Kids

When you ask your 4 year old to put away your bag & shoes and he has to wear them to your closet as well as take several detours around the house in costume before he actually gets them put away. 

11 Year Old in the House

My Guinea pig has turned 11. He will now teach me what to do with an 11 year old so I can know how to do it right for the other kids. 

We celebrated his Sunday no-funday birthday by going out to eat on Saturday night at Red Robin. 

Big holidays are one of the rare moments that Jacob lets me take pictures of him. Otherwise he will cover his face or turn and run away. 

Jacob picked out the mile high ice cream cake for dessert. They devoured it like wild animals who had been scavenging for food for days. I was afraid to get my spoon in there for fear that I would get nipped at. 

On Sunday we had presents and church in the morning. Jacob was happy with his loot despite the absence of his most wanted present..a mini iPad. We had some visits from grandparents and the primary president. And we ended the day with the best thing possible. Cake & ice cream. Some of us paid the price the next morning with a stomach ache from eating too much cake. 

School Carnival

We went to the annual school carnival and all Ashlyn wanted to do was stare at the animals in the petting zoo. She didn't want to go inside and let any of them. She just wanted to watch them. All night.

Every time this lhama got too close she would panick. 

Trevor was gone on a business trip, Jacob was off with his friends most of the night and Hunter & Adam went with their aunt to another school carnival so it was just me & this little lady. And the lhama. 

Halloween 2015

A hobo/lumberjack, a vampire, Anikan Skywalker and a mermaid. 

We spent our Halloween day going to baseball games. When we got home, we hurried to change into costumes. Then went trick or treating at my parents. Then we spent the rest of the night parading around the neighborhood, collecting more candy than we can possibly consume. What a fun holiday!!!

Hunter's Prayers to the Rescue..Again!

For some reason it has become an annual tradition for us to have problems gaining entry into our condo in Oceanside. Last year, we left our condo and locked it. When we retuned, no matter how hard we tried, our key would not work. We eventually had to call a maintenance man who also had problems unlocking the door. After a while, Hunter asked permission to go off and say a prayer that we could get into our condo. Almost immediately, we were able to get into our condo. We were reminded of this story last night when we were locked out of our condo and couldn't find our key. We had just returned from the grocery store and got to our door before realizing we didn't have our key. We had just used our key to gain entry to the garage so we were baffled as to how we could lose it from the garage to our door. Trevor took the boys back down to the car to find it while Ashlyn & I camped outside our door with our groceries. I got a little worried when he called me about 10 minutes later to tell me he still couldn't find it. How was this even possible? I lined up all of our groceries by the door so I could go assist in the car search efforts. About a minute later, he called to tell me that he had found the key. It was inside the hat that was currently sitting on his head. Apparently, Hunter announced that he had said a prayer that we would find it. About a minute later, Trevor took off his hat to rub his hair back and the key fell right out. We were so baffled as to how he could have put his hat on and not felt the key falling into his head. He even repeated the act just to see if he would notice the key and it was very noticeable. So apparently we just needed another lesson in prayer from our 8 year old. We are hoping his prayers can help us find our other key which has been missing since we went to the beach yesterday. 

Blood Moon

First of all..I did not take this picture. My attempts were far, far below this quality. Jacob told me about the blood moon tonight. He proceeded to tell me that he thought the second coming was going to be the day after tomorrow because the scriptures talk about a blood moon. He said that if the sun was dark tomorrow we would know it was coming. I let him know that there are some other things that have been prophesied to happen first so it would not be the day after tomorrow. I was really impressed with his knowledge. He retains information so easily. When we read scriptures and talk about what we just read, he can summarize it to a T without any difficulty. He seemed really excited for the second coming. It would definitely be an exciting thing, but do I feel ready for that sacred meeting? Do any of us feel ready to meet the Savior? The thought seems a little intimidating to me. I think I need to take a faith lesson from my 10 year old son. 

Doll Hoarder

Ashlyn can't have enough dolls in her arms when she plays at nursery. She has only been legal to attend for 2 weeks but we slipped in a few times before the big 1-8 months cause we (I) was bored of wandering the halls with her. Ever since that first visit she has been fixated on the enormous doll basket that sits atop the cabinet. It is piled high with at least 15 dolls and she does her best to get her arms around each and every one..all at the same time. She is obsessed. 

Little Man

Eggs, juice & paper. Even though he can't read he is a mini-man in training. 

