World Travelers

Okay, maybe "world" travelers is an overstatement, but we have been traveling a lot! Eric's been traveling back and forth to California for a training course several times. While he was gone, I took the kids up to the Lee (Sharee's family) Family Reunion in Idaho. It was actually pretty fun (I only say that because, let's be honest, most family reunions are a bit lame). There was more candy there than in Willy Wonka's factory, and that combined with the plethora of blow-up water playthings made sure my kids had a blast. Joey enjoyed his very first sucker, under the watchful eye of Aunt Hillary...

The trip was a success. Soon after, or before--things have been a blur--we had Tyler's birthday party--LEGO themed. It was all things LEGO, LEGO chopsticks, building LEGO cars, LEGO candy towers, LEGO races, even a LEGO cake.

The cake didn't turn out quite as cute as I pictured it in my head, but the kids didn't care so neither did I.

Not long after that we headed to California to visit my mom. It was great because my sister and her family were down there as well so it was like our own little family reunion! Of course a trip to southern CA isn't complete without the beach...

Diving in waves...
Getting sand EVERYWHERE (picture me sighing and rolling my eyes...I mean really, how do kids get sand in places I didn't even know existed...plus you find it for weeks afterward...I think if there were ever a nuclear holocaust all that would survive would be sand sand sand...)

Finding cool treasures along the shore...(the highlight was a lobster tentacle)
My feeble attempts to get Joey to like to sit in the water...it was a "no-go".
Bathing in the warm sun....(I couldn't see Maggie for a moment then found her sun-bathing in another kid's sand pit).
We did lots of other fun stuff, like Pretend City kid's museum and playing in grandma's hot tub. But of course I didn't get any pictures of those things. We also took our little family (me, Eric and the kids) to San Diego for a night. We spent the first day at Sea World then the next day Eric had to go to another conference. You will be very impressed to hear that instead of going straight back up to my mom's house I braved an adventure with the kids all by myself. There is a "retired" aircraft carrier in San Diego called Midway. I have always wanted to see it and thought the boys would think it was cool so I decided to give it a go. Aren't you impressed? It was a relative success, all things considered, but little did I know I would be climbing up and down what they call "stairways" despite the fact they are as steep as ladders. Talk about nerve wracking watching Maggie climb up and down the million stairways with me trying to be prepared to catch her if she fell, all the while having Joey in the carrier sling on my hip. Phew! More than a few beads of swear fell from my brow that day--and not just from the workout! But it was pretty cool. The boys loved it. And you will be even more in awe of me when you see that I actually took a few pictures to boot!

Here the boys are trying their hardest to get the ship to move--and yes, that is Maggie's leg sticking up at the bottom. She decided it would be more fun to breakdance at the controls rather than steer. Remind me never to get on a boat with her in charge.
The boys loved sitting in the fighter jet cockpits.
Here is a view of one of the "stairways". This is not just the angle of the camera--they really are that steep.
We spent over 2 1/2 hours there and still didn't see the whole thing--it just kept going and going! But by the end Joey was kaput and wouldn't stop screaming no matter how much I jingled my keys in front of him. So we called it a day (morning) and headed back up to my mom's for one last afternoon of hot-tubbing (kid style of course). And left the next morning to come home.

So here we are back in real life for a couple days, then my mom comes out here for Tyler's baptism in a few days, then it is off to Lake Powell, then not too long after that school starts. Phew! I am worn out just writing this! But I love it--a summer crammed full of fun-ness is the best way to go!

Summer Fun

Did you know that I live in a castle? It must be a castle because there is a princess who lives here. I can prove it, I got a picture of her eating Goldfish crackers in her Cinderella ball gown...On to more annoying things, when we first moved in there were some sparrows building a nest above our porch. They were working so hard and were almost done so I decided to let them be. Biggest mistake of my life. Little did I know they would have 5 babies, who would then grow into birds themselves, and all 7 of them together would create the biggest poop factory anyone has ever seen. It is truly a shame bird poop isn't worth anything--I'd have been a millionaire. I caught a pic of the little rascals before they flew the coop. Mom and dad aren't home right now...
You can bet that nest was knocked down the day those birdies could fly! I won't make that mistake next summer!

