School Graduation

Another year has gone by for the kids and it makes me sad every time because they are just growing up so fast but I also love to watch them learn and grow. I didn't bring my camera to a lot of festivities I'm just getting lazy to take any photos lately.
Gabe had a singing program...made me cry.
Isaac had a program too...made me cry.
Field was fun to watch. It's fun to embarrass Gabe for dancing and to find the girls loving it.

The only photos I got were of Isaac's school. Yep I totally forgot to have him wear specific clothes that they asked to have him wear...o'well.

His teachers. They were the best photos I could get.

Just Swinging

Oh to be a kid again to have no worries or stress but just to think of what to play next.



It so fun to watch the kids make their own swings in the backyard with the rope that Grandpa Darrell gave Gabe. It makes for patch's on the grass but who cares they really enjoy it.

Most of the time when I think of taking pictures Isaac is the only one home so he gets to be in most of my shots. Why should he mind anyways he's doing something he enjoys.

Bad parent award this weekend

First off it started with me Friday night I ran over Kitty's leg with the car and it broke her right femur. In my defense she always greets us when the door opens and soon runs out of the way along the house and this time she just laid down next to where I pull in and then MEOW! I knew right then that I had done something bad. To fix it would mean surgery and a cast $500-700. We have chosen not to spend living money on fixing the cats leg and have been told that she will heal just fine. She will just a have a gimp leg for life.

She would scoot herself along the floor to get around.

Next up for the award goes to Dad he locked Bryn in his car at Ely's soccer game. Isaac kept telling me Bryn was in daddy's car and I thought okay that's were she wanted to be...cool. It might have been 45 min later Bryn came out and she seemed very upset and I asked her but she wouldn't tell me. Dad did some talking and found out later what the offense was...Bryn couldn't figure out how to get the car unlocked that's why she was in there for so long.

YES! Good Job Parent Award posted on my fridge.

Bryn Photos

I always plan to do the blossoms but there is always something that gets in the way of doing it like soccer practice, activity days, piano, or just plain crappy weather. Well we had it planned and then it got windy and cold but we still did it, no blossoms though.

She was a trooper so positive and helpful it was a lot of fun.



What we love about Bryn:
her strong spirit
and genuine laughter
her willingness to do what is right
she loves make up new games
very creative
soccer player, she has such a powerful hit it scares the girls that are trying to get the ball. she is naturally a sweeper (my position) she can really clean up the defense. It makes us smile.
can't wait for her baby brother
we are so happy to have this wonderful daughter of God in our home..

LOVE YOU!

Get on your bike and ride

Today was walk or ride your bike to school. The kids were super excited to ride them but it meant some work for Greg to fix both of the girls flat tires. I don't usually let them because there are no sidewalks for them to ride on and I don't have helmets yet for Bryn and Gabe (yeah yeah I know you can say who I care about the most). Today I gave them that exception.
Before they left for school I was reminded back when Gabe was in Kindergarten and he was dying to ride his bike to school. We lived in Manti at the time and it was really simple to get to school but he just didn't know how to REALLY watch for cars because some of the intersections didn't have any stop signs it was everyone's yield. I would follow behind him to make sure he would look both ways before he would cross. He did a very well. I think he did this a few times until it wasn't fun anymore or he got lazy.

Today's Walk-a-thon

I went to the annual walk-a-thon today and ran one lap with each of the kids.

I think Elyse ran 19 laps, Bryn 23 and Gabe 25 but they each should have 2 more laps added for my lap and Isaac's.

Mother's Day

What a BEAUTIFUL Day!!!!!!

I really look forward to mother's day. It's the day I get those handmaid gifts from the kids and Greg too. I actually asked Greg for a weed whacker. I know that Mary got one on her mother's day and didn't like it very much (it was a gift for Loren and he was optimizing I'm sure) but I really would like to have all that long grass on the sides trimmed. I like to mow the lawn so why not get a gift that we really need but with the finances that we are in it will have to be for next year.

