Baby Is Here!

I wanted to post some pictures BUT something is wrong with my blogspot and posting pictures. If you noticed I haven't been able to figure it out since April but anyway....I posted some on my facebook page if you are interested. I will write about the details later..... I am SOOOOOOOO exhausted!

A Saturday with nothing to do...

SO I told my kids that Saturday was going to be a NO SCREENS day. Meaning no DS's, no WII, no TV, and no computer. Can you imagine what a mean mom I am!!!! So after a couple HOURS of complaining of nothing to do, they decided to have a tea pary. J prepared the whole thing. They had a great time, and really enjoyed themselves. Made a big mess and had fun cleaning it up!



C heard all the excitement and wanted to join in but was told that he had to dress up to be invited. So after much complaining he came down like this....

I guess we need to force the kids to play like we did, so they can learn how. What are we going to do in this tech world of ours!

Nationals!

So J and I just got back from a Ballroom Nationals. It was crazy! It was like being thrown into a whole new culture! There are rules and etiquette that we had to learn. And the competition....whoa!!! It was an incredible show. I can't believe what some kids can do. They must live and breathe ballroom.

J did great. Her team placed 3rd in the NATION, and she got her first call back individually(in the swing). She was really excited about that. I am glad that she has something that she can set goals and work hard at. And I enjoy watching! I really love ballroom dancing.


The 3rd BEST team in the nation. (J not looking to excited in this picture)


Wow! Check out this makeup! They had to wear fake eyelashes, bronzer, and all the make up had to be the same, done by a professional)



Ready to Dance!


This was J and her partners swing! They got their first call backs!

Down with the Tooth Fairy!!!!

We are so mad at that tooth fairy!!! She has just crossed the line! M lost her first tooth and (can you believe the nerve) SHE FORGOT to come and take the tooth!!! Then M reminded us she forgot to come and get E's teeth last week....twice!!! Then C reminded me (with a smile) that he still has his tooth under his pillow and it's been under there for the last three days!!! Can you believe it? Then after all that E told me the most disturbing evidence ever!!! He found a whole ton of teeth stuffed in my underwear drawer!!!!! Isn't that gross...can you believe she would have the nerve to go through some one's underwear drawer!!! And leave her gross used teeth in my drawer! I am appalled!! I was so shocked by the evidence I forgot to ask E what he was doing in my underwear drawer.... So does anyone know where you can go to file a complaint against the tooth fairy?

What a Great Day!!

E was Baptized this Saturday. It was such a great day! He is such a strong willed child but today he was submissive and humble. It was such a pay day for me. Just to see that HE IS GETTING IT!!!! He definitely felt the spirit and has tried to be "perfect" since he was washed clean.




We were able to have his confirmation in the high council room. The kids loved sitting in the nice chairs at the table while waiting for E to get dressed. It is the rising generation of high councilors!

Our family is growing! I love these times that help me focus on what is important! I need to teach my children the gospel. So they can love the Lord and build their relationship with Him and know him. I love My Heavenly Father and I know that he wants to have a strong relationship with each of them. If I can just guide them to Him I know my Heavenly Father will be grateful to me. How I would love that. I can do it! I can do my very best! And with His help it will happen!!! I love this gospel!





I have to add this part about D... he is so funny! He is laying down on the bench listening to the talks. He leans over and says, "Mom, I think I am car sick" and I tell him that we aren't in a car. He thinks for a minute and says, "Yeah, Mom I think I am just church sick".

Sand and Grand Family Home Evening

We had a great time this summer at our Grand Family Reunion. Now for those of you who don't know what Grand FHE is...it is when you get together with your favorite cousins and Great Grandparents(My grandparents) and play. It is the best! We went to the sand dunes and let the kids have a ball! They loved it! We had smores....I know!!! What was I thinking!?....but the kids didn't even seem to notice the sand stuck in their marshmellows :) We had great food and fun! We love our family!

Notice Grandma...jumping off the cliff with the kids!!!!

Sweet Six!

Our sweet girl turned 6!
We had a Hannah Montana party! She loves Hannah! All her cousins were here from my side and also her favorite baby cousins from the other side.


She waited so patiently for breakfast in bed. She has always been our early riser. She wakes up at 6:30 to 7:00 every day. Since she was born. It's a good thing that she is so patient to wait for the rest of the family to wake up or it would be a problem. I think she enjoys waking up when the house is quiet and playing by her self. Anyway, she waited until 7:30 in her bed wide awake. She is so cute!

Birthday Cake and lots of presents!!!

She lucked out because I found this awesome doll house at a garage sale. She wanted her own "not one of J's old ones"

All her guests....

I had to add this pix of my little niece...doesn't she look like a cabbage patch doll? She is so cute!


M is our little angel. So sweet and sensitive. I actually hurts to discipline and tell her no! We all love her and are so blessed to have her in our family.

More Summer Fun!

Here are some little pieces of our summer!

We decided to go to a drive in movie! It was so much fun. We put an air mattress on the floor of the pick up and then loaded it with as many blankets and pillows as we could and all fell asleep. Then poor Dad had to drive us all home! Good memories!

Isn't that so sweet?!


All the kids took swim lessons but this year E really progressed! He can swim alone now! The kids look forward to swimming lessons all year! And frankly, so do I! Sitting all alone for 30 min is worth every penny!



