Do I REALLY have a 9 year old???

My Noah turned 9 yesterday. It is crazy that he is already 9. He really is such a sweet boy and im so proud to be his mom.

He was lucky because he got to go on a field trip with his class, so he thought this was the best birthday ever!!

It was soooo hot today (like 65 degrees) so I wanted to bring in popsicles for his class after they got back from the field trip, but his teacher thought it would be better to do it before they left-which was at like 8:30-so I brought dounuts instead. Bill got to go with him and he loved that. He loves hangin out with his Dad.

This is Noah pointing to his name on the birthday wall at school

After school, we went in search of the President who was here in Park City, but only saw the helicopter. Park City people are so dumb-they had this HUGE "Bash Bush" BBQ like 1 mile from where he was. We tried to go take a look, but the traffic was out of control so we just went home to make dinner. Noah wanted lasagna-so thats what I made and it turned out pretty yummy. The cake on the other hand...not so pretty!!
He wanted an Oreo ice cream cake. Oh my gosh, it was all over the place. Im pretty sure that this wasnt what he had in mind-but it sure did taste YUMMY!!!
Thanks to Noahs Grandparents and Aunts-he didnt do too bad. I always think that they need more and that they never get what they really want-but at the end of the day-they are ALWAYS happy!!
This kid was no exception.


Noah is our little Einstien. He is kind of a nerd. He loves science and math and learning new things. This kid could watch the Discovery Channel and the History Channel all day long. He knows way more than I do. Its a good thing that his Dad is so smart or I would be in BIG trouble.
Here are some fun "Noah"facts.

1. He read all 7 Harry Potter books in 3 months. (During those 3 months, he also read 2 other books for book reports)
2. He is a monkey. He can climb any tree and he usually does-it doesnt matter where we are, he will climb it.
3. He is so smart and he knows it. If you give him a compliment, he usually replies with "I know"
We are working on that!
4. He can eat as much as his Dad. Im not sure that is such a good thing.
5. He only needs about 8 hours of sleep. We usually put the kids down at 8:30 and he will stay up until 11:oo reading and he is always the first to wake up (at 7)
6. He is such a good big brother. Since he thinks he knows all, he is always explaining and showing the kids how to do things. He loves to build them forts and read them storys-he even uses the voices.
7. He can build the most amazing things out of nothing. He is going to be an awesome architect (sp) some day.
8. He has made his own Man vs. Wild videos. (he broke the video camera while filming and we havent been able to watch them yet)
9. He hates sports. He would rather be on the computer, reading or building something.
10. He is sooooo loved by all his Aunts and Uncles and especially his Grandparents. He is such a special boy.
Happy Birhday Noah

Playing Catch-up

Im not very good at a whole lot, but one thing I pride myself on being good at is avoiding household duties. I have at least 5 loads of laundry to do, bathrooms to clean, clothes to hang up, floors to be vaccumed, swept and mopped, and dishes to do, BUT, I will sacrafice a clean house for some much needed blogging. I keep waiting for a good time to blog, but its never going to happen, so im just gonna do it!!!! Being the multi-tasker that I am, I am cutting coupons while the pictures upload-so... that makes me feel a little bit better about being so neglectful.

I cant even remember when we took this little weekend trip, but we had so much fun.

Scott and Andrea invited us to go to her parents cabin for the weekend. This has to be my kids favorite place to go. It is made for kids and FUN!!!

A new addition this last time was this cool old buggy. Since we didnt have a horse, we used the next best thing...Bill. But since he wont let me put pictures of him on here, I had to cut him off, but it was funny and the kids loved it.

Lani rode the ATC all by herself for the first time and she was quite proud

(Bill is on the back, but he is cut out yet again)

Not to be outdone, Caleb had to have a turn riding it all by himself too. He is a maniac!!

Avery loves taking a bath in the sink and I love how fast sink baths are. Its a win-win.

The little kids finally had a turn in the bounce house without all the big kids and they were in heaven. Mason is the funniest.

These two rarely left this machine. I think there are over 100 games-but at least they were playing together. I try to find the positive in every situation.

