bums. Oh no, no, no. That is NOT the way to slide down the stairs. I told them to go on their tummies, feet first. They were scared and asked if they would get hurt. I couldn't convince them to try it until I showed them first. It was so much fun! After they watched me do it and saw that I didn't die, they were willing to give it a try.

Little Lana put together a family home evening lesson for us the week before my little brother came home from his mission. It was all about why we love Andrew (with some shape and color review as well.) It was like church and school all combined into one. It was adorable, and she was so proud of herself.

Two Sundays before Christmas was the dreaded pictures of the kids in their Christmas outfits. Why is it such a nightmare every year?!?!?! Getting the kids to cooperate is not much fun.

Kate in her outfit:

She started out cute, and was thinking it was fun to have her picture taken.

She even thought it was funny to really cheese it for me...

The fun lasted about two minutes and she was pouting.

FAKER!!!! She is such a stinker pants.

Then comes Hayden's turn:

What a handsome little dude! He cooperated with me so well...until it was time to take a group shot. I'll take what I can get.

Lana loved posing:

Rylee cooperates too, thank heavens:

But, oh boy, next came the pictures of all of the kids together. They pretty much hated me by the time we were done. Hayden and Kate did not want any more pictures taken. So this was the best we got:

After these, we were just about ready for Christmas and for Uncle Andrew to come home!!! And thank goodness the yearly Christmas pictures are over with for another year. Whew. I'm tired.

My Late Thanksgiving Post...

2009-12-03T10:24:00.000-08:00

...Better late than never though, right?

~ I am grateful, for starters, for the lovely gentleman who fixed our computer. This would be the reason I have not yet blogged about Thanksgiving. Stinking virus. But we are back up and running now, and all is right with the world.:)

~ I am also grateful for this little boy.

I am grateful to be able to experience all things "boy" among all of the princesses and dress-ups that we are surrounded by otherwise. There is something so fun about your little boy begging you to play Mario Kart with you when you've been doing hair all day. I am grateful for that grinning, excited face as he holds up his ticket to ride the train with his daddy.

And I'm grateful this sweet boy has a sweet daddy who took him to see the trains - just the two of them. Hayden loved it and still talks about it.

~ I am grateful for these two little girls, who love each other like crazy and couldn't live without one another.

I also love the sweet innocence and spunk they have. They always keep me laughing.

A couple of weeks ago, Lana was talking to her daddy about her day and proceeded to tell him, "Dad, today at school I told my teacher that E____ and C____'s butt cwacks (that is the way she pronounces it, and it is much cuter that way) were showing and she told me not to worry about it right now." I love that I have raised a girl who has deemed herself the butt crack police. Hey, at least she's modest.:)

Rylee is always quick on her feet. She was talking to me about how excited she was for Christmas a couple of weeks ago. I told her to slow down because we need to take time to be Thankful first. Without missing a beat she says, "I'm thankful for Christmas."

I love these kids!!!

~ I'm also thankful for this little stinker. I love that I have a kid who loves cookies and sweets as much as I do. Every time I start to make cookies, she will hop up to the bar and ask what I am doing. As soon as I say that I am making cookies she replies with, "Oooh, I LOVE cookies." Her daddy can't even resist buying her a treat when she says, "Daddy, can we go to the store and pick a treat? Huh, could we?" The 'could we' gets him every time.

~ I'm thankful that my kids have so many awesome aunts and uncles that they love and adore, and who love and adore them in return. This was how Kate stayed for the longest time on Thanksgiving with her uncle, Michael.

~ I'm grateful for a husband who gets up bright and early to go shopping on Black Friday with me, and even acts like he enjoys himself! Then he comes home and helps me decorate for Christmas. What a guy!

~ I'm also grateful that my hubby doesn't want to leave me for a younger, hotter chick on days when I look like this! (Hey, what do you expect after a shopping extravaganza on Black Friday?!) I'm also grateful I didn't have a big ole booger in my nose when Rylee took this picture!:)

~ I'm grateful that my kids have such amazing grandparents, who take the time to play with my kids and love them like only a grandparent can.

I love that my parents came over to watch the BYU/Utah game with us on Saturday. It was lots of fun.

Speaking of the game, last but not least on my gratitude list is this:

~ I am grateful I have a husband who makes it fun to be rivals with during "rivalry week." This year, Lana decided to be on the 'Red team' with her daddy. Rylee was on my team still. Good girl. I had so much fun that week pulling little pranks on Bill. He was even a good sport when he came home from work last Wednesday to find that when I made pies with the girls, I cut a "Y" into the top of one of the pies.

