FREAKY FRIDAY CARNIVAL

Friday night was the kids school "Freaky Friday" school carnival. All the kids dressed up except Caleb who was havin none of it. He did eat the food, though.

I think this picture sums up the night for Scrubs (Calebs nickname) I just love his blue eyes!!

This was not a normal school carnival. Things are always so above and beyond in this town-such a change from good ol Robson Elementary. They had game after game, a huge rock climbing wall, choo-choo rides, bounce houses, obstacle courses, a not so spooky haunted house and way more. My favorite part of course was the cake walk. You should have seen some of these cakes people made-they all looked so yummy (that ones for you, Bill) We all got together and all went in at one time so that our chances of getting a cake was better. Thanks to our lucky Ty-bo, we won, but not before our dream cake was snatched right before our eyes. Way to go Ty!!!!

Tyson and Caleb could have ridden this choo-choo 100 times. I even rode it with them-I thought the whole thing was going to collapse. Yikes!!
Sweet little Av's was our little devil for the night. This costume seems to fit because she has been a little devil lately. Teething is NOT FUN.

We were so lucky to have Barb, Blake, Sophie, and Ana visiting with us for the weekend. They came with us and joined in the carnival fun (as much fun as you can have standing around doing nothing. Its not the same when your kids arent involved. Thanks for being good sports !!!!) The kids loved having cousin Ana here to play with and to babysit. Thanks Ana for coming. We loved having you!!!

Im so mad that I didnt get any pictures of the weekend, but Barb is more of a camera phobe than I am. Us together ='s NO pictures.

Lani decided to be a girl pirate. She looked so cute. I will post some real halloween pictures after halloween. She will completly fit the part now because she just lost her front tooth. Hilarious.
The boys and Lani loved playing games with their dad. Im so glad he is a playful dad becasue there is nothing I hate worse than carnival games.
This weekend we are having a trunk or treat and then the kids have Monday and Tuesday off of school and then Wed. is Halloween. I better put on my creative hat and make this a fun, spooky weekend.

Happy Halloween!!!!

Random

I have a bunch of random pictures that I want to post, so this might be a long post.

We got school pictures back and I was pleasantly surprised. School pictures never, ever turn out in our family, so I was so happy these ones did. My kids look so old and grown up. Time goes by way too fast.

Noah was so proud of his picture. For some reason, he just cant smile normally, so we have been working on getting a natural smile. He actually did it and he just thought his picture was soooo good (and I thought it was too.)

Lani is our exception the the no smile rule. She always smiles and looks so cute in her pictures. Last year, right before christmas, she decided to cut her own hair and it wasnt just a little cut, it was the whole left side of her head all the way up above her ear. We had to CHOP off her hair right before our christmas pictures (of course). So I love that her hair has finally grown back-but this happiness is short lived because she got some tape stuck in her hair and thought the only way to get it out was to cut it out-so yes, she will yet again be getting a hair cut before picture time.

(No, her face is not dirty, she has had a rash for the last 2 months-I think she is allergic to Utah =)

There are a few things that I love about where we live, and one is that they are really into extracirricular activites. I signed the kids up for ice skating lessons, and let me tell you that it is pure comedy. Lani doesnt move anymore than a few inches at a time, and Noah thinks he's a pro. They were falling like every minute

This picture is kinda blurry, so sorry. When Noah saw that some of the kids were skating fast, he thought that it must be easy. He took off and then fell so hard. When we first got there, we didnt see any boys and he told me that ice skating was for girls and he wasnt going to do it. I told him that if he wanted to play ice hockey, he had to learn from the bottom. We saw boys when we got inside, and that made him happy. Notice the back of his shirt is soaking wet. This was only after about 20 minutes on the ice. The kids are having so much fun doing this. Next on the list, learn to ski/snowboard. The school takes them every friday during ski season and teaches them. Noah will snowboard and Lani will ski. I cant wait!!!

It was a semi-nice day, so I sent the kids out to play. Tyson is the funniest kid. He loves to make things out of anything he can find. He created his own drumset. We dont have drum sticks so he used my wooden spoons (which were both broken by the end of his jam session) I love the helmet and his glove with the fingers cut out. We love this guy.



This was the project that I did at my enrichment night. I havent got the ribbon for the sides yet, but you wrap in in ribbon and tie a bow on the top. I think they turned out so cute. I did each of the kids names in a different color. (it says "I am a child of God" in case you cant read it)


We had a lazy dinner night the other night and Bill made breakfast burritos. Tyson decided that he didnt want them and he was going to make his own. Caleb thought it looked so yummy.
I think he took one bite and decided the breakfast burrito was better!!


