My brothers have kids that I really don't get to see very often because of where we live. Thank goodness my sister has been trying to see all the grandkids this summer so I've spent more time with them than in years past. This last Saturday I got to pick up two of my nieces, Demi and Taylee, and bring them from Burley to my house for a night until Sunnie could come and pick them up. It was a spur of the moment thing and no one was expecting them to be able to come, much less end up here and I loved every minute of it.
The girls weren't expecting to go to church with us because they thought they would be camping with Sunnie and Brandon so off we went to the mall in search of dresses. WOW! It was much harder than I thought! There was one rack of dresses at Sears and one at JC Penney. Thank goodness they each found one they liked because we only had 20 minutes before the mall closed.
The next hurdle was Sunday hair. As much fun as it is to try and do girl hair, I am even more thankful that I have four boys. I don't know how all of you with girls EVER make it anywhere on time when hair is involved. By some miracle, we made it to church on time with six kids.
Sunday night my nephew, Chase, came to visit for a few days en route to Grandma's house. He's a bundle of energy and so much fun for the boys to have around. I just hope city life doesn't bore him to tears, much less playing with boys several years younger than him!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Teetering and Tottering
Dylan is walking! OK, not around the block but five or six steps at a time without coaxing. He will actually let go of something on his own and try to walk where he wants to go next. It is so cute to see the look of determination on his face. Not a daredevil by any means but not my slowest walker either at 13 months. Way to go Dyl!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Boys Pictures
When we were in Utah, I took advantage of Grandma's willingness to help, my brother's sweet digital camera, my sister's connection to the perfect picture spot, and a nice day to take the boys pictures. I figured I would try to do it myself and if it didn't work out I could still have them done more professionally. I think they worked rather well for the 20 minutes it took! Immediately following the picture session, I took Logan to Immediate Care for his fever of 103 and sore throat so he was definitely my trooper of the day.
My Little Man Dylan - 1 year-old
My Little Man Dylan - 1 year-old
Ethan, X-man, ZZ, Big E 3 years-old
Logan, Bear, Blondie - 6 1/2 years old
Thomas, 2-Tom, Man-of-the-House 8 1/2 years-old
Mom and her boys.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Does using a crockpot make you old?
I got my trusty crock pot out again this morning to make pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. When I pulled the lid out of the dishwasher - I use the thing several times a week lately - the handle on the lid literally popped off. What was I going to do? We've only had the thing since we got married. They just don't make things like they use to. :) Anyway, I tried super glue to no avail and then decided I just needed to bite the bullet and go to Wal-Mart and pick up a new one. In the mean time, I just put my two frozen pork roasts in the crock pot and put a plate on top.
Wal-Mart had a nice selection of shiny new crock pots to choose from. I never knew it would be so exciting to purchase one! Our old one was pink and flowery, not really my taste but it made yummy dinners so who was I to complain. I picked up a GIANORMOUS red and silver one and set off. When I was checking out, the cashier and I were chatting about how I came in for the crock pot and was leaving with an untold amount of stuff - I think they pipe subliminal messages to buy things through the overhead speakers. She looked at me with a confused look and asked, "So, you use it a lot then?" And then looked me up and down again like I was a 90 year-old woman. Do the rest of you use your crock pot like I do? It's just a quick way to make dinner in the morning and not have to worry about it at 4:30 when the house is crazy and I am getting tired of dealing with it. I will admit it. I love my kitchen gadgets, especially those with slow cook settings and timers!
Wal-Mart had a nice selection of shiny new crock pots to choose from. I never knew it would be so exciting to purchase one! Our old one was pink and flowery, not really my taste but it made yummy dinners so who was I to complain. I picked up a GIANORMOUS red and silver one and set off. When I was checking out, the cashier and I were chatting about how I came in for the crock pot and was leaving with an untold amount of stuff - I think they pipe subliminal messages to buy things through the overhead speakers. She looked at me with a confused look and asked, "So, you use it a lot then?" And then looked me up and down again like I was a 90 year-old woman. Do the rest of you use your crock pot like I do? It's just a quick way to make dinner in the morning and not have to worry about it at 4:30 when the house is crazy and I am getting tired of dealing with it. I will admit it. I love my kitchen gadgets, especially those with slow cook settings and timers!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Chores
Things are finally starting to settle down. Gary is back at work, T-ball and Tiger ball are over, the garden of weeds has once again become a garden of vegetables, and life is getting back to normal. I can't believe how nice it is to have our routine back. I'm really enjoying the "boring" life we lead!
This summer I started a chore chart with the three oldest. They each have about six jobs they do every day and, depending on how well they do them or how many reminders I need to give, they earn points for completing the chores. Our first goal was Kung Fu Panda. They needed to earn a variety of points depending on the person and then once all three had met their point goal, Gary would take them to the movies. They went last Saturday - probably the week before it hit the dollar show! - and they all four had a great time. Today we sat down to discuss our next point goal. So far it is a group reward so I threw out a couple I thought they would love. That should have been my first clue.