Drama Queen

Whenever someone says hi to Ashlyn and she's not feeling social (almost always), she will face-plant herself right on the floor and start bawling. Luckily this was at church on the semi-soft carpet. A few days ago, it was on the garage floor where she had a run-in with Uncle Bryce. I'm surprised she hasn't had more bruising on her forehead from it. She doesn't discriminate where she will plop herself down in protest like she does who she will socialize with. I think she inherited the shy gene from me. 

Melt My Heart

It just does not get any more adorable than this.


Well...maybe it does

Happy Father's Day

One of my favorite things about Father's Day is the cute things the kids bring home from primary. I love it when they get to fill in the blank like this. Their answers always make me smile. So even though I'm not a father, I get to enjoy this special treat. 

This is the pile of stuff Adam pulled out of his pockets before he went up to the stage to sing his Father's Day songs during sacrament. I can't believe I didn't notice bulging pockets as we walked into church. Not pictured is a juice box. I confiscated that as soon as he pulled it out. 

Happy Father's Day to my sweet husband who does an amazing job taking care of our family. Happy Father's Day to both our fathers! We love you so much and are so grateful to be able to have such special men to call DAD. 

Sextuplets

Our bunnies are at it again. In April they had a litter of 5 bunnies. About a month later she had more. We have been looking for them for almost 2 weeks now since I discovered she was no longer pregnant. We haven't had any luck. We (Trevor) even undid 2 boards in our shed and have searched under them multiple times. I was beginning to wonder if I was wrong, but I knew I had felt a baby squirming in her belly just days before she had them. The day before she had them I picked her up and she was huge. The next day I picked her up and she was definitely not as big as she was just the day before. This morning Trevor went into the shed after she disappeared underneath it. The boards are still up so be found her in the dirt inside. She was moving dirt around. She would dig and then push it away from where she was digging. After a few minutes of this, a baby kind of got caught in her digging and came out with the dirt she was flicking behind her. I was so excited we had finally found her nest! Trevor reached into the hole and started hanging me babies. There are 6. 4 black (2 black & white mix and 2 mostly black with lighter fur on their bellies), 1 gray & white & 1 pure white. They looked like their eyes had just opened. They are so adorable! We snapped a few pictures and stuck them back in the hole so she could nurse them. This is our view when she got in the hole. 

This is her little rear sticking out. She got them all nursed and safely buried them back up. After she was done, you couldn't even tell she had dug a hole there. 

The boys were so excited and wanted to see them. We told them we aren't digging them out so they will have to wait for her to unearth them again at feeding time. They are super excited and can hardly wait to meet the new arrivals. What exactly are we going to do with all these baby bunnies?? We are still trying to figure that out! But we are having a blast with the journey!

Simple Joys

Ashlyn has discovered the joy of kicking back and watching a movie. I love it when they can sit still for a few minutes! Her movie of choice is any Baby Einstein. When I ask if she wants to watch a movie she will go sit right in that spot and stare at the tv expectantly waiting for me to turn it on for her. It is so fun when they start being able to communicate!

Dress Up

Ashlyn wanted to go incognito today. She got half a stache on before I could get the pen away from her. Why do they always go for the face with a pen?

One

 The Princess has turned one. 

The nice thing about the 1st birthday is..they are only babies. They don't care if you spend all day baking a cake in their honor. They don't care if everyone they know is invited over to celebrate their big day. They don't care how many presents are waiting for them. The expectations are low. 

It's priceless!

We went all out and got her a brand new baby sister for her first birthday. 

This was one kind of sister I could get on board with.

She is in heaven and loves to squeeze her Dolly. 

I even caught her patting her back during a hug. 

We have a mother in the making at 1 year old.

Hunter's Fitness Goals

Hunter has been preoccupied with how big his belly is getting. He has been trying to not eat treats anymore but has decided to kick it up a notch. He came up with some goals to help him battle the bulge:

1.  Sit ups

2.  Exrsis meshing (Exercise machine)

3.  Run 30 times

4.  No brethis (breakfast) or dinner 

5.  Lift wats (weights)

6.  Ride my bike 100 times in the coldusac (cul de sac)

I like seeing him take a proactive approach to solving a problem he is concerned with but I feel bad that he is so concerned with his belly size. He was even refusing to eat breakfast this morning. I had to explain to him that skipping meals would not be the best solution and why. It makes me wonder if he has been teased about it. One down-side to being a parent is worrying about your kids in these types of situations. I wish I could just help him realize how special and perfect he is, regardless of his belly size. 