My next door neighbor's kids have these dogs. She calls them her granddoggies! When they come to visit her she will call my kids to see if they want to play with them. They love it and so do I. We will probably never get a pet so this is the closest contact they get!

There is this cute snow cone shop in town that has the best snow cones! We went there with the kids library coupons and enjoyed them. They put a wading pool by the shop to soak your feet on the hot days!

C got his braces off! Yay!

Don't you love it when they all get along!

I can't believe summer is over! I'm going to miss it!

School Days...

Here we go.... I have to say summer was really great! I am going to miss the never ending nights, the carefree days, the sound of kids playing outside in the back yard, the eating out on the porch...It was a wonderful summer full of memories. my kids are at the perfect age, I have been told that this is the "calm before the storm". It feels very calm and I'm really enjoying it.




Hopefully they don't act this way for their teachers!!!

This is a fun tradition we have. I remember doing it when I was going back to school! The kids lay out their clothes on the floor and make a person with their new school clothes. It helps me on that first day get them all ready because they already know what they are going to wear. HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN FOUR KIDS READY FOR THE BUS!!!!!!! It is crazy! But anyway...










D wanted to do one even though he is staying home with me....


Isn't this the cutest picture? I love to see them getting along and especially with scriptures in hand!!!

Happy 4th Birthday!!!

Our baby turned four! I can't believe it has been four years since I've had a baby! He is the funniest kid! We started counting down his birthday at 45 days. Everyday, he would ask me, "how many days until my birthday?" And then we would count down the days...frankly I am glad it is over! It is so impossible to make an "almost four year old" understand time!!:)




Pure concentration...he does not want ANY girlfriends! (you know? The candles that don't blow out?!)



He was looking forward to breakfast in bed most of all! He was so excited! It was his favorite waffles with powdered sugar BUT no syrup! Unfortunately, he spilled his orange juice before he even tasted it! SO we moved to another bed! Thanks E!!!


He helped make his cupcakes! Don't they look great! If you notice in most of his pictures his shirt is wet, he has a habit of sucking on his shirt! It is gross but it could be worse! :D


We got him this toy! I have to admit it is pretty cool. It's called Better batter baseball. The balls are magnetic and hang in the perfect spot for you to hit it, then after you hit it the next ball is raised to the tee so you can hit three in a row! He LOVES it! It's fun to see things through a four year old's eyes!



This is the cutest thing ever! J made a present for D, a homemade bow and arrow! It is more for "looks" but D loves it! She is so creative and thoughtful! She even carved the arrow sticks with a little knife (my kitchen knife :} uh...yeah) Just so they would be smooth! I love it when my kids love each other!



These were some of our guests! Aren't they cute? They are my nephews! I love them...but no kisses until their mom finds them...K?

Wait...I can't find my keys!!!

My little 3 year old is a pack rat! There is no other way to describe it! Every night I clean up his "pile" and the next day there is another one somewhere else. He is so funny! He will put anything he can put his hands on. I have cordless phones and when the phones ring I frantically look for his new stash! Because he always puts them with his pile! It is so funny!

When I pick him up from playdates or grandmas, we always have to find his stash and help put it all away. It is not that he even wants to play with the stuff in the pile, he just wants it in his pile!

I wonder how long this will last...I'll never forget when I dropped him off at my friend Mary's and he had his little backpack with stuff from his "stash". When I picked him up Mary said (as she held up a pizza cutter and a knife) "these were in his backpack"! Remember that Mary? I think he was two years old!

OHHHH! I better go figure out where he hid that EGG!!!

Old fashioned fun!

SO...my Dad is a self-proclaimed red neck! However, I would argue that he is a very ingenius and classy red neck!!! :) He gets these ideas and he creates them out of what ever he has. A fun game we play is "where-did-this-come-from". We talk about these "creations" and try to guess where the parts came from. For instance, there is a picture from my grandpa's house, a window from an old warehouse, a door from the old farm house, etc. He has warehouses full of extra things he collects so when he gets a good idea, he has the stuff already! Anyway, yesterday he invited us to come up to the new summer home at the farm. This house was his parents and grandparents house. They farmed a dry farm and in the summer the whole family would move up there to be closer to the farm. It is really neat because there is no electricity, no running water, or anything. A real pioneer house! But of course my ingenius dad has figured out how to hook up a water tank and hook up oil lite lamps. SO it is really nice.

It was so fun! He made dutch oven chicken, veggies and a chocolate cherry cobbler. It was amazing. He made this cooking trailer which has everything you can think of for cooking outside! Coolers, a grill, chairs and tables, stove burner, gas....everything!!! He likes to pull it behind his pick up and cook for family gatherings. Ingenius! I tell you!

I mean...who has a custom made outhouse? Of course it is red. All my Dad's stuff is red, it is his favorite color! I can't remember where he salvaged the toilet seat from but he saved it from somewhere!

I think my Dad really liked being able to cook us all dinner. We kept asking what we could bring and he just said "I got it all!" It was such good food!!!!

We took a walk down the ranch. I have so many memories of that place from when I was a kid. It is the beautiful part of Idaho. Alot of people have said that Idaho is ugly but I always thought they were strange because this was my memory of Idaho. The kids loved picking bouquets of flowers and seeing the river below! What a view!!!

This morning when my kids got up they asked if they got all their chores done, could we go back to the farm!?