My gifts were presented to me after church all nicely laid out on the counter in the kitchen. There were so many hand made cards and flowers that it covered the counter. I really joy in ready all of them it gives me a BIG smile and warms my heart for having such sweet wonderful children.

The rest of the day was spent with my mother who made us a spectacular dinner...ummmm so yummy. And then we went to Nana's for a piano recital and some delicious desert.

A beautiful day it was.

To Do List:

Bryn loves a to do list and if you put precisely what she or I need done it gets done.

Remember

I have been challenging myself to take photos of what tells a story. What do I want to remember.

This scene stuck out to me as I decided to go downstairs and cuddle with Isaac while he was still asleep. I have done this with all of my kids I probably snuggle more when I am pregnant. It's hard for me to really put to words about how I feel when I transition bringing a new baby into the family.


This photo to me is a Remember When: they were so tiny, so forgiving, so happy, I'm growing up, imagination, pretend, simple joy and so much more.

Kittens

Oreo aka Kitty had her babies last night. Gabe brought her to me just after school and asked why does she have all this wet stuff on her. So, I took her out to the garage and put her in the box that Bryn and Bryton made for her. She didn't like that very much and really wanted to be in the house under the kitchen sink.
She probably didn't have her first baby until about 8:30 and she was done about 10:00. It looked like they were all going to be black but once they were dry we got a grey one named Jaz...Isaac came up with name I'm sure his inspiration was Transformers. He didn't discover them until this morning and was so excited to spread more of his love around. I'm going to have to watch him very close so that they will live.

I'm not a lunch lady

Gabe suggested that I should wear a hair net when preparing dinner because he is sick of finding hair in his food. It happened one time!

Weeding

I hate it but it should be done...right! I can't even get the kids to do it for money. So, I gave it an attempt the other day knowing that I was going to kill my back and I DID! This was all I could do. It's kind of sad. I really shouldn't even be cleaning the house because it gives me great pain but I do it anyways. I hate being LAZY!

Yep this is what I did get done.

This is how much needs to be done.

This is what I would love for it to look like.

My new neighbor

Introducing my new neighbor. Yep, I was outside taking pictures at 7:45 this morning. Here I think we had a moment considering we could be friends then he walked away and started crowing…or whatever it is they do.

He has officially moved in next door. I mean I can’t blame him he has his own freedom (no cages) the land is large enough he could hide anywhere and the owner of this land probably has no idea he's their…most likely can’t even hear him at FRIGGIN’ 5 in the morning. I think we are going to be TIGHT like best friends I can feel it. Gabe did suggest yesterday that he could shoot him with his air soft and I told him absolutely NOT (you know how boys are) but I may have to rethink that since I have been up since the break of dawn.

It all started on Saturday he was wandering my yard free as a bird with his head up high. I asked around to those who may be missing a rooster and no such luck (It sound like I live on a farmville….maybe a little). I thought maybe all the cats that we have wandering around would try and have a yummy dinner…nope no such luck. He is still here LOUD and CLEAR. I’ve gotten used to all the other noises of my small town neighborhood the horses banging their heads on the fences and the cows screaming, okay mooing, at night when they take the babies away from them oh, and the smell is really special to me too. You’d be surprised that I get any sleep at all.

We have horses on both sides of me. We’ve had to capture these guys a few times from getting out.
Here’s the story from the last episode from my other neighbor’s horses.
I’m driving to pre-school and I see them out feeding on the grass and I didn’t think much about it but in my head new it wasn’t right so, I stopped my car and at the same time another neighbor stopped. We had 5 girls trying to get these horses back in their stalls only 2 of us dared to do anything, Holly sitting in her comfortable car directing traffic around us…he he, while Sara and I do the work (Sara knows horses). In the end they were safe and sound in their stalls I’m sure it was funny to watch for all those that drove past…picture a pregnant lady chasing after a horse in the middle of the road. It’s a good thing her Clydesdale wasn’t out that thing is huge. Lately, I’ve been thinking I may need to take some lessons on horses.