On a related note of setting goals, I think we will be working on spelling and penmanship as well. 

Time to Make the Donuts

*sob 

So not excited to start getting up early again tomorrow :(

Little Angel

Tonight when we were saying a prayer before dinner we noticed Ashlyn in her high chair folding her arms. I thought it was just a cute coincidence. We decided to see what she would do at our family prayer before bed. We got the camera ready and Trevor said the magical word "pray." This is seriously what she did all on her own as we snapped photos. We are in awe that at just shy of 10 months old, she knows how to fold her arms for a prayer. So funny!

Baby It's Cold Outside

I don't think I've ever seen a cuter set of buns. 

Today was COLD again! We had a high of 52 degrees which doesn't sound that cold but it was. I forced the boys outside since they haven't gone out voluntarily to play with the neighbor kids. They've had too much fun cleaning and playing video games during our Christmas break. Trevor & I sat outside and enjoyed the chilly weather as we watched the boys play. I came inside frozen to the bone. I laid on the couch under 2 blankets while my sweet husband built me a fire so I could get warm. I enjoyed relaxing on the couch and didn't mind one bit that there were millions of other productive things I should have been doing. The fire did it's job and I finally warmed up. And now I have this warm memory to add to my collection. 

Nerves are Shot

Me to kids: "I'm going to feed Ashlyn and get her to sleep so don't come in my room and please keep it quiet out here."

What Adam hears: "Go play in the backyard and when you discover that the gate is open, go to the front door and keep ringing the doorbell until someone opens the door."

This is the third or fourth day in a row that Ashlyn has missed her afternoon nap because of Adam. He usually wakes her up with his screaming because his older brothers are making him mad. Is there such a thing as the fourth child being on a sleep schedule? I'm pretty sure there is not. Especially when the fourth child has a very active and very horrible at following directions, four year old brother. 

New Year's Day Welcome 2015!

We had such a fun New Year's Day traveling up north to enjoy some rare snow. Our plan was Payson or bust. We didn't even have to go farther than about 30 mins before we were in the midst of a winter wonderland. While driving down the highway, we saw clusters of cars pulled off the road and people climbing out of them to snap pictures of the snow-covered mountains. It was really magical and exciting to be a part of. We turned off the highway at Mormon flats and headed back to find a snowy playground. We took one road that led us to a few cars parked and one car struggling to gain footing on the icy road. When we tried to go around them, we too became unable to secure traction on the snow. The more Trevor tried to move forward, the more our car would slide sideways. We were feeling a little stressed and sheepish all at the same time since we had an audience in front of us. After a silent prayer on my part, we were able to get the car rolling again and decided to retreat and find another path. We drove until we found a road closed sign and it turned out to be our spot. Another family was already there enjoying the snow and a few more came and went during our time there. The boys did not waste any time gathering snow balls to throw at each other. Upon arrival I realized I forgot Ashlyn's snow coat. I wrapped her in my scarf and a blanket and held her tight. We had leftover chairs from fall ball in the back of the car so we set up camp and enjoyed Mother Nature at her finest. After a while Adam was hungry so I took him and Ashlyn in the car for some snack and warm time.

She was having a ball exploring the car. Adam eventually had his fill of snacks and joined his brothers & dad in making a snowman. (Picture to come). Jacob and Hunter each came to visit us and show off their icicle finds. 

Notice my pink striped sock in the picture? I was having a grand time relaxing and playing solitaire on my phone since there was no service to do anything else. We finally decided to pack up and head home after the snowball fights became a little more aggressive and non-friendly. Why does it always have to turn into that with boys??? We stopped by Trevor's parent's house to say hello to his sister & family visiting from Utah. Thanks for bringing the snow with you Rob, Michelle & family!! Then we swung through the Wendy's & McDonald's drive thrus on the way home for some dinner (I was craving a jr. bacon cheeseburger but the kids wanted mcdonalds). After dinner we had some more fireworks fun carried over from our New Year's Eve celebration last night.

Then off to bed for everyone! We are going to have a rough time with those 6:30 mornings starting up again on Monday with all these late nights. I, for one, have been relishing being able to sleep in past sunrise. 

Happy New Year everyone!