It was even better when my team won (not to rub it in), and he knew he was going to have to "pay up." The bet this year was that if my team won, he has to take me to see New Moon and then shout, "Yeah Buddy" when Jacob takes off his shirt. I know, I'm ruthless. He's a fantastic sport, and so fun to laugh with.

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving. We are so grateful for the friends and family we have. We always have so much to be thankful for.

Pajama Water Party

2009-11-13T19:58:00.001-08:00

Every night the kids take one of these filled with water to bed. Do you want to know what else these babies are great for?

Target practice!!!

She shoots...She SCORES!!! (If you can't tell, a stream of water is going into Lana's mouth.)

Or they are a lot of fun just to squirt your kids with and get them all soaked after they are all bathed and ready for bed. I always cause problems.:)

The kids all posing with their soaking wet hair and pajamas. They were so cold, but laughed so hard. They changed immediately after this was taken. I love nights like this when we laugh and goof off and do something fun and spontaneous like that just to catch the kids off-guard before bed.

Her Life of Privilege

2009-11-10T15:38:00.001-08:00

Rylee was chosen last week to go to lunch with the mayor. In the school, a few kids are chosen to ride to the city building with the principal and have lunch with the mayor. She was so excited. She definitely lives a life of privilege eating yummy pizza...

...and drinking soda...

...for lunch. It's better than the crummy lunches she always gets from home.:)

See, she is so important that everyone wanted a picture taken with her.;) She thought it was pretty cool to get a picture with her principal, the police chief, the mayor and 'another guy who works there.'

Rylee is rubbing shoulders with the important people. And I am grateful they took the time to make her feel important.

Another Halloween Come and Gone

2009-11-02T13:25:00.001-08:00

The kids didn't have school on Friday this past week, so we decided to make some sugar cookies. It's always a hit with the kids, but to be quite honest, it isn't a favorite of mine.

We even had a couple of extra friends join us in our cookie decorating fun. Hey, it's less for me to deal with.:)

Hayden was the only one who didn't want to decorate cookies. I guess it just didn't appeal to him to get frosting all over and eat bunches of straight sugar the way they all do.

Halloween day we carved pumpkins with the kids. This year, we had Rylee and Lana design and carve their own pumpkins.

Rylee was very serious about the whole thing. She's a perfectionist like me, unfortunately.

The girls both wanted to wear plastic gloves to get the "guts" out of their pumpkins. They say it makes their hands itchy to touch it.

Lana with her finished pumpkin. She even drew hair on it with a black crayon. She did a pretty good job for her age and considering the fact that it was her first time carving a pumpkin!

Bill and I had to take care of cleaning out and carving Hayden and Kate's pumpkins. They wouldn't even help us get the "guts" out. Common phrases heard from their little mouths while we were cleaning them out were, "Ew, that's disgusting," and "Ew gross!" Wimps.

Hayden thought it was funny to say, "You didn't tell me you were gonna kill it," from Charlie Brown. He kept saying it from the time we first cut into his pumpkin until Bill was done carving it.

Then, of course, it was time for trick-or-treating. They couldn't wait to leave. (What kid can?) But I was the mean mom that made them stop to get a few pictures taken before they left on their quest for candy.

Lana was a High School Musical cheerleader.

Kate was a princess. But if you ask Hayden what she was, he will tell you she was Baby Peach from Mario Kart. He's a little obsessed with that right now.

Hayden was Luigi. Did I mention that the kid loves Mario Kart?

Rylee was a witch. She was the only one who let me make her costume. She's a good sport to let me experiment with my lack of sewing skills on her.:)

We hope you all had a fantastic Halloween. Now we just need to figure out what to do with the tons of candy the kids brought home.;)

Enjoying the Small Stuff

2009-10-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

Like enjoying pudding so much, you just can't help but getting it all over your face,

Or a fort just perfect for reading books, made by opening all of the kitchen cupboards,

Or searching for the "perfect pumpkin," or posing ON the pumpkins,

And trying to lift that perfect pumpkin once you find it,

And teaching your sister to roll the pumpkins instead of lifting them, just like Charlie Brown,

Or deciding it's easier to just pose for a picture with your pumpkin than lifting or rolling it

And then watching in awe as your daddy "one-hands" that heavy pumpkin to the car for you!

We enjoy the small stuff like waking up to the first snow of the season,

And although it is just a dusting we hear Kate excitedly exclaim in a hlaf-asleep voice, "Oh My Heck!" It's the little things like standing on the heater to stay warm as you look out the window at the snow and eat Cheetos for breakfast with your brother.

