Spring is here!

Well, Easter came and it was everything the kids had hoped for. It started with an egg-scavenger-hunt at Grandma Swenson's house and a hot dog dinner. The kids had a blast gathering all their eggs, and there are so many fun places to hide them at grandma's house! Even Joey got in on the action, even though we just put his on the patio. He still was excited each time he found an egg.
Then Easter morning came and we got to sleep in until a late 6:50 a.m. (hey, compared to Christmas it was a dream!). The Easter Bunny did not pass us by, in fact he went a little crazy with the amount of eggs he hid. But the kids loved going through all their loot.

Joey had fun gathering eggs. This is his new camera face he makes when he sees the camera. CHEESE!

The kids ran around so crazy I barely got any pics and the ones I did get weren't great. As you can see.
On to other topics, we recently purchased a basketball standard. Our driveway is the perfect place to play a little b-ball, and since Tyler absolutely loved playing we decided to splurge and get one. Well, upon reading the instruction manual (translation: novel) we realized we needed to dig a hole 21" x 21" wide and 4 FEET deep, that's right, FEET. Ugh. So we went to work, did some ourselves, paid a nominal fee to one of the young men to help, finished it up...well, tried to finish it up. It got so deep you couldn't even shovel anything out anymore because of how narrow it was. You'd end up getting about 1/2 cup of dirt on the shovel by the time you got it to the top. So, after racking my brain for solutions, I realized we needed to get down in the hole. Alas, I am too big to fit down there, but guess who isn't?
Jacob was my special helper, he got down and dirty in there, filling up bucket after bucket of dirt and passing them up to me. He did awesome, in fact even enjoyed it. All the neighborhood kids wanted a turn, but I am sure their mothers wouldn't have been too happy if I sent them home covered in dirt. That picture doesn't do the hole (now referred to as "the pit of despair") justice. It is DEEP. But it is just about done and hopefully soon we can get the concrete poured and get this thing in!

It can get pretty windy here in Salem at times and today was no exception. Luckily I had the foresight to give in to my kids whining at the store yesterday to buy them a kite. I did, and boy am I glad! Today was perfect kite-flying day, didn't even have to try to get the kite up and it flew and flew and flew! All the kids took turns, including the local rapscallions, and they all thought it was pretty awesome. Not bad for $9 entertainment! (Yes, $9. I bought the expensive one because the $2 ones never work)

Yes, I actually laid down on the road for that last picture. I just wanted you to see how high we had it flying--the string was all the way out. The kids were very excited. And it was even a little thrilling for me too (mostly because of the fact that I am a terrible kite flyer--I was pretty proud of my accomplishment). Plus we got to spend a little time together outside. All in all a success. Here's hoping for another windy day!

Playing Catch-up Again

Our house is constantly filled with the pitter patter of little feet, whether my own kids' or the neighborhood kids'. I don't mind the kids playing here ( I prefer it actually--so I know what my kids are up to...) but sometimes I feel like I spend half my day crouching toward the floor picking up the tornado that is my family. The older kids aren't great but at least can clean up themselves when I tell (read: threaten) them to pick up. But Maggie's definition of cleaning up consists of putting all the toys on TOP of her bed, as opposed to where they were before, on the floor. I know, I am working on it. But the worst, the culprit of 90% of the mess in the house is this little felon right here...Look at that innocent expression. Don't let him fool you. He knows how to make the biggest messes in the shortest amount of time. Case in point, the kitchen drawers. His favorite is this one where I keep all my rags. At least four times a day I see this. And I find rags all over the place. Maybe he just wants to be very clean, I don't know.

I decided to head down to my mom's house for a few days. The kids have been dying to go and I won't be able to go down over spring break, so the kids got to skip a couple days of school and have a mini-vacation. We were lucky enough to get free tickets to Disneyland for the day and it was a blast. I didn't get many pics though. As you can see below, getting a decent pic of my kids is nearly impossible these days. This is the best out of about 10 shots....
The best picture of the day was on the tram from the parking lot to the park. No one is tired and grumpy yet, all fed, all excited, all energized!
Tyler is making big headway in the thrill department. He went on Space Mountain with me and though I got "You're the worst mother ever" looks from people in line as Tyler was crying, begging me to not make him go on it, half way through the ride he shouts to me that, "It's not that bad." To look at our picture after the ride you wouldn't know it, but he said he would even go on it again...next trip. It was a milestone. We even got to meet Woody!
Another day at my mom's we went to a museum called Pretend City. Highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Orange County. It is a whole city, just in miniature. Includes post office, restaurant, beach, police and fire station, grocery store, farm, construction site, home, bank, doctor's office, dentist's office and more. Everything is hands on so the kids get to pretend to be the dentist and play in the moon sand at the beach, ride in little play cars around the whole place, buy groceries in little baskets, etc. It is so fun, my kids love it. The even have a craft station where the kids can make a craft.