For the fourth of July we went to see the hot air balloon show in Provo. Eric was running a race so we decided to get up early and go with him. While he sweated blood and tears we sat enjoying the show, but unfortunately right as the balloons were getting up the wind picked up and they had to take them all down. A bit of a let down.
But we still had a good time hanging out. Plus we went out for breakfast after and anytime my kids get pancakes and bacon they are happy campers.
We also took a little day trip (day for us, overnight for others) up the canyon. The kids had a blast exploring and riding in the Rhino. Maggie was particularly cute, as always.
She loves the Rhino so much she spent most of her time climbing up into it and buckling herself in even though there was no one to drive her.
Back to home, I was upstairs and happened to look over the balcony and saw this...
Now what do you think could possibly be so enticing as to entertain all four children at once? My iPhone. Best money I ever spent! Even Joey was in on the action. It was so cute.

Ode to Jo(e)y

Poor Joey...he is so neglected as far as picture taking goes! So I am dedicating this post to him. It's not that I don't mean to take pictures of him, my intentions are good, but to happen upon those cute moments, when the rest of the kids are not in my hair, when I have the camera close...well, it's like the stars need to align. Not to mention the fact that picture are almost always disappointing since they rarely capture children's cuteness. But I will try to be more diligent about capturing Joey's adorable-ness on camera so that he can't hold me accountable for all his problems when he's older because he was a neglected child.

Joey can be a little ornery at times...but usually as long as he is the center of attention he is okay. This sad face is because he is sick. Doesn't it make your heart break? Poor little guy.
Joey is growing so fast it makes me nostalgic already--he is almost a toddler and not a baby anymore. Boo hoo.
His favorite new pastime is showing off his skills at stair climbing. I keep finding him trying to climb up my big flight of wooden stairs--not very child friendly. Twice I have found him all but two or three stairs from the top--can you say HEART ATTACK! I swear I am not a neglectful mother, but he is fast! You can see that look in his eye here at the bottom of the stairs thinking about how excited he is to be climbing up the stairs!
He is such a sweet little chunk of a thing. I just want to squish him.

Anyway, there is my tribute to Joey, a sweet, attention loving, people person baby, soon to be toddler. You gotta love him.

A few new things

I have been such a slacker about taking pictures lately. I don't know why but life seems so much busier in Utah. Before I know it my days are gone. But busy is good, I'd rather be busy than bored.

Maggie looked so cute for church the other day and I tried to get a cute picture but she refuses to be still so this is the best I got. The image I had in my head of the way I wanted it to look was better, but this one is okay too!
Doesn't this look like a dangerous shot? Tyler's legs are through the railing overlooking downstairs. Looks like he is about to jump off!
We went to the park to feed the ducks at Salem Pond, but to my surprise and the kids' disappointment there were no ducks to be had. Well, I guess that's not entirely true--there was a mama ducks with 4 ducklings but they didn't want anything to do with us or our stale bread. Oh well. The kids played at the small park there (did I mention it was small? and old--it still has a metal slide--those of us born before 1980 remember those burned bottoms!) and Tyler was my swing pusher!
Joey had fun watching the kids play. Luckily he was happy in his stroller for most of the time. He is such a fun little chunk. I just love to squish and squeeze him!
And Jacob showed us all his penchant for the monkey bars--I had to watch him every time he went across--which was many many many times.
My kids had some so-called "washable" colored bubbles that they have been waiting to play with once the weather warmed up. They decided to get them out the other day and I agreed thinking it would be fun and keep them occupied while I tried to sweep away some of the dirt from our sod laying party. Well, I was thinking "colored bubbles" would just be lightly tinted or something along those lines. Boy was I ever wrong. Look what happened...

They were absolutely covered. In blue, green and orange. And so was my driveway--oh, and the "washable" claim? Untrue. I even had my brother-in-law spray off the stains with a power washer and they are still there. Lighter, but there. Ugh. I even made sure to read the bottle first and it said, and I quote, "Rinse off asphalt and concrete with a garden hose." Ummmm, sorry Crayola--I should sue them for false advertising. What a mess. Plus I had little orange handprints all along the wall in the garage. Ugh again.

With all the business going on, we've gotten creative with Joey. Here he is playing in the back of the van while I sprayed (tried to) the bubbles off the drive.
And just yesterday the boys were in charge of watching Joey while I was cleaning up and I came upstairs to this.....
They had put Joey in their laundry basket (it was empty of dirty clothes, thank goodness) with some toys to keep him happy. And guess what? He sat in there happy as a clam for a good half hour at least. He probably would've stayed in longer if I hadn't gone and gotten him to change his diaper. Who knew?

I've got some catchin' up to do...

Where does time go? It seems like the older I get the faster and faster it passes. I promise to make an effort to post more frequently! We're mostly settled here in our new house. A few things left with the house but they are small, and the yard is in the process of completion. It still looks like an empty dirt plot but now there are sprinklers under that dirt. Hooray!

It has finally stopped raining so much and the kids have been loving playing outside. They are getting pretty creative too....notice Jake's addition to his scooter.... Yes, those are deer antlers.
Joey is growing like a weed. I don't get many pics of him, partly because I am busy but it is mostly because he starts crying whenever people leave his side. So he will be doing something cute, but as soon as I get up to get the camera he starts crying...and that means no more photo-op of cuteness. But if he's around people he's usually relatively happy. Big smile, love it. And he has the BEST laugh of any little baby, as you will see later.
Noteworthy happenings: Jacob learned to ride a 2-wheeler. It took about 2 minutes. Nice. Now we can't get him off his bike!
There was a little carnival at Tyler's school. Lots of fun activities. Here are the boys jousting. I am thinking about buying one of these for the basement--you know, as a way for the boys to work out some aggression.
There was a little "train" made from a tractor pulling these cute cars....
Jacob turned 5! He had a party with old friends, new friends and family. It was great. The prize for favorite present goes to Aunt Jessica and family with the pillow pet alligator. He does love all his presents though.
As I mentioned the yard is currently under construction. Uncle Cory has been over doing the sprinkler system for us. What's great about Cory is that even though I am sure he'd like to just get the job done, he always takes the time to let the kids have some fun--Tyler got to drive the Bobcat and here they are getting a ride in the bucket...
We went out to Winger's restaurant last week or whenever (my brain is in some kind of time warp) and my kids were TERRIBLE! And when I say that, I mean it! Usually my kids are just okay at restaurants. Not great but not horrible, after all, they are only 1/2, 2, 5 and 7. I can't expect little angels. But they were downright devils! It was so bad it was comical. Literally Eric and I were laughing about it--only because we were at an early lunch and we were the only people in the place. I did catch them in a sweet, quickly fleeting, moment.
Tyler is playing coach pitch baseball. He is really enjoying it and doing well. I will take some pics at the next game--I usually have to drag all the kids to the game by myself because Eric is still at work so picture taking takes a back seat. But I did get this great one at a game Eric was able to attend--Joey loved hanging on to the fence. It was the only way we could keep him happy. Look how cute...
Besides a bunch of dirt, my backyard also has a big hole--actually it is all ready for the in-ground trampoline. But it looks like the kids don't care about the jumping, they have just as much fun playing in the hole!
I couldn't find Maggie yesterday and I found her in the garage. She had put her helmet on herself....
We went to a fun park and had a picnic with cousins. Just a few snapshots....

All Maggie wants to do at the park is swing....the whole time.
Joey's first time on a swing; he liked it!
Tyler on a spinning seat--they spin by themselves and make you (me) very dizzy!
And today I made a chocolate cake to bring to a dinner at a friend's house (yes, i am starting to make friends...hooray!) and I walked in the kitchen to find this... little stinker.
And last, but not least, do you remember earlier when I said Joey has the best laugh? Here's the proof...

Who's the Boss?

Life has been really busy these past few weeks, but the house is getting put together and that makes me happy! I will post some pics soon, but today I just wanted to share a couple funny things.

A couple days ago Tyler said to me, "Mom, did you know there is a boy at school who like the color hot pink?" I responded, "Really?" Tyler: "Yeah, he said he likes hot pink because he likes hot girls." I had to pause for a minute and let that sink in...that a 7-year-old class mate of Tyler's is talking about hot girls. Then, just to see how innocent my sweet little boy is, asked, "What's a hot girl?" Tyler: "It's a girl who is really really cute." Oh dear..he's only 7! Boy am I going to be in trouble...

Jacob's birthday is in a few days. I asked him what kind of party he wanted.... He wants a rhinocerous beetle themed party. Could you expect anything less from Jacob?

Then this morning I overheard the boys talking at breakfast. Jacob said, "I am in charge of myself." to Tyler. Then together the boys discussed the topic. It didn't take them long to come to the conclusion (Tyler is saying this): "Maggie's in charge of Joey, you (Jacob) is in charge of Maggie, I (Tyler) am in charge of you (Jacob), Dad's in charge of me, and [pause for effect] mom is in charge of dad." I have trained my little padowans well.....

Catching up....

Well, I know it has been a while and for that I am sorry. Life has been extremely busy and hectic and crazy the past month. We are now moved into our new house in Utah (pictures to follow--the house isn't put together yet so it will be a little bit longer) and Tyler is loving school and the neighborhood. There are tons of kids here. Just a bit of brief catching up..

Tyler was in flag football before we left Fort Irwin--he loved it! He was totally into every game and his team was awesome--they were undefeated. It was nice to see him in a sport he loved.
Our last couple weeks there, we had to cram in a few activities--you know, the kind you keep telling yourself you will get to but then the end comes around and you realize you still haven't done them! We went to the Fort Irwin Museum, pretty interesting! The kids loved the tanks outside the building...who wouldn't?
Then we climbed all over the painted rocks. If you've been to Fort Irwin you know exactly what I am talking about--as you pull into post there is a huge rock pile, more like boulders, all painted by the units that have come through Fort Irwin. There a ton of them, and a ton of rocks. Some are pretty badly weather beaten, some are okay, but some are just dang awesome. The pile is pretty high but the boys went hog wild--climbing as high as they could get. It was so much fun...this is one activity I wish we had done more of. Free + Fun = My kind of afternoon.


As per Fort Irwin tradition, we made a stop on our last day there as a family to "Kiss the Coyote." First a family shot (sans Dad who had to take the picture...)
Now the kissing...
Maggie didn't quite grasp the concept. She just kept looking at the camera saying, "Cheese!" And I told the boys to watch out for any bird droppings!

After some stressful days of repainting, packers and movers we got checked out and off we headed to Utah. We stopped off for a few days as my mom's, which the kids loved of course. On to Utah, we stayed with Eric's parents for a couple weeks which was very very generous of them. Finally got into our house and are still in the process of unpacking. As I said earlier, I will got some house pictures once it is put together more.

Yesterday we ran (walked) in a 5K fund raiser Hope for Sarah. It is for a woman, Sarah, who has stomach cancer. She knows Jessica's family (Eric's sister) and so we decided to do it as a family. We got up Saturday morning and it was freezing! Even snowing a bit. (I never thought I'd miss Fort Irwin heat, but...) But we decided to brave it anyway...we're creating memories, right? So we bundled up...
Got our numbers...(Right after this pic Jacob asked Eric, "What's this number? Is that how fast I am?" So cute.)

Tried to convince Joey we weren't crazy for getting him out there in the cold...
And set off running. Eric ran ahead and finished in about 7th place I think. He did well, Tyler ran ahead and I lost track, I lagged behind with Maggie, Joey and Jacob (yeah, I wondered how I got stuck with that lot myself....). Turns out Tyler is a running fool! He ran the whole way and did so good--beat a lot of grown-ups! You can see a bunch of adults behind him and this was at the end of the race. We were really proud he did so well and tried to hard.
Well, as you can guess, we've done a lot more than this, but I have got to take baby steps to get back into my routine. So for now, this is what you get. But just know we are having a good time here, but miss all our friends in California a LOT LOT LOT! Hope to see some of them soon....