Sensory Overload...

2009-10-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

...In a Good Way!

This past weekend, we dehydrated a bunch of apples. Talk about an awesome weekend!

They Looked so nice as they soaked before we peeled them.

We all Looked amazing in our pajama glory as we prepared the apples bright and early in the morning. Okay, Bill and the kids look great. :)

And check me out. Boy am I a Sight for sore eyes, or what!? I look amazing since I wore a hat the night before and thus have the ever-amazing hat hair, which is definitely worse on a girl than a guy. But oh no, the fantastic Looks don't stop there. I made sure my pajamas don't match either, just for your giggling enjoyment. Hey, I was tired the night before and was too lazy to change my shirt. So sue me.

The apple peeler/corer/slicer is always amazing to Watch.

The kids all had to take a turn trying out the apple peeler/corer/slicer. Good thing they all Look so darling!

They thought it was so fun to See the long, continuous apple peels.

We all thought it was funny Watching Lana using her peel as a jump rope.

See how pretty the apples are as they take a little bath in pineapple juice before they are put in the dehydrator!

While the apples soaked for a minute, some of the kids munched on the long apple peels. Lana threw hers away after she used it as a jump rope. Kate apparently thought they Tasted so yummy that she had to shove the whole thing in her mouth as fast as she could.

I then got the joy of Touching all of the stickiness as I fished the apples out of the juice to place them on the racks. But the girls wanted to help sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar on the apples.

See how pretty they look!

And what do you do with the leftover apples? No, you do not throw them away! You fish them out of the pineapple juice, sprinkle cinnamon/sugar on them and Eat them!!!

So, about a dozen Sticky hands and one VERY Sticky floor later, we have two dehydrators full of apples ready to go. (Thank you, mom and dad, for letting us borrow your dehydrator. It sure makes it go faster to have two dehydrators going at once!)

The best parts of the whole process is something I can't take pictures of. Have you ever Smelled what apples, soaked in pineapple juice and coated in cinnamon/sugar Smell like when they are drying? It is the yummiest Smell ever. It is the perfect fall Smell! It reminds me of being a kid and how excited I was for those apples to be dried so I could dig into them and Eat them!

The other thing I love about dehydrating apples is the Sound of the silent hum of the dehydrators. There is something so soothing about it. We did several batches of apples over the weekend, and my favorite batch was the one we did over night. I loved Hearing the hum of the dehydrators as I fell asleep.

There is something so comforting and nice about dehydrating apples. It brought a fall feeling to our home and was something we enjoyed doing together as a family. We will definitely be making this a fall tradition.

Picture Day

2009-10-15T14:44:00.001-07:00

Today was picture day at school for the girls. But since I am a horrible mother and decided not to buy the dorky school picture package, I took pictures of them before they left for school and promised to blog them so we wouldn't forget what they looked like for picture day.

Notice how much alike they look. Lana really wanted to look "like Rylee" because she thought Rylee looked so pretty. So we did a similar hair-do and similar color shirt.

My two blue-eyed beauties!

Lana doesn't like to just do normal smiles. She cheeses it and poses like crazy. Any natural smiles we capture are purely candid shots. I wonder what her picture will look like in the yearbook?!

This Girl...

2009-10-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

...Is so obsessed with cutting EVERYTHING!!!

Her fingernails.

She really will sit there and look for nails to cut. There are many days when I go in to her room to get her up from her nap and she is sitting up picking at her toe nails, just looking for nails that need to be cut. Why is this so fun?

And her hair. Ugh.

She cut her bangs - TWICE - within a week. What a turd! She is now my lovely baby.

And before you say, "Well, duh, you stupid mommy - just put the scissors up," I just want to say, "I HAVE!!!" She has little helpers. They are ganging up on me in their little plots. Heaven help the poor baby sister who can't get into the scissors because mommy is so mean. Never fear, sweet little sister. We will save you. You will not be deprived of the joys of childhood...

Aren't they sweet siblings? I have raised angels. :)

You know Fall is in the air when...

2009-09-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

I use the fact that it is "Orange Day" in kindergarten to make Lana an orange skirt and make it a whole fall ensemble (complete with orange nails if you could see them!)...

The Fall decorations have reappeared in the house...

And there were signs of Halloween everywhere at Lagoon this weekend...

Yep, Fall is in the air all right...Well, somewhere it is. Obviously it doesn't feel much like Fall yet. The kids were in shorts and wanted to get soaked on the water rides yesterday. It can't be too cool if that is the case.