Even Joey had a great time.
He felt even better after this... Can you tell what he is doing in this picture? I know it's gross, but I didn't even mean to capture it, I just took a pic because he was finally holding still for a moment. Look what I ended up with!
Another of Joey's favorite cabinets in the kitchen is the bowl cabinet. His favorite is this strainer. He pulls it out and wears it over his head around the house. I don't blame him considering the rough housing his brothers involve him in. Hey, little guy has got to protect himself! Guess I better wash it after this.
And I had to document Tyler working so hard on his homework. He sat down and did it without complaint--a moment to remember.
Today, between sessions of general conference, we went up Payson Canyon and had a picnic. It was beautiful weather and great to get outside for a while. The kids behaved really well and I could have stayed there all day! Eric and I actually got to sit and talk for a little! Joey loved the freedom. That's Doritos cheese on his fingers. It wouldn't be a picnic without the Doritos.
Jacob in true form, happy and smiling with mess all over his face. Yes, we even had doughnuts as the treat--bet you wish you could come on a picnic with us, huh!

Tyler built a teepee, with a little help from Jacob, until Jake got distracted collecting other things.
The finished product, complete with fire pit on the right. I thought about leaving Tyler here overnight but decided I didn't feel like driving back up here tomorrow. So we brought him home with us.
All in all an eventful month!

Catch Up

Well, it's been quite some time since I've updated anything. Time is flying by quickly and before I know it March is here! A few fun things going on. If you've been to our house you know the ceilings are very tall. So, when a light burned out we finally broke down and bought a mega-ladder. The boys were dying to try it out so we set it up and they climbed up and down again and again. You can't tell in the pics, but the top of the ladder is probably about 20' high. The ladder isn't even all the way extended! They climbed even higher than this, and they thought they were soooo cool!Tyler was hesitant and it took him a little while to climb all the way up, then of course Jacob gets on, hustles right on up to the top and looked like he was going to climb right off the end. No problem. My little daredevil. I'm going to have to worry about this kid when he's a teenager... No fear.
For President's Day weekend we went down to St. George with Katie and her family, Jessica and her family and Eric's parents. It was fun. We did some exploring, the kids got muddy, shot some guns, and I even shot a clay pigeon! It took me 5 tries but I finally nailed it. Just call me Annie Oakley.
The hooligans hooliganing.
On Monday morning we decided to take our little family and go hike the famous "Swenson's Crevasse." Hiking there is really fun because of all the slick rock. You can walk steep inclines, and there are lots of places to explore. The boys were having a ball.
Maggie got adventurous too.

Eric brought his rappelling gear and we tried to get the boys to go down a small descent. Joey was happy just playing with the ropes.

Tyler starting on his way down....
That's about as far as he got...

At school, the boys had some fun projects they have been working on. Jacob had his "Kindy 500." All the kindergartners make cars our of boxes and "drive" around the school. They stop at different places and learn about different places in the United States. Jacob was so proud of his racecar. He pretty much did it all himself. I had to assemble the box but he did all the painting and glueing..he was adamant about me not helping. And it turned out great!
Although he looks goofy in the pictures...
Joey is growing fast and keeping us laughing. He can be so much fun. He loves to be loved.
Tyler has been in basketball for the first time. It is a hoot watching the kids play. He was lucky enough to play on a team with his cousin. Ty loved it...definitely his favorite sport.
For Ty's school project, he had to make a WORKING invention using at least one simple machine. (I know, I had to look up simple machines on the internet too...apparently they are lever, wedge, screw, incline plane and ...I can't remember the other one.) Ty came up with a Gumball Show. You put a gumball down the chute, use the lever to push it off the cup onto the inclined planes, it falls into the soda bottle top into a screw and then falls into a little cup. It turned out pretty cool, but he got a little generous with his gumballs and only had one left at the end of the night.
Maggie is growing up way too fast...she acts like a teenager most of the time. Here she is on the phone with my mom. She talked to her forever, walking around with her inside out nightgown on, her hands on her hips, her high heels on, talking like a teenage girl. So funny.
Anyway, lots of pics, little words. Life is good, all is well in the Swenson house.

iPhone Forgottens

I rarely sync my iPhone with my computer so all the pics I take on it never get transferred over. But I recently did and here are a few fun ones....

Joey is deathly afraid of the carwash. The quality of the pic is terrible but Joey's face is classic. You have to soothe him the whole time or he completely loses it!
Shopping at the mall one day Maggie made a new friend...
Jacob loved soccer. It was his first foray into youth sports and he was digging it! I may have posted this pic before, but it was on my phone so I thought I'd post it again. How can you resist such a cute kid? The best part is he is as sweet as pie. So helpful and fun.
The boys' favorite thing is showering in our big shower (can you blame them?). They love to play with my shower caps. So when I want to use them the next morning they are all filled with water, inside and out.
Just a few fun pics.

Wisdom from the Past

I have been recently compiling interesting stories about people in my family (and Eric's) to make a little Swenson Family Binder that will have some of our traditions written in it, a family tree, stories of our ancestors and our family motto and mission statement. In making it, I have been reading through a lot of things written by my grandmother and came across a quick story that rings so true. She is talking about when she was a girl and would go with her mother to visit friends several states away...

"It was a joy and an amazing thing to me when Mr. Fischer (he owned a grocery store) would take me to his store, after it was closed. He had a key! We would all go in there and I could have anything I wanted! That was really living because in those days candy was not a common part of what we ate. Eskimo Pies were my favorite…an ice cream bar covered in chocolate. When you do not have a great deal even those little things are a real treat and event in your life. I am happy to have had those experiences because it concerns me that in this day and age most things are old hat to children. They do not know the joy of such special treats as going to a shop and getting a cold soda, or a fresh hamburger! Well, I would not trade those experiences for the over-abundance of things available now. What is really left to bring a thrill to the children?"

I agree whole-heartedly. Does anyone else think their kids have it WAAAAYYY too easy? I seriously sit and think of ways to make life harder for my kids....

My favorite things

Many of you have been asking to see some pictures of our house. I decided to take a few pictures of some of my favorite things in the house, just as highlights. First of all, the house was built with a large "nook" above the fireplace for a tv. That is where the cable came in. It was pretty strange since it is really high up--probably 7 feet at least to the BOTTOM of the nook space. So we rewired the cable and put the tv on the side wall. I couldn't figure out what to put in that space since it is like 5 feet across--huge! After a LONG time searching I finally found this clock which I love. It fits PERFECTLY and love it. Not just for design purposes, but I have this thing about always having to know what time it is. I think I am mildly OCD. Plus the candlesticks on the side were a cheap black set from Shopko. I recently repainted and antiqued them this nice dark turquoise color and it really bring a little pop of color up there.
Probably one of my FAVORITE things in the house (and the one thing that caused more headaches than anything else) is my picture wall. I LOVE picture walls--I think they make a house feel like a home, displaying my proudest accomplishments, my kids. I didn't want to spend a gazillion dollars on frames, but I had a ton of old dumpy mismatched frames. All the trim in my house is white--I love the crispness of it so it goes without saying I decided to go with white frames. Just so you know, spray painting dark frames white is no easy task. I won't go into it, but if you decide to do it, ask me first! I will save you some time and money. Arranging it was also a bear but I am so happy how it turned out. I love looking at this wall. Love Love Love.
Another thing I love is my dining room. Not necessarily having a dining room, but I love my table. I wanted it for years but wouldn't pay the money for it, then my friend told me that they sell it at the nicks and dents store--perfect since the table is already distressed! I called every day for probably 2 months and they finally got one it! I dropped everything and drove up there to snag it. Love it.
I also love my new centerpiece. I have developed an affinity for birds recently and saw this little guy in a shop and had to have him. I know it's a bit mix and match, but I like how I've got it set up.
I also recovered my entry bench that was black, and got a couple bird (told you I was into birds) pics for the wall. Definitely makes me happy when I come in the front door.
Besides my room (which you will see in a sec) Maggie's room is my favorite room in the house. The poor boys still have white walls and nothing interesting to decorate. We are hoping to finish the basement eventually and have them room down there so I haven't bothered doing anything with their space. But Maggie's room was that first to be done. I love the blue walls--so light and happy, with the flowers and her "castle" as she calls it (her bed). It makes me happy when I am in her room.
My fave room is my bedroom. It is awesome. I love the reading nook... I am trying hard to use color and pattern. I have been in a neutral rut for so long but I really love a more eclectic look, a mild eclectic. I would say my style is sophisticated whimsy?
Our upstairs is quite open to below and on either side of the balcony overlooking the great room are 2 alcoves. I hadn't been able to find anything I liked to put in them until a few days ago. Found these vases at Rod Works. Love the turquoise.
Okay, I recently redid some lamps for my master bedroom. I am not spending any more money on decorating right now so had to find a cheap way to do it. I forgot to take a before pic, but found 2 dollar lamps at a thrift store and redid them. They are now on my nightstands. This is basically what they looked like before...
Hopefully you can close up on the picture to see the lamps now. I wanted something fun and I am actually really happy how they turned out. I also love my bed..finally a king size!
And the best part of the house is my master shower and tub. Yes the tub takes half an hour to fill up, but it's worth it! And the shower has 7 heads, 5 of which get used daily, the other two a few times a week, mostly when the kids shower in there. I have to say, having multiple shower heads is awesome.
Well, those are my favorite things in my house, hopefully those of you who live far away can come and see it in person!