And last but not least....
Lani has had a loose tooth for like 2 weeks. This thing will not come out. We tried wiggeling it, tying dental floss around it and yanking it. It is the most stubborn tooth. Of course, now that I missed pictures with the changing leaves, she is going to have a toothless smile and short hair. (and a red nose from the cold) I guess I learned my lesson on why procrastination is not a good thing.

I guess it was only a matter of time...

I just got home from a super-fun enrichment night and I heard a horrible story about what yucky people can do with your pictures-especially your kids' pictures. I have been thinking about going private for a while but not really wanting to do it. What are your pros and cons, concerns and issues with blogging non private? I know the odds of something happening to me or my kids is way high, but ive just started becoming slightly paranoid. Honestly, my favorite thing to do is jump from blog to blog and I really would feel bad shutting mine off when I stalk so many people myself-but I know that im not a bad stalker-just a nosy one. Im going to give it a week and then switch over, so all you peoples out there who check in often, periodically or whenever, please leave your email address so I can add you to my list of stalkers. I really dont care who you are as long as you know me through some friend of a friend of a cousins brothers uncles aunts.....whatever. I know im so not cool in anyway, but if you think its worth it, leave your info.

Anyway...I just made the cutest craft at enrichment. Its a glass block with my kids names saying I am a child of God. They are soooo cute. I just need some ribbon and then I will take a picture and post it. They are too cute not to share. I also have some school pictures. I am really happy with how they turned out-for once. Have a good weekend!!!

Happy Eight Months!!!

My sweet baby princess is 8 months old!!!! I cant believe how fast time flys. She just started crawling about a week ago and she is already so fast and way too mobile for me.

She got her first tooth on Wednsday and her second one came in just 5 days later. I'll just say that one bite and she's done!!!
Avery is so animated. She has about 1000 different facial expressions. She has mastered the dirty looks. I was trying to take some pictures of her and she was not havin it. She just wanted to crawl around.
We have a storage closet in our house and I was rearranging it, I walked out for about 30 seconds and when I came back, this is where she was. The step ladder was closed.
Avery loves to put anything and everything in her mouth. She has figured how to pick up the small things with her fist, and then she puts her entire fist in her mouth and gets the prize. Her favorite....CHEERIOS. At least its healthy.

We know that Avery is tired when she falls asleep anywhere. She is such a habit creature that she can only sleep in her crib. Sundays are hard because we are at church during her big naptime. She is so cute when she sleeps. The second you give her her blankie, she puts it to her face, sucks her thumb and crashes.

When she wakes up, she wants to be picked up right then. She will cry and cry, but the second you walk in the room, she is all smiles. She loves when her brothers come in to play with her after her nap. One day, I went in first and she looked right past me looking for Tyson and Caleb to play. I love the way she looks at her brothers and sister. She lights up when they are around and vice versa.

We are so blessed to have this sweet angel in our house. From her big slobber kisses to her big, bright eyes, she is such a light in our home. I get so sad sometimes because she is growing so fast and I am really going to miss her sweet baby face and miss her cuddles. But I also really enjoy watching her learn new things. Happy 8th month sweet girl!!! We love you so much.

THIS IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR

Is this normal??? Because if it is, I dont like it. Its only September and we have already had 2 snowfalls. It snowed all day on Saturday and in mid afternoon, it finally started to stick. You could totally tell we are not from the snow because we were the only ones out playing in the 1/2 inch of snow.

This is in our back yard-this hill will be so nice when it is covered with snow-PERFECT sledding hill.

This was in the morning when it was snowing but not sticking and before I MADE them get jackets on.




And Avery was just so happy watching them from the window in her nice, warm house

The part I hate the worst is the "after". Our little mud room was covered with wet clothes, gloves, jackets and shoes. I was left to clean up while the kids jumped in the hot bath. Fun for them,not so much for me!!!!

What a difference a day makes!!

I guess its not so bad being 30!!!! I spoke too soon. My sweet hubby made this such a fun birthday-which I REALLY needed. On my birthday, Bill said that we needed to go pick up his brother at the airport (he had supposedly been in Vegas-his wife is a good little liar too!!!!) The kids were having a contest to see who could see Scott first, and then I look over and there is my Mom. I was so excited to see her. I really missed her and sometimes you just want your mommy. They then said we were going to lunch and then head back to the airport to pick up my sister Stacy and her little boy Josh. What a complete surprise. They were coming for the weekend for fun and SHOPPING. I cant even tell you what a great gift that was in itself. I really miss home and my family and this was just what I needed to make it to Thanksgiving. We hung out and went to dinner (Thanks Scott and Annie for watching our crazy bunch!!!) Then the next day, we went shopping ALL DAY and ate lunch at my all time favorite place-Costa Vida. When we got home, my cute little kids (and Bill) had put up streamers and they had hats and noise makers and, my favorite part, a super, yummy ice cream cake from Coldstone.