Although I can't wait for the cool, crisp air to come our way, it was sure nice to enjoy the weekend outside. We will enjoy it as long as it lasts.

Those weather guys say that a major cool-down is headed our way this week. So we have enjoyed the last blast of summer and are now ready to jump in to fall. I can't wait to be able to start baking again without wanting to die because it heats up the house so much. I can't wait for the pumpkin cookie smell again, for the pumpkin carving, for the trick-or-treaters, and for the snuggling under a blanket during college football games. Bring on the cooler weather. We are ready.:)

Reaping What I Have Sown...

2009-09-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

This is one of those posts that I really should never admit to, but whatever. I never claimed to be the perfect mother. This is the proof that I'm not.

In one day, I had two things happen that are a direct result of my lovely parenting skills.

On Monday, it was raining so I took Hayden and Kate to the store really quick before the girls got out of school. It's always much easier to take two kids to the store in the rain instead of four. As we are at the check stand, my sweet little Hayden starts singing.

At first I think, "Aw, what a cute boy." But then, I really start listening to what he is singing. I am mortified.

He is singing at the top of his lungs, "I don't dance, I do big poops." Then he laughs and says, "No, not big poops *giggle, giggle.*" I say, "Hayden, stop singing please." Oh no, the kid continues with, "I don't dance. I just do farts." Again, he giggles.

Oh jeez, where is a hole that I can crawl in? By now the checker is giggling, Hayden is loving the attention and Kate is laughing.

His grand finale is his rendition of, "We all go poop together." Seriously, I couldn't get out of there fast enough. But the only one to blame for my humiliation is myself.

You see, at night when I am tucking Hayden in he always asks me to "make him laugh." His favorite is when I change the lyrics of songs to wrong lyrics and then say, "No, that's not what it says." For some reason, the High School Musical and HSM2 lyrics are the most fun to change. And, yes, I usually sing those very lyrics that he was singing at the top of his lungs in the store.

So, you see, it's all my fault. I am reaping what I have sown.

Story #2 is the one I am even more humiliated to admit.

That very same, rainy day, I was taking Rylee to piano lessons. Before we left, she shoved a huge wad of Bubblicious bubble gum in her mouth.

Those wads are so huge, it makes me want to gag just thinking about shoving a whole piece in my mouth. But my sweet girl loves the stuff and apparently doesn't mind the fact that you can't breathe when a whole piece is in your mouth.

She is chomping away and we are on our way out of the neighborhood. I turn to her and say, "Rylee, you really need to get rid of that gum. You can't be chomping on that at piano lessons. It is distracting and no one wants to listen to you sloshing the stuff around and chomping on it." I am just a firm believer that there is no polite way to chew on a piece of gum that big. So I tell her to spit it out.

"Where?" Rylee is looking around the van wondering where she should spit out the horrendous wad.

Like a good mother I say, "Roll down your window and chuck it out the window. Just make sure it doesn't land on the sidewalk so you don't step on it when you walk to school tomorrow." I am so proud to admit I actually said that. (Really, where is the darned sarcasm font?)

So, Rylee rolls down her window and chucks her gum.

Fast forward to when we get back in the van to go pick her up. I walk around to the passenger side to help Kate get in and notice that the lovely wad is stuck to the side of my van. I could blame it on the fact that my daughter made a weak attempt to "throw" the gum out the window instead of gently placing it outside the window. But we all know it is my fault for telling her to huck it out the window in the first place.

So all of you people who are disgusted with my parenting skills, take comfort in knowing that I had to pull that yummy wad off the side of my van and take it in the house and throw it properly in the trash where it belonged.

Again, I reaped exactly what I had so perfectly sown. My kids have no shot at becoming proper, polite human beings if they learn from me. I think it's time to turn the parenting over to Bill. :)

Busy With Nothing Really...

2009-09-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, that was a lie. We have been busy with four really important SOMETHINGS! They always keep us running.

We got to watch Brooke and Andy's baby a couple of weekends ago for a few hours and loved every minute of it.

Do you think the whole family loves babies?

Um, yes, we do...Just in case you were wondering. Ask any of my friends with babies (Alesha and Deb!) They will tell you I have to snag their babies any chance I get so I can get my baby fix.:)

Bill loves babies too. Seriously, honey, are you sure you don't want any more? ;)

Baby Danika sticking her tongue out at Uncle Bill while he took a picture. Watch out for this one. She has spunk already!;)

Last Monday was also Lana's first official day of school. The week before was kind of a "fake" first day of school. It was just orientation and then an extra week of summer before the "real' first day.