I offered to take them to Deleta roller skating or to McDonalds for dinner (they demolished one of our McDonalds to rebuild and it's just about done complete with a new play place) after everyone had earned 200 points. Tom wanted skating and just because he did, Logan and Ethan wanted McDonalds. I told them they all needed to agree. They started throwing out their own options and finally wanted to go to our pizza/video game/miniature golf/laser tag/play ground called Outer Limits. Since this was going to cost us twice what the other two were, I told them it would also cost them 400 points thinking they would say no way. Wrong! They were all three on board and ready to earn points to Outer Limits. This chore thing is going great. They get the stuff done I need them to without any more complaining that they are doing more than someone else. In a month or so we'll all be eating dinner at Outer Limits too! That's a win-win!
This summer I started a chore chart with the three oldest. They each have about six jobs they do every day and, depending on how well they do them or how many reminders I need to give, they earn points for completing the chores. Our first goal was Kung Fu Panda. They needed to earn a variety of points depending on the person and then once all three had met their point goal, Gary would take them to the movies. They went last Saturday - probably the week before it hit the dollar show! - and they all four had a great time. Today we sat down to discuss our next point goal. So far it is a group reward so I threw out a couple I thought they would love. That should have been my first clue.
I offered to take them to Deleta roller skating or to McDonalds for dinner (they demolished one of our McDonalds to rebuild and it's just about done complete with a new play place) after everyone had earned 200 points. Tom wanted skating and just because he did, Logan and Ethan wanted McDonalds. I told them they all needed to agree. They started throwing out their own options and finally wanted to go to our pizza/video game/miniature golf/laser tag/play ground called Outer Limits. Since this was going to cost us twice what the other two were, I told them it would also cost them 400 points thinking they would say no way. Wrong! They were all three on board and ready to earn points to Outer Limits. This chore thing is going great. They get the stuff done I need them to without any more complaining that they are doing more than someone else. In a month or so we'll all be eating dinner at Outer Limits too! That's a win-win!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Vacation Recovery
We are all still recovering from our fun-filled vacation in Utah. The boys are still exhausted as evidenced by the time they get up in the morning - lately it's been after 8 which is practically unheard of in this home! I am still so behind in the yard and house after being gone that I haven't had a chance to blog or put any more pictures here either. Gary is suppose to be home in a day or so and then I will be able to have a bit more time I am hoping. So, be patient with us, the blogging with resume hopefully later this week or the first of next week. It's hard work being mom and dad at home for three weeks straight!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
"Disney Week" continued with pictures
Instead of posting a long, rambling post today, I thought I'd just put in some pictures from the activities the last couple of weeks. We are all EXHAUSTED but ready to continue our week of fun in Utah. Today we are going to the movie, we have a swimming day later in the week, we get to tend my nephew Cohen one morning while his parents find out if their baby is a boy or a girl, and then there is the 4th of July with the Salt Lake Bees baseball game! The boys won't be able to say we didn't do anything this trip! Anyway, here are some photos:
At the playground at the Tautphaus Park Zoo in Idaho Falls. Ethan, Tom - who really was happy!, Connor, Dylan, Logan, and Austin.
Grandma and her cowboys at the Lehi Round-up Rodeo. Even though it doesn't look like it, the boys had a ball.
Ethan and Aironn on the Lazy River at Cherry Hill Water Park. He looked like he was wearing a muscle suit!
Austin Larson, Ethan, Connor Larson, Tom and Logan at Cherry Hill Water Park.
Aunt Angie and Ethan at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake taking one of many snack/drink breaks. It was HOT that day!
Dylan riding the carousel at the Hogle Zoo. He was very grumpy all day until he got on the carousel. He didn't want me holding on to him either. He thinks he is SOOOOO big.
Ethan riding the carousel at the Hogle Zoo. He loved every minute of it. For some reason he was on a giraffe that didn't go up and down but I don't think he even noticed.
Logan and Tom on the carousel at the Hogle Zoo. The had to be on the other side of the little boys so I couldn't get too close to them to get a good picture.
At the playground at the Tautphaus Park Zoo in Idaho Falls. Ethan, Tom - who really was happy!, Connor, Dylan, Logan, and Austin.
Grandma and her cowboys at the Lehi Round-up Rodeo. Even though it doesn't look like it, the boys had a ball.
Ethan and Aironn on the Lazy River at Cherry Hill Water Park. He looked like he was wearing a muscle suit!
Austin Larson, Ethan, Connor Larson, Tom and Logan at Cherry Hill Water Park.
Connor - standing, Austin and Tom in the tube, Aironn in the back tube and Logan trying to tip it over. It was a day of fun.
Tom's birthday cake. He wanted a hunting cake so I made him a shotgun shell.
Blowing out the candles with help from (Left to Right) Ethan, Logan, Tom, Uncle Ray, and Dylan.
Aunt Angie and Ethan at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake taking one of many snack/drink breaks. It was HOT that day!
Dylan riding the carousel at the Hogle Zoo. He was very grumpy all day until he got on the carousel. He didn't want me holding on to him either. He thinks he is SOOOOO big.
Ethan riding the carousel at the Hogle Zoo. He loved every minute of it. For some reason he was on a giraffe that didn't go up and down but I don't think he even noticed.
Logan and Tom on the carousel at the Hogle Zoo. The had to be on the other side of the little boys so I couldn't get too close to them to get a good picture.
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