Family Ties

I’ve been thinking of ways I can teach my kids to serve others; a project of sorts.  In one of my sister Kim’s letters she wrote, she mentioned that they are in need of dress ties in the Philippines, where she is currently serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.   She mentioned that they are really expensive there and hard to come by, so the members of the church there don’t’ have any to wear.  I thought…..OK, there it is!  Something we can work on as a family!  So, we printed up fliers and took them around door to door in our neighborhood.  I had the boys do the talking, so they could actively participate.  Our neighborhood is large enough that it took us a few days going around to cover the area.  I was happy to see them coming home excited from school, asking if we could take more fliers around!  We made a collection box and kept it on the porch for a few weeks.  We ended up gathering 105 ties!  It was great!  My parents collected some as well and we shipped them out to Kim last week!  It was a success and I’m excited to find our next project!

Batter Up

Another round of sports starts up again!  Jared is still playing this season of soccer as well as Gavin.  They are both doing really great this season and on top of it……Jared has decided to try baseball out again!  I can’t remember if I posted already on that or not, but he is a Blue Jay!  Scott can hardly stand watching them anymore….he’s so ready to play himself!  The city has a lame policy and won’t let Scott try Tball yet – he has to have completed a year of Kindergarten.  So, he’s chomping at the bit.  Every time his brothers want to go out and practice their sport ( whatever it is), he’s putting on his cleats he got for his birthday and sporting his chic shin guards!  So funny!  He is registered for next Fall to play soccer and as far as he is concerned….it can’t come fast enough!

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em…..

The other day I was changing Mason and looked out the window and caught a glimpse of this!

I had to laugh!  Michael has a few pet peeves in life.  One of them is when Jared gets on these whistling kicks.  Not sure why, but it drives him crazy!  He’s funny!  I had to run and grab the camera because it was so cute!  I guess he finally realized he’d be better off joining him than getting after him….again!

A Date With Jared

Something I look forward to, that I’m afraid we aren’t consistent enough with, are our dates one-on-one with our boys.   I saw that “The Secret Garden” play was playing at the Hale Center Theatre, and knowing Jared was reading that book at school, and he has an affinity for drama, I thought that would be the perfect opportunity.  So…I planned it!  I made Jared guess until the last minute where we were going….it was fun to torture him! 

Jared came home from a soccer game and baseball practice.  You can only imagine how lovely that smelled!  I told him to run inside and change for our date.  He was so excited he could hardly stand it!  So, he ran inside and when he came out his shirt was tucked in (something he NEVER does) and his hair was wet and styled to the side (something else he NEVER does).  It was adorable!  I just wanted to squeeze him tight and tell him how adorable he is and how much I love him.  He hopped in the car and said “Mom, can we go somewhere fancy for lunch?”  So, I asked, knowing fully well his definition of “fancy” and mine are two polar opposites.  And, sure enough, he suggested going to IHOP or Pizza Pie Café – a local pizza smorgasbord.   It was so funny!  My rebuttal was to maybe try the new Shakey’s Pizza restaurant that just opened, so we could try something new and he thought that was a great idea!  So, we went to lunch there and then we were off to our play!  He loved it and I loved spending time with my big kid.  It’s sad how fast time flies.  Sometimes it makes me cry.  Time is so funny.  We spend most of our days wishing it away and then when we pause for a moment we want it back.  One of life’s ironies, I guess.  Sometimes when I hug my big kid, I still can feel him on my skin when the Dr. put him against me after he was born. Sounds silly, but us Moms get it.  It’s a sweet memory for me.  Anyway this is getting gushier and more personal than I intended…..I had fun and I LOVE YOU MY JARED! XO

Prayer Time

One of Mason’s sweetest things he does, is whenever we go to pray, he totally does the same thing!  Our other boys, we would help fold their arms and show them, but this one has observed enough that he knows exactly what to do!  I got the camera out to try to catch him following the others for night time prayers and I have a video I am going to attempt to load also.  The video was Mason getting ready f0r lunch prayer.  I set the camera on the counter and after I got Scott to quite down for prayer, Mason  did his thing.  I was SO cute!  See for yourself!