She was so excited and LOVES it there! Her teacher is fantastic and her class is darling. This will be a great year!

The first day she sat by two girls in our ward and felt so comfortable. And by the end of the week, she had made a new friend and begged me all weekend to let her come play. Unfortunately, I didn't have her number. Tuesday, when I took Lana to school, her new little friend's mom asked for our phone number because her daughter had also begged her all weekend to play with Lana. They are adorable together. We can't wait for a play date!

Saturday, Kate was anxiously awaiting the start of the BYU/Oklahoma football game. She was going so crazy waiting for the game (or just the treats we bought for the game) that she decided to entertain herself with her modeling skills. She seriously climbed on the counter and posed just like this. We are in serious trouble.

Gotta love the chocolate on the face. Just proves that THIS model eats! :)

And just after this picture, she kissed my cheek and got chocolate all over my face. So cute!

My favorite thing lately has been Hayden's love of one-on-one time with Bill and I after we put the kids in bed. He sneaks out of his room almost every night to come out and play and giggle with Bill and I. And we let him. It is so fun to be just with him for a while. Sometimes he wants a snack, sometimes he wants to play MarioKart with us, sometimes he just wants to wrestle and laugh.

How can you resist making this little guy smile?

Really...look at his face and tell me you wouldn't let him stay up for a while just to see that! I love my little Hayden Buddy.

Another big HIGHLIGHT of my week was when Kate went to Rylee and said, "I pooped. Change my bum." Oh yeah! And I was even more thrilled when Rylee said, "Okay," and said it with an excited smile. I thought she would change her mind, but no-siree.

See, she is even smiling (even if it is an unsure smile) as she begins the lovely task at hand.

Ah, poop wiped off and ready for a clean diaper. See...still smiling.

And she is almost finished. What a big helper!!! She even liked it so much that she followed Kate around the rest of the evening saying, "Kate, did you poop yet?" Dang, I should have started doing this one a long time ago. Now we are getting ready for potty training. Hey...Maybe I should let Rylee potty train her.;)

See, we have been busy with a whole bunch of fun little things. Hopefully I can get back onto a schedule now that school is back in session and become a regular blogger again. :)

Back To School Craziness!!!

2009-08-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

Whew, back-to-school sure makes life hectic! This year, I decided we needed to do some fun things with the kids before they headed back to school, so we made a week of it.

Monday, I started giving the girls both something they needed for their school boxes. I did this every day until the first day of school. They loved it! And, of course, there was the school shopping on Monday night.:)

Tuesday we went to buy fabric to make them some skirts and then were off to get our hair trimmed - Thank you, Candace!!! The kids were both excited to get new hairdos before the first day of school.

Wednesday was skirt making day. We spent the day with lots of friends and other kids while Stephanie taught us all to make adorable skirts! Thank you, Stephanie! Here are our finished skirts:

Kate's skirts:

Lana's skirts:

Rylee's skirts:

Then, for more fun, Bill took last Thursday and Friday off to come and play with all of us (thank heavens!)

Thursday, we headed out to Classic to let the kids play on the inflatables and in the pirates cove and to attempt roller skating. It was three hours of nonstop running and craziness, but they loved every minute of it!

Okay, the three older kids loved every minute of it. The inflatables creeped Kate out a little bit, so she spent the first half of the time like this...

or this...

Hayden was unsure at first, but about ten minutes after we got there, he was off and climbing!!!

Then Rylee decided to try roller skating. (Yep, I'm one of THOSE moms who has never taken her kids roller skating.)

Rylee was getting the hang of it, and before long, Hayden thought it looked like fun too. He thought it was hilarious to have roller skates on.

He never did figure out how to stand up alone on them. He would just lean back and let us take care of everything. Silly kid.

But look at how adorable he looks with the skates on. :)

Friday we let them each pick out a book at Barnes and Noble for a future read-a-thon with them. This is the only picture we were able to get there. Oops.

And that afternoon, we made chocolate chip cookies and headed out for some bowling.

Here's a riddle for you...Ready? How many in our family does it take to bowl a single bowling ball. Apparently, everyone but the one taking the picture. :)

It apparently takes that many of us to retrieve the ball as well. Hehehe.:)

Bill tried to keep a couple of them at a time out of the way.

It didn't last long though. Lana getting ready to bowl!

And Kate just after she pushed her ball down the little ramp thing. Yes, I do believe that is the technical term for it. She would do this every time, and I had to hang on so the thing didn't tip over. She would push her ball and not even care what happened after that. She just started swinging. I'm sure the employees there LOVED our family.

After the bowling, we let the kids play in the arcade for a while. Five bucks went a long way in there! They loved it! It was definitely five dollars well spent.

Hayden and Kate had fun riding some of the kiddie rides.

Rylee and Lana played air hockey and other games. They won LOTS of candy. Nice.

When we came home, the kids were obviously too tired for the read-a-thon. Maybe we will do that this weekend with them instead.:)

We finished shopping with them on Saturday and had fun together on Sunday doing manicures and pedicures and just enjoyed being together the night before school started.

Monday morning came, and they were so excited!

Here they are with their complete school boxes before school. Obviously they are thrilled.;)

Lana all ready and looking so grown up. It makes me so sad that she is already starting kindergarten.

Rylee posing in her usual way before school. I was so flattered that for her "first day of school outfit" she picked one of the skirts I made her. What a good kid!:)

Both girls thought they needed a picture of them with their leggings. Silly girls.

I love this picture because they really love each other so much. They drive each other crazy, but they are always looking out for each other.

It has been a busy week, but a very good week. The girls are both so excited about the new school year and LOVE their teachers. I'm excited to see what this year brings and to see what fun experiences they have. I think the only thing I am sad about is knowing how much more they will change over the next year. My babies are growing up way too fast.

Back To School Pantsing, er, Shopping!

2009-08-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

Last night I headed out with Rylee and Lana for some back to school shopping at Old Navy.

I have to tell you before I go any further that Lana has a thing for the mannequins at Old Navy. She is such a goofball. You know those mannequins that are just a half-person, like just a person from the waist up? Well, they have those sitting on the tables with shirts all over the store. So as soon as we get there, Lana is always lifting up the shirts on those mannequins to see if they have a bum. LOL! So last night was no different. And of course she did it on a mannequin where an employee was fixing shirts on THAT table. Oh sheesh.

That was all it took to get my girls giggling. THEN, they come across a woman mannequin. Lana makes a comment about her "big boobs" and they are even more hysterical. (Apparently my children think big boobs are funny since they don't see any of those at home.)

I was getting comments from other customers about how giggly my girls were. They were entertaining everyone within ear shot. So, they really didn't need anything else to make them more silly. But, oh no, we had to come upon this on our way to the dressing rooms:

Lana was seriously beside herself. She could not stop laughing at the mannequin who had either been "pantsed" or who was suffering from the "little butt syndrome" like she does. Either way, it was hilarious. Of course, these are the mannequins right in the front of the store, so there are customers everywhere looking at my girls laughing their heads off. And what do I do? Well, like a good mom, I whip out my cell phone and take a camera! We laugh about this for a minute and head off to the dressing rooms where the girls laugh some more. They laughed for an hour and a half straight.

So I was in bed last night thinking about how funny our shopping trip was and how I really should have maybe been embarrassed about the spectacle we were making when I realized that I probably made the biggest mistake of the whole night. I never did pull up those pants like a good mommy should. We left it for others to enjoy. Hope they appreciated my lapse in judgement.

A Little Late For Neatness

2009-08-12T07:05:00.000-07:00

Kate eating an Oreo shake...

Only a "real" two-year-old uses her hands to eat ice cream.

Who cares if it's cold?

Or messy?

The spoon is only used at the VERY END of the shake-eating-experience. But it is not used for neatness. No, it is used to make sure you can get every last possible drop of that incredibly delicious shake out of the cup.

Busy Weekend!

2009-08-04T15:38:00.000-07:00

Our weekend began with a fun BBQ to get together with Jordan and Nikole (who had been gone for two weeks to New York and D.C. - Luckeees!) and Sara (who had been in Europe for almost three months - Luckeeeee!) We had yummy food, played fun games, looked at awesome pictures of Jordan and Nikole's trip, and laughed at the silliest jokes ever.

The group playing a rip-roaring game of 5 Crowns. Kate wanted in on the action - but mostly for the bowl of candy that was being passed around. She got right in the middle of the action.:)

Aha! The secret to getting Kate off of the table is to have Uncle Jordan hold her. She adores him and always wants him to hold her. Thanks for sharing Jordan, Nikole.;)

Rylee thinking she is quite the card shark.

My dad and Bill entertained Hayden with Mario Cart. I didn't hear any complaints. :)

We had lots of fun and stayed up late and laughed until our cheeks hurt. What a great way to start a weekend!

Moving on to Sunday:

Brooke and Andy blessed their sweet daughter, Danika. She was so adorable and it was so fun to be there (even if it is weird to see my sister with a baby of her own! Time flies!)

They had a little luncheon before the blessing at a nearby park, so I snagged some pictures.

Brooke with her sweet baby before she ticked her off and made her get into her gorgeous blessing gown.

Kate doing what she loves most - again! She can't get enough of Jordan. She seriously stayed like that on him the whole time we were at the park and then again at the blessing. She was seriously offended when I took her from Jordan so he could participate in the blessing. Nikole looked dang cute too. She even had green toenails to match her dress. How would it be to be that cute?

Hayden and Brielle, sharing a can of soda. They passed it back and forth across the table for probably a good ten minutes.

Brooke, Andy, and sweet baby Danika. What a darling family! Danika looked beautiful in her little dress.

Brooke, Andy, Danika and my parents. What a good looking group!

Bill, Rylee, and Kate just as we were leaving the park. He was trying to herd us all to the car, but I was too busy taking pictures.

Another random group shot. Sorry your head is being blocked by my stinking mug, Jordan!

It was such a nice day and Andy did such a great job with the blessing. Thank you for letting us participate in her big day!

Wii Changes Lives...

2009-07-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

...Truly, it does - if you are listening to Rylee and Lana.

A few minutes ago, we were in the kitchen and I asked them what they want to do this afternoon. I asked if they wanted to have a movie party or do pedicures or have a Wii party...you know, just throwing out ideas.

Rylee says, "I think I would like to have a Wii Party. Before we got the Wii, I loved watching movies. I never wanted to like get up off the couch and just jump up and down or anything. Now that we have Wii Fit and other Wii games, I love to jump around and exercise."

Lana chimes in with, "Yeah, the Wii is totally changing our lives." Hehehehe!!! I loved it!

Did you hear that, Wii people? If you want to use this testimonial, it will cost ya.

My Baby Turned Two!

2009-07-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been two years since Kate was born. It's so sad to say my baby is two years old now.

I can't believe that two years ago, she was so tiny...

Or that just a year ago, she looked so much like a baby still...

And now she has turned into a little girl.

Here she is opening her presents with her sisters and brother helping, as always.

See what I mean when I say she looks so big? She LOVED her new little car.

She has so much personality, and is so much fun. She is always smiling and making us all laugh with her funny expressions and sarcasm. The girl is a complete show-off. I love it!

She was so cute all day. Any time someone would sing the "Happy Birthday" song, she would start giggling. That's what she did the whole time we sang to her when we did her cake. Then she didn't want to blow out her candle. She just looked at it and giggled. It was stinking cute.

Here's the big birthday girl who isn't too big to still fit in a gift sack. That makes me feel a little better about her turning two.

Thank you, Stephanie and crew and Mom and Dad for coming over to see her yesterday and make her day even more special! We love you all!

Now that she is officially two, is there a way to freeze her at this age? It kills me how fast these sweet little things grow up.

Happy Birthday, Kate! We all love you so much and we are so happy that you are in our family!

4th of July Rundown...

2009-07-06T07:27:00.001-07:00

Sorry, this is going to be REALLY picture heavy.

The day before the 4th, we had a little parade with the kids and marched to patriotic music. They loved it! And now because of Stars and Stripes Forever they know what a piccolo is. Do you see Rylee trying to play hers in the background? I'm not sure if eating it is the correct way, but she had the general idea. :)

Then just before bed we painted Ryee and Lana's nails. Lovely, don't you think!?

After we painted their nails it was time for bed. Rylee had the hardest time going to sleep though. Bill laughed and said I have succeeded in making the kids love the 4th like I do. They don't have that much trouble getting to sleep on Christmas Eve. I LOVE it!!!

Our day started when the kids woke up to the house looking like this:

They were so excited to wake up to this. Hayden woke up and noticed everything and started saying, "What's this? What's this?" I took him over to the table and showed him his new outfit for the 4th and his visor that he had made. He was so excited that he had to get dressed RIGHT THEN. The poor kid barely had his eyes open, but still wanted to get dressed. It was a good thing he wanted to get dressed because we all needed to hurry and get ready to go to the parade.
Here is Rylee at the parade, all dressed in her patriotic gear:

The girls are always so excited to "take their hats off when the flag goes by" so I just had to take this picture. So cute!

Lana, Rylee, and Hayden watching the parade. If you look, you can see my mom and dad in the background and Bill with Kate on his shoulders. Do you like Hayden's stylin' visor?