Do you remember doing the parachut in PE back in elementary school? We tried to get them to to sit under it, but I think it was too compicated for them.

The rope swing is always a favorite. Noah thought he could go high enough to jump over the bounce house-but nope, he just fell and almost killed himself.

Avery just loved to eat and make messes.



These two decided to be friends, finally. They were being so funny. We were all outside and they disapeared into the house. When we came in, this is what we found.

They both helped themselves to some Rootbeer, Sprite, and candy
They were being so cute, we let the sugar overload fly. We were on vacation, it doesnt count. Right?

This guy played so hard the whole time. He ran outside for hours, jumped on the tramp, did the rope swing, ate lots of sugar, played on the teeter totter, and ran from place to place. On the last day as we were cleaning to go, he fell asleep like this watching Spongebob. This kid is the funniest. He can fall asleep ANYWHERE.

Such a fun time with our family. Thanks guys!!

Finally...A week of springtime

It has been way too long since we have had a nice day. We took full advantage of the sinshine and decided to get the bikes out. Tyson is almost 5 and we figured it was time for him to learn how to ride with no training wheels. Noah learned when he was 3-he has always been a kid with no fear whatsoever. Tyson, on the otherhand, is a big chicken.

So we headed off to the church parking lot for a flat surface and no traffic.

He did pretty good for his first time, but he was having a hard time keeping his balance.
Last year, Lani took a pretty good spill and wouldnt get back on her bike for the rest of the summer. She finally did it and we are so proud. Doesnt she look cute in her helmet, pads and dress. Serioulsly, I dont know where she gets it. She would where dresses everyday if she could.
Our neighbors gave Caleb this bike and he thinks he is so fast-its so funny. I dont think he realizes that what the purpose of training wheels is. He couldnt understand why Tyson couldnt ride his bike when Caleb was clearly so good on his.
Then he decided to be a little punk-he's good at that.
He sat on Tysons bike and wouldnt get off because he wanted the attention of Mommy and Daddy to help him ride his training wheel bike. I think Caleb would be able to learn to ride with no trainers faster than Tyson. He is just like Noah-No Fear. Actually, he is a little bit psycho.

Noah was just cruisin around as fast as he could. He was riding circles around Avery and she loved it.
She is such a big walker. She is so independent. The second we got there, she took of to the other end of the parking lot just becasue she could. She loves to wander.
And she loves to throw things she picks up off the ground.


We are proud of this little guy for trying. Practice makes perfect.
I guess we will have to wait a week or so for some better weather. Its supposed to snow tonight. Its awesome-its May 21, why woudnt it snow. Who needs spring anyway. Year round winter is so much better.

Random Pic's

Here are a few random pic's from the last couple months.

As the snow was melting, it was still sooo cold and the kids still wanted to play outside. Since the snow was so slushy, I guess there wasnt much else to do but climb the trees. They both got stuck and I had to come to the rescue.

There is this cool little ice cream shop on main st that the kids love-but since its not really ice cream weather, we loved the hot chocolate!!

This little monkey is such a habit baby. She will not ever fall asleep with me holding her or anywhere that is not her crib. One day, I noticed she was super quiet and I found this. This is the first time she has fallen asleep anywhere-especially without her blanky. This was a big moment for me. Although, I dont think she was too happy about it, by the look on her face.

For scouts, Noah made this cool torch that you could really light. Noah was pretty darn proud of himself.

Ben and Michelle's little Sunny turned 1. They had a fun party at the park, but it was soooo cold.
Avery was just happy to be out of her log prison

One thing we love to do in our house is play hide and seek. Noah found this little hiding space and we seriously could not find him. We never thought of it because you have to scale the logs to get up there. Leave it to Mr. climber. Now all the kids have learned how to get up there-they havent quite mastered the getting down technique.

300 Club

Lani was chosen to be part of the 300 Club at her school. This is an award given for having integrity, respect, compassion and civility. We got to go to a special breakfast with the principal at 7:30 in the morning. Lani is such a sweet girl and is always doing nice things for others. We are so proud of her and of who she is becoming.

Congrats Lani!!!