Mom’s & Muffins

Ha!  This title makes me laugh….only because this Mom sports a Muffin Top!  If you don’t know what that is, well, that’s better for me…..   In the past, our Elementary School has had Dad’s and Donuts, where the Dads try to come in and have a donut with their kiddo and read a book with them.  I have to admit thinking that something like that would be nice to include the moms in, simply because alone time with the kiddos is a rare thing.  Well, this year, I got my wish!  They did a Moms and Muffins morning.  I got 45 minutes to read with just Gavin and then with Jared.  Gavin had a buddy who told me he “doesn’t have a Mom.”  So, Thayden joined us.  He was a cute little boy.  It makes me sad for these little people when a parent is missing.   I enjoyed my time with my little men.

Super Scooty

 

Happy Birthday sweet Scott Robert!  Our baby Scott turned 5!  So hard to believe how far this kid has come!  Seems like just the other day we had him in therapy, hoping he would be able to function up to speed, and now look at him!  Michael and I actually joke that we had to put him in therapy to get him to talk and now we can’t get him to stop!  That’s OK!  We’ll take it!

Scott had his actual birthday on April 17th.  We took the big brothers out of school an hour or so, early and went swimming to celebrate!  Michael took the three boys to play laser tag also, when he got off work so he could enjoy some of the festivities too!  Unfortunately, Mase doesn’t quite get to join us for laser tagging adventures yet!  We asked Scott what he wanted for his birthday dinner and he exclaimed, “Pancakes!”  Easy enough!  Michael and I have been dieting and we thought, if we’re going to blow calories on a celebratory dinner, we’d rather blow it on something a little better than pancakes.  So, I offered to make pancakes for Scott, thinking maybe Michael and I could still get Subway or something a little healthier.  Scott was quick to exclaim, “Mom!  I want IHOP!  I’m the birthday boy and I want to eat out at a restaurant!”  This may sound snotty to you, but it was really cute the way he said it, with his sense of entitlement.   We laughed and caved and took him to IHOP (one of 4 restaurants I think our kids have ever eaten at).  He felt pretty special…..and they brought him out a little sundae too!  Then we went back to the house and sang and had cake and ice cream and opened presents.  It was fun!  This picture, by the way, with Scott and Gavin is a funny one; it’s something Scott does a lot.  He likes to yell “bing” and pretend to punch your lights out…..it’s his form of affection.. .ha!

The festivities didn’t end there!  On Saturday, the 20th, we decided to throw him a “friend” party at the local bowling alley.  We ended up having 18 kids!  Sounds crazy, and it is, but we live in an area swarming with children and it’s impossible to cut back without making someone sad.  So, we had them all….thank heaven for the non-party, hourly rate!  We brought our own cake and balloons and it all worked out.  I’d say the excitement lasted for about the first 30 minutes and then the kids were starting to wander.  We tried chanting for our bowlers as a distraction and that didn’t last very long!  We made it the full hour and those kids were ready for some cake and ice cream!  Scott picked out a “baseball cake” and I grabbed what I thought was chocolate ice cream for dessert.  Here’ s my funny confession!  We are LDS, so we don’t drink coffee or drink alcohol as part of our standard of living.  So, with that said….I’m scooping up cake and ice cream and as I’ve mentioned, Michael and I are on diets so as I’m winding up, I couldn’t help but take one spoonful of ice cream and I’m thinking, “Huh, this takes like coffee.” And then I read the fine print of the ingredients and sure enough….it was Mocha flavored chocolate ice cream!  Oops! I had to laugh!  That looks great, I’m sure…..oh well!  It was devoured.  Jared afterward told me he didn’t like it and that it tasted funny.  Ha!  Parents came to pick up the kiddos and we cleaned up and as we got in the car, 10 year old Jared heaves a sigh and says, “Now that, was chaotic!”  I had to laugh and yes…..I do agree!  But, it was fun!  Happy Birthday Scoots!

Scott's 5th Birthday 4/17/2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Kit Kats and Race Cars

Well, once again it rolled around…..the Pinewood Derby!  This was Jared’s last one – hard to believe he is a Webelo!  My baby is in his last year of Cub Scouts!  This year Jared was inspired by chocolate and decided to make his car look like a Kit Kat candy bar.  Michael put a lot of work into it with him.  It’s fun to see them work together on these!  Jared’s list of entries includes a black racer, a Wii Remote inspired car, and now this one.  We’re pretty creative around here!  He was bummed he didn’t win, but we did find out he did come in 5th place! That’s pretty good!  It was a fun night!