CTR

"Sometimes I forget what choose the right means but I still choose the right then I remember what choose the right means." Elyse

"When you get hurt you can go home (from church) and still get a chlocate bar." Isaac
I had an incentive for him waiting at home if he went to class the whole time and this was his way of getting out of going and still getting his chocolate.

Games

3 games yesterday and I could only make it to 2. Ely was at 12 and she was very happy to say that they one 4-0 it's very important for her to win. Once Ely's game was over I needed to take Gabe to his game in Lehi I dropped him off and because I wasn't prepared I came all the way home for a potty break, food and the camera. As I headed back to Gabe's game Bryn was heading out to her game. I hear she did an awesome job! She doesn't let anything get by her well except for one ball they won 4-1. Gabe's team lost 5-1 but played a phenomenal game. There best game yet!

Isaac finding a bathroom or a place to let it out.

Entertainment

It's coming along slowly and beautifully. When we were coming up with some ideas of what to do with this space. I really wanted it all in wood but new that it would be expensive so this was the alternative and I like how it turned out. Now it's ready for some rock. Thanks Nate and Steve for doing this finish work on it yesterday, though it was a crazy day it all worked out.

A before shot (I was lazy about making the shots look good...I didn't clean up)
See there on the left that is one of my backdrops being used for a curtain. We have officially embraced our inner "white trashiness"

Spring Break

It was FUN and FULL. We had planned on going to Blanding Utah to build houses for the Indian Reservation but as I get further along on my pregnancy my back has more pain so we decided not to go. We were super bummed. All I can say was the first time that we had this experience was amazing. The kids were super excited to help out in any way Gabe did his a great job picking up a hammer and jumping right in, Isaac as well. The girls played with their new friends and they loved it as well. What a great time it was the best part that I remember was that there was NO fighting...it was music to my ears.

Eric and Kim came to Utah to visit.


Monday we did a family photo.
The weather was horrible so I found a cute location to have it in but still not enough light. On the drive there Isaac had fallen asleep. I thought to myself he can stay in the car while I get everything out and ready. The lights were up and everyone was in place. We took some quick shots while everyone was good and all was quiet. I looked at them to see if we were missing anyone and noticed we couldn't see Sheridan and made some adjustments and then Jamie asked "were is Isaac". I then asked Greg, he didn't know. It hit me, I left him in the car. Greg went to get him and he was crying I'm not sure how long he had been crying but by the way he was trying to catch his breath it seemed it was awhile. He recovered quickly but I still felt really bad. We then took the 2nd round of photos and it was chaos. But hey we got a picture right.



Tuesday was a slow day. The kids just played together all day while the girls waited for a sleepover.
On the agenda for the night was paint nails and put make-up on.
Then do Kim's make-up and hair. That was pretty!
Kim had promised she would take them to McDonald's for some ice-cream with her beautiful make-up and hair.
After that was a movie Princess and the Frog.
It sounds like it was a blast.

While this was happening the boys went to a movie How to train a Dragon.



Wednesday pick up the kids and hang out till about 1 because the weather was finally decent to be outside to play and that's what we needed.
I then took some photos of Eric and Kim's family
Then off to a date night with the family...dinner (Texas Roadhouse) and bowling.

Thursday the Childrens Museum and a visit to Grandpa's work for lunch.
And dad had a a soccer game...they won.



Friday a sale at the Lemonade stand. They made cookies and offered Kool-aide. I think they made about $9 all together.

Saturday another Lemonade sale. This time they took their profits and bought candy to sell. They made $12 this time.

I almost forgot Gabe and I went to the movie Percy Jackson and the Olympians Lightnig Theif. It was a great show for me (I haven't read the book) but for Gabe not so good. He said it wasn't anything like the book and it's true for the amount that I have read so far. That would be so disheartening for a boy who fell in love with reading the series they didn't really follow the book at all. He even loves this series more than FableHaven.