Bull

Although I am happy for David Cook- I really liked him- I just feel that David A got jipped. He sooo deserved to win and should have. I feel for the kid. He will still be super successful. Was anyone else dying over DA's duet with One Republic. They are one of my favorite bands and I thought that duet was AMAZING. I about threw up listening to Stripper boy say the word "naked" during the George Michael songs. YUCK!!! What a Finale. I definatly was not expecting the outcome. GO DAVID!!!

Happy Mothers Day Mom!!!

I just wanted to say Happy Mothers Day to the greatest Mom ever.

I am so sad that I cant be with her on the special day, but here are some things that I love about my Mom.

( These pictures got reversed oops)

My mom was so fun growing up. She was always doing fun things for us kids and she always bought the best food. Our freezer was always stocked with schwans ice cream and she always made the house comfortable which made our house a fun house to be with friends. She always let us do fun stuff and I know she turned her back quite a few times to let us get away with stuff. Even during my not so obediant phase, she always let me know that she was proud of who I was and that made all the difference in the person I am today.

My mom is the funnest Grandma. She spoils the grandkids like you wouldnt believe-even if she didnt spoil them, they would still love her just the same. She is always doing everything she can to make sure they are happy and well taken care of. I have never met anyone more caring than my mom. She just gives and gives and gives. Im pretty sure she is more patient now than she was when I was growing up-I cant imagine why. I was the perfect kid.

She is always taking the time to make each grandchild feel special.

(I just said that to make my siblings happy, we all know who the favorite 5 are)

Especailly this one!!!

My kids have loved having Grandma (and Grandad) come to visit so often. She makes them feel so special even though we all know they are one crazy bunch!!

Here are some fun facts about my Mom.

1. She LOVES her Diet Cokes. (I give all the glory to my mom for my addiction. The fridge was constantly stocked with diet cokes growing up and I stole them all the time)

2. She loves Wendys salads and Diet Cokes. If I call her in the afternoon, I always catch her in the act becasue she will say "hold on a sec" and then I can here her ordering.

3. She hates funny movies. We went to see dumb and dumber when it came out in the theater and the only thing she laughed at was the shitzu joke and that was only because we have those kind of dogs.

4. She gets her hair done every 3 weeks. Its like clockwork, and she never misses an appointment. Back in the day of perms and nails, she was at the salon 3x's a month. She would go one day for nails, another for the perm and then another for the color and cut. They LOVE her at Tantrum.

5. She loves cheezy mormon romance, mystery novels. I think she goes to deseret book every week and finds a new one. If its published by Covenant, she has it. (which works for me because I also love cheezy mormon romance, mystery novels)

6. She hates to work out. I can think of a hundred things she would rather do than go to her trainer. Like mother like daughter.

7. She wants to retire in Lakeside. Its her favorite place to go. She would live there now if she could.

8. She is the hugest sports fan I know (besides my husband). She loves them all: ASU football, Suns Basketball, and the D-Backs. I get my love of sports from my mom. Every Tuesday night growing up was Pizza Hut Pizza night becasue there was always a Suns game on. During football season, we had a party every weekend to watch the games. Those are my favorite memories.

9. She loves to buy movies. I can always count on her the have the latest releases-even if she hates the movie. Thank goodness for Costco so she can stock up.

10. Her favorite candy are Payday candy bars and junior mints. There is always one or the other in the fridge and she picks at them. I think it takes her like 3 days to eat one. Growing up, when we would go to the movies, she would pour junior mints into her popcorn-so I started pouring M&M's.

11. She always has a water bottle with her everywhere she goes. I never see her without one.

I could go on and on about my Mom. She listens to me complain about my kids and about life in general without saying a word. My mom always seems to know whats going on and what we need.

Happy Mothers Day Mom. I hope you have a great day!!

To my loyal 5-6 listeners

Im prettty disappointed in myself that I havent kept up with my blogging. This is something I love to do and im just not cutting it. So, it is with sadness that I say that im taking a break. As always, life keeps getting in the way of the things that make me happy. Without going into detail, lots of changes are happening and things are just way too crazy right now and I just cant pick myself up to do this blogging thing. So once things calm down and I have even the slightest energized moment, I will return. So long.