The kids yelled SURPRISE!!! and blew the noise makers...

Someone DID NOT like the noise!!!

This thing was gone so fast. YUMMY

And this is the cause of it all...Its super cute and I love, love it, but it was not what I wanted for my birthday. I have spent the entire week trying to catch up on laundry and it has been easy because I can do like 2 1/2 loads in one. So cool

My sister left early, early Sunday morning, but my mom stayed until Monday. On Sunday night my mom and I were making dinner when I heard Bill yell "Caleb, what did you do?"

THIS...

=

THIS

AND THIS...

AND THIS...
Caleb went CRAZY with the PERMANENT marker in all of 5 minutes. What do you do??? I cant yell or get mad because there was nothing I could do about it. I was more worried about the wood. It does not come off. I knew he felt bad because he burried his face in the couch for like 15 minutes. My kids have never really done anything like this, I thought I was lucky and I thought he was the only one...

Apparently not. My 6 year old thought she would practice her name on the WOOD wall. AWESOME!!!


When we woke up Monday morning to take my Mom to the airport, this is what we woke up to.
Snow, snow and more snow. It didnt stick, but it lasted about 3 hours and was sooooo cold. Glad I went shopping for some jackets. I thought I should get some gloves and hats for the kids for school because it was like 29 degrees when I took the kids to school. It has warmed up this week, but its supposed to happen again on Saturday. I HATE WINTER WEATHER!!!! I miss my flip flops. Guess its time to go home to visit!!!!
I decided that since I had to go into Salt Lake that I would use the day to finish some winter shopping. Gloves, hats, thermals, sweats and slippers. For a family of 7 who havent needed anything like this and had none to pass down to the smaller kids, let me tell you, its not cheap. Thrift stores, here I come!!!!
Poor kids, 5 hours later, we had found all the clothes we needed, ate lunch, found a washer drove, drove and drove some more to get home and these kids had had it. They were so good though because they got some cool Cars slippers. Gotta love Target.
So that was my SUPER, DUPER FUN BIRTHDAY WEEKEND in a nutshell. Thanks Mom and Stacy for coming and THANKS Bill for watching all 6 kids so we could shop all day. I love Ya.

PS...... DONT FORGET TO WATCH THE OFFICE TONIGHT!!!!
BEST SHOW EVER

When it rains...it POURS

Can I please just crawl into a hole right now. Whoever said things only happen in 3's had no idea what the junk they were talking about. Days like today seem to happen all to often. Im not going to bore with all the crazy details, but let me just say that adding 2 bored kids to the mix doesnt help the mood. Today was supposed to be my big cleaning day and I was all prepard for it-my house was all prepared for it-it was yelling at me-CLEAN ME, CLEAN ME. Yesterday as I started my mountain of laundry (still catching up from my week long absence) I went to go change the load and what do you know, the washer had stopped in mid rinse cycle. With a washer full of water and wet jeans, we figured the motor had burned out. GREAT...are you kidding me with this-it couldnt of happened at a WORSE time(Im $ure you all know what im talking about,without going into detail) The washer and dryer are like ancient, so its time for a new one. I really wanted to do my homework on this and find one that will suit our big family better and lessen my laundry time. I thought I would take some time and research. Well a half hour has turned into 2 1/2 and thanks to my cranky baby who didnt want to sleep or be put down, I didnt get anything done this morning. I thought once she goes down for her nap, I will research, then CLEAN until its time to get the kids from school. I should have cleaned before getting on the computer. I am totally back at square one. After reading endless customer reviews and consumer reports, I am convinced that all washers stink!!! So with my cleaning time wasted and the house an even BIGGER mess I called my sister to vent.(thanks Stacy, I know you love it)I had just hung up when I hear the sound of water-kinda like rain. I thought Caleb had left the sink running because he had just washed his hands. I go into the bathroom and realize it wasnt that, I walk into my room to discover that it is raining from the ceiling. I rush upstairs to find the sink clogged with Noahs change that Tyson and Caleb dumped into the sink and the water running and spilling out all over the place. I dont mean a stream, I mean a huge waterfall. They told me they were giving their cars a bath. So, I just used all that was left of my clean towels to soak up the mess and now I have even more laundry, no clean towels and NO WASHER. This on top of everything else that is happening is causing me to have a nervous breakdown. I think im getting pretty good at these. Now the baby is awake, its time to pick up the kids from school, do homework, start dinner, clean up dinner, I have enrichment night tonite and I was totally looking foward to that but now im not going because we have to go find a stupid washer, then its bath and bed time. I usually consider myself an optomist when days like this happen, and I say "Tomorrow will be a better day" but not this time. Its the worst thing of all. IM GOING TO BE 30. AHHHHHHH!!! Does anyone know of a good hole???

The Gay Pages

This is not a joke.

OUTDOOR FUN

We decided to have one last camping trip before it gets too cold. We went to this little spot about 45 minutes from our house, in the Uintah Mountains. Its so weird, but the spots are just right off the side of the road, but it is so pretty and the kids love it. Our campsite was right by this little stream and the kids loved hopping rocks and getting wet, even though it was in the 50's during the day and 20's at night. We had a warm fire that Noah helped make from all that he learned on man vs wild and survivorman. My kids were meant for the outdoors. They get soooo dirty, but its so worth it to not have any TVs or distractions. Unfortunatly, our car battery died and we had to flag someone down to get a jump. About 10 cars later, we found some really nice ladies who were heading up to the falls and they bailed us out. After a fun hike up the falls, we headed home, dirty and tired. All in all, it was a great time. We cant wait for next summer!!!

We love to tell semi-scary stories around the campfire

Someone was grumpy and didnt want to participate

This was Averys first time camping, so she thought she would try some dirt and twigs.

I think she likes it...

Yep, she likes it!!!

What the.....

Ok, what in the junk are they putting on TV these days and why oh why do my kids like this??? Has anyone seen this? I about died. Bill and I saw a clip of this show on the Soup and I thought it was a joke. We had the TV on one morning and this came on-Tyson and Caleb loved it. Bill made a comment on how dumb it was and then, of course, Tyson said he didnt like it either. The next day it came on again and Tyson said he hated that show, but he just wanted to see what they were doing. Im not quite sure they should watch it, I think it promotes wierdness. What do you think??

YUMMY!!

Dont you just love when they start eating food???

Can I just say...

How much fun I had this past week!!!! I really missed AZ and I was so happy to go back to visit with family and friends. One thing I didnt miss was the HEAT!!! Oh my gosh, just being gone for a couple of months and being spoiled in this perfect weather, makes you forget. When I came home and woke up the next morning to take the kids to school it was 37 degrees. That is so weird to me because it is only September. I really miss all the comforts of home. It took me moving away from it to realize that I really did like my little comfort zone. I missed hangin out with my Mom and going to lunch and watchin my Dad work, work, work, he is a busy little bee. Avery loved all the quality time she got to spend with Grandma and Grandad. I think she is a little spoiled now. We had a BBQ for Labor Day, the whole fam came and I was able to see my new little nephw Finn for the first time-he is such a cutie, and my 3 other nephews Jake, Tyler and Jonas . We played a fun game of mexican train and a heated game (as always) of phase ten and ate my Dads famous ymmy BBQ.

I missed hangin out with the Lomu girls-its always fun to get together and talk and play games. I also was able to meet the newest member of the Lomu family-Harry Potter Lomu. The cutest little cocka-poo(sp) puppy ever. I missed my cute little neice and nephew Sophie and Drew and it was good to see them.

LUNCH WITH THE GIRLS

I have the coolest group of friends and I have known most of them my whole life. We grew up in the same neighborhood/ward and we have carried our friendship through all these years. I know that I can count on them for anything and I really miss all the fun lunches, so... I had to have an early birthday lunch while I was visiting. I just couldnt pass it up. (We missed you Brookie!!)

BOOK CLUB HOTTIES

I was also fortunate enough to be able to join the funnest book club ever a little over a year ago. Let me tell you that these girls are the funniest and most crazy girls around. I cant even tell you how much I looked foward to this night every month. It really does something for your sanity to stay up till 2 or 3 talking, eating, laughing and listening to some of the funniest stories I think I have ever heard.(we do occasionally talk about the books =) ) I miss these girls so much. We have really formed friendships that I hope will last forever. My goal is to make it to book club about every 3 months. I dont think I could go much longer. Even though I had stuff to do in AZ, my real reason of going this week was so that I could go to book club. I love you girls!! (sorry I missed you Eda and Heidi-maybe next time!!)

If all that happened while I was away was a black eye-then it was a good week!!

I really have to give props to my super cool hubby-he is the best. He worked from home the whole week, got the kids up and ready for school, did Lanis hair every morning (or attempted to anyway) cleaned and took on all the household duties. I dont know many men who could do that and still have a smile on his face at the end. He is such a good Dad. He took them camping, hiking (2 times) bowling and lots of other various activites. The kids loved the change from crazy mom to fun Dad. It was good for him to see what I do and it was fun for me to see what he does (go to lunch, hang with friends, do what I need to do when I need to and not have to worry about a babysitter or nap time or schedules, you know, husband stuff!!) I had so much fun hanging out with my Mom and Dad and Bills family and just being able to relax and clear my head. I really missed my kids and Im so happy to be home,as hectic as it may be.