Random Scott

I was baking something and getting out the cooking spray, when the vinegar fell onto the counter.  Scott was with me in the kitchen and asks, “What is that Mom?'”  I told him and then added, “Mommy hates that stuff.  It’s stinky!”  Scott paused and then replies, “Yah, I don’t like that.  Jesus doesn’t like it either.  But, the Jews like it.”  I thought for a moment and then realized, with Easter fresh on his mind, that’s where that came from.  He was remembering that the Jews gave Jesus vinegar to drink on the cross.  I was so impressed he remembered.  Then we had a chat about what happened in the Bible and that there are Jews now too and I don’t know how much they like vinegar!

Oh, and here’s random from Gavin.  We are sitting in the pew’s at church and he randomly leans over to me and says, “Mom, when you’re 50 your butt will sag.”  I’m thinking…nice.   So I asked him, what made him think that?  And he said his friend told him that’s what happens.  Ok.  Good topic to discuss during sacrament at church.  Glad we are so focused!

Glimpses

I had a really fun day yesterday with my family.  I love playing with my honey.  Sometimes when we let loose, I catch glimpses of the “man-boy”( a term I affectionately call the 20 year old version of him), that I fell in love with, and I can see the giggley, free spirited girl who seems to be missing more often than not.  When did growing up mean we had to become grumpy and so serious….?  Yesterday was one of those.  When I met Michael he was this happy go lucky, always smiling, roller blading, everybody loves him, guy.  We’ve both changed over the years, as is inevitable, but occasionally our 20 year old selves pop out….and it’s fun!  As I watched him buzzing around the ice, it reminded me of watching him roller-blade into the sunset…..just kidding.  But seriously, it was fun, and whenever those glimpses happen, it re-ignites inside what fell in love with about him and I almost get giddy, like I did when it all began.  Despite all the hard days, all our ups and downs, all our struggles, and our fights, I really love my man.

And did I mention, and sometimes I marvel at his little laugh lines he’s getting, and just smile.  I’m glad I got to help put a few of those on there.  It’s cute.

Spring Break…..For Some Of Us

Spring Break rolled around once again.  I was really bummed to find out that Michael had to travel for work this week for two reasons; he would miss out on all the Family Fun and I knew that with having all 4 kiddos home with no break for the week (school) it would be really long and I would be burnt out. We stayed pretty busy!  On Monday, Michael left us around noon and fortunately enough, my sister Kenna offered to take the three older boys while Mason slept and I had some quiet time!  It was awesome!  That was my Spring Break!  I had a chance to get ahead with some cleaning which made me feel better later on during the week!  Tuesday we started bright and early and head up to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake.  It’s been a few year since we had visited and Scott couldn’t even remember it!  He kept saying thank you for being taken to the zoo!  I think they had lots of fun!  I did!  Unfortunately, Mason serves as a little stopwatch for us and we only lasted the morning.  We barely made it home before he was passed out!  We were singing “If You’re Happy And You Know It” loudly and clapping and putting windows down….you know what happens if a baby falls asleep in a car just before naptime!    That night my friend Evelyn came over and watched a show and painted nails with me.

Wednesday we had piano lessons in the morning and after that we went to our old hang out we frequent; Gardener’s Village.  We love to go there and feed the Koi in the pond and the geese.  This was Mason’s first time he was able to help feed the animals and get out of his stroller.  It was pretty cute to see him get excited about it!  Then, of course, the kids wouldn’t let us leave without stopping by the “Naborhood Bakery” and getting a cookie!  That night, Kenna and her boys came over for a movie night.  We watched “Tin Tin” while Brad took Melissa out on their Daddy-Daughter Date.  It was another fun, late night! 

Thursday we decided to try out the “Living Planet Aquarium.”  It was our first time there and it was better than I thought it would be!  I’d seen the Aquarium from the outside before and assumed it would be really small.  We go regularly to the Long Beach Aquarium, whenever we visit Michael’s parents, so we’ve been spoiled.  But, I wasn’t disappointed!  This time my mom hung on to Mason for his nap time and since Kenna had to take Melissa to a DR appointment she had in Salt Lake, I took her boys with us to the aquarium.  The boys seemed to think the Eel zapping simulator was pretty cool and the Anaconda eating a Guinea Pig.  Boys, boys, boys…..  I thought the Octopus was pretty cool.  Walking by and turning around to be stared down by this massive eyeball was funny!  The highlight of the day though, for me, was Michael coming home from his trip that night!  I missed him.