My dad with Kate. The kids always love it when my parents come with us to the parade, and the extra hands are always nice!

Our family just after the parade.

My parents with all of the kids! I love this picture!

After the parade, we came home and started filling up the swimming pools. We weren't sure if we should because it was really cloudy that morning (perfect for the parade) and looked like it was going to rain. but we decided to chance it! It ended up beautiful that afternoon!

We had some friends come over that evening for dinner and fun. Check out the food! I even made a flag out of jell-o, thanks to the mold that Bill got me for my birthday last year. It rocks!

The adults enjoyed eating while we watched the kids eat/run around/beg to play in the water!

PINATA TIME!!! The kids were cold after swimming, so we gave them a quick bath and got them in PJ's. Then it was time for the pinata while we waited for it to get dark.

Notice Amara's daddy bracing her so she didn't fall off the stool. He had to really duck though to avoid a good hard whack to the head.

Corbin whacked it hard enough to knock off one of the cones on the side of the pinata.

The cones made great patriotic party hats! This one's for you, Alesha!!!:)

Rylee trying with all she had to bust that thing wide open.

Tayah had the most amazing facial expressions while she hit the pinata. I don't think I have ever seen a kid pull so many different faces. I love it! (And ya gotta love Lana jumping in the back!)

Bill helping Kate with the pinata. She was hilarious. She just kept laughing and laughing at the pinata. I didn't know they were so darned funny!

After the pinata was done, it still wasn't dark outside, so we came in to play a little Rock Band. Alesha, Bill, and I opted out of the singing. But Rylee was eager to try it. (See...I always knew that teaching my kids Bon Jovi would come in handy someday!) She was really into singing Livin' On A Prayer.

How cute do these two look?! I loved watching the two of them. You know, Alesha, they are close enough in age....I'm just sayin'!

Bill trying to play the drums with Hayden being a big helper!

Check out Alesha on the guitar. I told her she looks awesome with a guitar. She totally should have been a rocker!;)

Jared had us all very entertained with his vocals. He really got into it! It was so fun to have fun with friends and do something we normally don't do.

We hope you all had a fantastic holiday! We are so grateful to live in this country and for all of our freedoms. Thank you to all who helped make our holiday a wonderful one!!!

Countdown Update

2009-07-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

Our Countdown is going so well! My kids are all really into it, and Hayden has been a riot this year. He is WAY into it. He doesn't remember it much from last year, so he thinks this is just the coolest thing.

Two days ago we listened to Janeen Brady's Take Your Hat Off and decorated foam hats for the parade. Lana told me that she loves to take her hat off when the flag goes by. So cute.

Hayden really concentrating on where to place the stars on his hat.

Lana pulling who knows what kind of a face? What a goofball!

Rylee modeling her hat so far...

We had to finish the hats in the evening because we needed more glitter glue and Kate still needed to put stars on her hat. (She was taking a nap when the other three kids did theirs.)

Finishing off the hats with glitter glue. Now this is the way to do crafts with the kids - all of us in P.J.'s!

The finished products sitting out over night to let the glitter glue dry.

Yesterday, we made the candy firecracker cups. The kids couldn't wait for this one. I put candy in baggies for each of the kids so they could stuff their own cups.

Kate wasn't interested in stuffing her cup. She just wanted to eat the candy. She wouldn't even finish a piece and would be opening the next one. Whatever. It wasn't worth a fight.

All of the kids wanted to munch on a piece of candy while they made their cups. And yes, we know it was stinking hot outside, but Rylee was cold after coming in the house from swimming. Hence, the nice winter robe.

Hayden, licorice to munch on in hand, doing a fantastic job stuffing his cup. He did such a great job! I was so impressed.

Lana enjoying her sucker as she thought about stuffing her cup.

Kate still not even thinking about putting the candy in her cup. She just enjoyed eating. I don't even think she watched the other kids put the candy in their cups.

Lana and Hayden finishing theirs up and trying to figure out how to get every single piece of candy in their cups.

Rylee with her finished cup.

Lana with her creation.

Hayden was so proud of his. He really took me literally when I told him to hold up his cup so I could take a picture! What a sweet boy!

Kate's finished product...

...as she leaves with more chocolate on herself than she had in the cup. And imagine that, she is opening more candy. Guess what mean mommy hid the rest of her candy right after this picture?

We're On The Countdown...

2009-06-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

...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

2009-06-26T19:32:00.001-07:00

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...

2009-06-23T18:16:00.001-07:00

...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...

2009-06-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

...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.