I was excited about Friday!  Michael was home and could join us for another adventure.  He worked a half day and we had a babysitter come watch Mason that afternoon.  We surprised the boys and took them to “The Peaks” ice arena for some ice skating!  They have never been and honestly, I don’t think I have either since I was something like 17, over at the Icoplex in the valley where I grew up in California! We had a fun time there too!  I’d never seen before, an arena with walkers for kids.  What a great idea!  This way the kids could get more comfortable on the ice!  Truthfully, I was looking for my size of walker, but they were nowhere to be found!  So, as an alternative, I volunteered to be Scootie’s partner.  I have to laugh!  How someone could manage to almost fall down not once, but twice, holding onto a walker, pretty much sums up that experience.  I’m so not coordinated!  Fortunately my boys didn’t inherit that trait of their mothers.  It was fun to see Jared and Gavin zooming around the rink like their Dad.  No fear.  I was proud of myself too, for not quitting!  I stayed on that ice for at least an hour and a half, hunched over Scott, skating us around that rink.  Boy am I feeling it today though!  You know that lovely feeling where you can’t even sit down to go to the restroom and your legs give out on you about half way down; yah, that’s me.   I know, lovely visual, eh?    It was a success though and everyone came home uninjured and happy!  Our neighbors were there too celebrating their daughter’s birthday and that made Jared’s day!  Rayne is his best friend in the world, and that’s a whole other post of its own.  I had to laugh as I watched and observed……is 10 years old too young to flirt, ‘cause I swear I saw some of that!  But, I’m pretending I didn’t!

All in all, I’d call our Spring Break Stay-cation a success!  I’m excited to see Summer roll around!  It’s always so much fun!

Spring Break 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Eggstraordinary Easter 2012

Easter was a beautiful day this year!  The kids were kind enough to let us sleep until 7:30 before they came tearing in the bedroom attempting to drag us out of bed!  It’s funny how as we get older we have these flashbacks of our own childhood, isnt’ it?  I seem to remember many a holiday dragging my Dad out of bed and having to “wait for Dad!”  So funny!   Such was the case at our house this year as well! 

After we did our egg hunt, we had our traditional big breakfast; waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage……the works!  We had church in the afternoon and then went over to my sister, Kenna’s house for a big family dinner.  There was just one thing missing….Kelly and her family!  We were originally trying to get together on Saturday, but with such busy schedules, we had to move it to Sunday and with that, there were conflicts!  We held another egg hunt for the kids in the Mills’ backyard and had a fun time hanging out.  Since we were together, we decided to celebrate Scott’s birthday too!  His birthday is coming up!  So hard to believe my Scootie will be 5! 

Among my pictures, I am posting my attempt at taking an Easter picture of my boys! It may not be pretty, but its my family.  Pretty much how things are……all the time! I’m afraid I failed!  Oh well!

Time Out For 2

This is just one of those cute things I had to post just because….  I put Scott in time out for none other than “running his mouth off” (big surprise).  So as he’s doing his “time,” Mason can’t stand the idea of no interaction and he breaks the ice by coming to check out his brother.  He stands there, babbles to Scott, and then takes a seat next to him.  After a second of just sitting, he decides to stand up and starts petting Scott’s head.  It was really sweet.  They are so cute!

And….They’re Off!

 

As is tradition, we held our annual Easter Egg Hunt at our local park.  It was a bit chilly, but that didn’t stop the kiddos!  They had a great time!  This was Mason’s first year to participate and I think he caught on pretty quick!  It’s so fun…. the stages little babies go through; esp. the one where they like to put things in buckets and then take them out again.  That made this hunt pretty funny!

Utah Museum of Natural History

Jared had a field trip….again!   This lucky kid has had lots of fun field trips this year!  Fortunately, I was able to join and we had a great time at the Utah Museum of Natural History.  It was fun and I think it would be fun for Michael and I to go back to for a date, when I actually have time to sit and read everything!  They have everything form dinosaur fossils and a Paleontology lab where you get to watch hands on scientists restoring specimens, to a geology section with beautiful stones native to our State.  It also had a section on topography and geography of UT including a fun hands on area where little kids can play with water and sand.  There’s 5 floors and at the top there’s a weather center with an awesome view of the valley!

Dying Easter Eggs

Another Easter has rolled around!  Seems like we just celebrated Christmas!  This is Mason’s first year to participate in dying the eggs!  We tried something fun this time around/ wrapping eggs in rubber bands before dying them; leaves a kind of cool pattern!  This was our family night this week.

Easter Eggs 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL