I can't get NO respect!

So, funny thing happened the other day. It's a usual morning of getting kids looking decent and fed and getting the house somewhat orderly. This usually involves many reminders that the boys have to do their chores before they can play. I hope I am not the only mother in the world who feels like cleaning is a never ending activity and the majority of my time is consumed by some sort of household management effort. The night before I stayed up late tidying up the basement and taming the chaos that usually occurs down there. Well as I am in the baby's room, dressing him I hear a call from the basement "Mom! The basement is already clean! The babysitter must have come last night!" Oh how I understand Mr. Rodney Dangerfield when he says, "I can't get NO respect!!!"

A sappy little bunch of this and that!

I've noticed that it's been a little while since my last post. I love having my new iphone, but I do a lot of checkin, and not a lot of posting because I never use my computer anymore! Well things have been the usual hustle and bustle around here. Christmas shopping is done, other than those few last minute things, thank goodness. Now bring on all the Christmas programs, dance performances, Christmas parties, and all that! It's a great time of year. I just finished Christmas cards and I find myself wondering why??? But I love getting them then I remember why.

Vie had a dance performance this weekend at the Festival of Trees and she did her first solo! She was terrified before she went on, but she was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It was such a proud moment for me. I loved seeing her put aside her fears and get out there and be perfect! Right before she performed she said, "Mom, there are a lot of people here and I have a lot of butterflies in my stomach!" She is such an incredible girl! I am so lucky to have her as my daughter.

So now we wait for the big day! Our advent calendars are in effect (all 4 of them!!! don't ask!) The kids are so excited. I love being in my warm cozy home, full of Christmas decorations, good smells, and holiday music filling the air. I love bundling up and going to the live nativity in my town and having my kids say "Is that really baby Jesus?". I love snuggling with my adorable baby by our fire as snowflakes fall gently outside. These are a few of my favorite things. I hope you are all having a few of these beautiful moments that make this time of year absolutely wonderful!

One last little thing. Did I mention that I absloutely adore my husband! Well, I do! He is seriously the light of my life and I love him to death!!! Thanks for being so wonderful babe!

Oh No! Not a Tag!!

I have never done a tag before, but I thought this photo tag was cool. I thought it would be so fun to look at this years from now to remember what things were like at this time in my life and what better way to capture that than looking at things in your home (regardless the condition they are in).


#1 My Favorite Room

This is a no brainer! My front room for lots of reasons. It is the place we spend time together as a family. We read here, do homework here, have FHE here, I chill here, the red walls remind me of a sleepless night when B and I painted each brick individually, and it's the first room you see when you come to visit (so it's usually picked up and tidy!!) I Love this room!





#2 What are my kids doing right now?


Luckily at this percise moment they aren't fighting or messing things up! S was playing with Baby on the rug in the front room while K was getting a little dose of Nickelodeon on my bed.










#3 My Closet


Oh, this one is scary. It's small, its packed, its just plain SCARY! No, I will never have a closet like the ones on CRIBS. I have just come to accept it!




#4 My Favorite Shoes

For sure my Reef flip flops I got in Hawaii. They are perfect all the time. The only ones I reach for every day! So why do I have like 20 other pair?

#5 Laundry Room

As I like to call it, My Catch-All room! I'm not proud of it. Please tell me everyone has a room like this!



#6 Guest Bathroom


This room also doubles as my daughters bathroom so threre is usually a plethora of hair styling tools and products on the counter. Aren't pictures of toilets funny! ( I think I've been hanging around my 6-year-old son way too much!)

#7 Kitchen Sink

Really not much to say, its a sink, woohoo!





#8 The Refridgerator

This one scares me to death. Look at this monster! No matter how much I clean it out, it's still full!!




#9 Self Portrait

I hate these things, but oh wells, here goes! (I hope I don't get fat face!)


So, for whoever wants to do this tag, do it. I'm not gonna ask someone to. The only rule is that you can't tidy up before you take the picture. Grab your camera now and start shootin!

With a Thankful Heart

When the weather cools and this time of year approaches, like many, I begin to think about the things I am most grateful for in my life. And like so many others, I have too many things to count. A husband who is my best friend and eternal companion, 4 truly amazing children, and much much more, but it is my mom that has been on my mind lately. It has been a truly difficult couple of months for her and I am thankful to have her in my life and I am grateful for the many life lessons she has taught me.

Two months ago my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer after a lumpectomy. What woman doesn't know a lot about breast cancer these days? It was just breast cancer awareness month and it seems like everywhere you turn there are articles and new findings about the disease. I myself had a scare in my early twenties. But when you find out someone so close to you has it, its difficult to process. When I first heard the news, my first response was "O.K., well, take it out. Lets get rid of this thing." I didn't want to believe that it was what it was. I was scared. I couldn't entertain the idea that something so horrible had it's grip on my mother. After the second surgery, the doctor told my mother that no cancer was found in the lymph nodes, but there were still cancer cells left in the breast, good and bad news. During these weeks of uncertainty I can't imagine the stress my mother endured. Working part time, dealing with little to no sleep, battling effects of a head injury from years ago, helping my father with his health issues, and now the uncertainty of breast cancer. She like usual handled it beautifully.

I am grateful for a mother who is so strong. She handles even the hardest of lifes trials with dignity and grace. I am grateful for a mother who is compassionate. She gives all she can to everyone and anyone many times leaving herself without. I am grateful to her for teaching me to find joy in doing a job well and for always being my biggest fan. When I am discouraged with life, parenting and feeling like I am just not quite measuring up, her words are encouraging and hopeful. She is an inspiration in my life. She is now in her second week of radiation therapy and she is feeling the wear of such a treatment, but she continues to handle it beautifully. I see that she is tired, not only from the treatments, but from the emotional burden she is carrying, but that doesn't stop her from playing with her grandkids. She is that Nana you go to because you know that she loves you with all her heart, and that is the best kind of grandparent any kid could ask for. She is a remarkable woman and I am proud to call her my mother.

So, this story has a happy ending. Her doctor feels that the radiation therapy will be very successful because she was diligent about mammograms and the cancer was caught early enough. She will have a few difficult weeks ahead of her, but in the end, I am confident that she is going to kick the cancer. This disease picked the wrong woman to mess with! So, with my heart full of Thanksgiving, I say thank you mom, thank you for so many things. I am thankful to have a mother like you. I love you.

It's Just a Hermit Crab! (for cryin out loud!)

So, last week we had a little incident in our home that ended up being a pretty emotional event (for some) around here. S got a really cool Batman Hermit crab for his birthday and believe it or not, it became a pretty cool little pet. S would bring him out and let him crawl around the house while he played and it was a very big, very cool crab. Well, he took it out and it was walking around the kitchen and I had to run Saxon to a play date. Well on my way there I realized that Hermie was still out. I figured he would just crawl around and no harm would befall him, Boy was I wrong. Hermie decided to crawl through the posts of the banister and down he tumbled to the basement. When we got home we found an empty Batman shell and a sad little Hermit crab hiding behind the door. It was obvious he did not fair well on his trip. We helped him back into his terrarium where he spent the last few hours of his life. Yes, I know, its just a hermit crab, but this being our first pet to pass away, it was a big event. S really didn't care and he was already excited to pick out a new one, but K on the other hand cried most of the night saying things like, "He was a good crab wasn't he?" and "Do crabs go to heaven?" Yes, it was a very emotional night indeed. We put little Hermie in a Spongebob Gogurt box and said our last goodbyes to a very cool little crab.

Yes, we did get a new crab and he's not quite the same. Hermie was the size of an apple and very impressive and the new crab that Saxon HAD to have is about the size of an almond. Not as cool, but hey, S loves him! So, yes, there is a happy ending to the sad sad crab story. Moral of the story, When you have crabs, make sure you know where they are at all times!!

(ha, ha!)

So Much Has Happened!!

"Partial" Family Photo at V's baptism!

Squirt!

Indiana!

Yoda!

Dead Ballerina!

Grandpa taking the girls out to the "haunted garden"

My kids on a hike up at Snowbird!

My favorite! Here we are posing for a picture, completely unaware that my 4-year-old is climbing over the edge of this lookout. Oh it's only about a 50 foot drop to certain death!! But hey! I need to smile for this picture so who cares! Yea, did I mention I am mother of the year?

I can't believe how crazy-busy things have been for us. It's been awhile since I last posted, so I guess it is kinda my fault. With my Iphone I do a lot of checking up, but not a lot of posting. This is the first time I have even touched my home computer since my last post. Well, where to start? We took the family up to Snowbird for a family retreat. That pretty much means that we went up there and did nothing but hang out. We hiked, swam, played, ate, read books, and watched movies. Our cars didn't move for the entire time. We did nothing and it was WONDERFUL! We have decided to do a retreat every year. Vacations are nice, but you end up GO GO GOING and never get a chance just to hang out together with out planning the next move. So it was fabulous! I even got to take yoga classes everyday including one taught by a very dear old friend. Thanks Kristen!

Then the whole Halloween thing happened! Bryces parents had the whole family over for a haunted treasure hunt and it was awesome! Grandpa paraded the kids around the backyard and told ghost stories. With the help of the older kids, ghosts and gouls came to life and thats when the screams arose. It was so fun and the kids were scared to death!! We were all having a blast! These are the kind of things that kids remember. I am so glad that grandpa put this on and I hope it becomes a tradition. K LOVES to get spooked, V hates it, and S THINKS he likes it, but when it comes down to it, he gets pretty scared!

Halloween night went as usual. Get dressed up, meet up with all the cousins and GET CANDY. What more is there to say? V was a dead dancer, K was Indiana Jones, S was Yoda, and C was Squirt (turtle from Nemo). Yea, they were all pretty cute I think!

Then next morning, bright and early was V's baptism. What a wonderful day that was! Everything was perfect and we couldn't be more excited for her. She is such and amazing daughter and I couldn't be more proud of her. I am so lucky to have her!

So those are the updates on our fam. I love this time of year! The weather, the holidays, the feeling in the air, It is by far my favorite season. I woke up this morning to Christmas music (yes, my husband is a Christmas JUNKIE) I can't believe it is already here. Things only get crazier from this point on. The funny thing is, things never stop being crazy do they? I think Ferris said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and awhile, you could miss it!" Amen Ferris, amen.

I love this camera!

My friend loaned me her Canon Rebel camera and while I had it over the weekend I totally milked it! I took pictures like crazy. Now I know what I want to ask Santa for this Christmas! Photography and the Guitar. Getting good at these two things has been on my to do list for a very long time! So, if any of you see Santa, tell him I deserve this camera! Here are a few pics of my awesome kids!

I am finding myself getting more and more busy everyday! Halloween this, classes, preschool, kindergarten, class party, take the kids here, doctor appointments there. Seriously, does this end?? I guess I have the next 18 years to figure it out. I have this office that is seriously so neglected that I am beginning to get used to things having a permenant residence on the floor! K, its not Oprah's messiest office in the country, but it's like a distant cousin. Every time I think today is the day to tackle this dreaded office, LIFE HAPPENS! So how do I do it? I guess it doesn't help that I have a 6 month old who as long as he is awake, thinks my time is all his. I have to admit, that part I don't hate too much. But when your talking long tasks, his 2 hour nap just won't cut it! So, I will probably end up letting this office go for another few weeks/months. Lets face it, Christmas music will be playing on the radio in less than a month. Yea, let the office sit! Any objections??

Another Perfect Family Vacation!

Well, instead of going on a summer vacation, this year we decided to go in September instead. We headed off to California with some of Bryce's high school friends and their families to stay in Laguna Beach. I was a little nervous about staying in one house with three other families that consisted of 13 small children total, but to my surprise the vacation turned out great! The house was on the beach and we spent a lot of time there. The kids got along great and they all had a ton of fun. We went down to San Diego Wild Animal Park, Bryce and his friends got to go to a Chargers game to see their other friend play, of course we hit Disneyland for a few days, and it was an awesome trip! The worst part is for sure coming home. I hate all the aftermath from a trip. I think I could just vacation all the time and leave it all behind PERMENANTLY! But, that never seems to happen, so here I am, trying to pick up all the pieces of our life and put them back together again and dreaming of our next vaca! Trip highlights. For S, he could FINALLY ride Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, Sorin' over California, and the best, Splash Mountain! For K, riding California Screamin 6 times! For V, rekindling an old friendship with friends Izzy and Addie and boogie boarding and learning how to duck dive a wave. For Bryce, hanging out with old friends and his family at the same time, and for me, those precious moments every night after the kids went to bed and listening to the waves all night as I sleep.

Happy Anniversary Babe!

Early Friday Morning I awoke early to a text. I opened it and there was a message from my DH. "Eleven years ago today was the happiest day of my life! Happy Anniversary my Love!" I have to admit it was a complete shock since the previous week we had been on a very busy vacation and I didn't really even have time to think about it. It was the greatest text ever! Our day, was not so great though. Bryce was driving home all day from California with three of our kids while I was home in Utah with the baby all alone. He finally arrived at 10 o'clock at night and recieved an amazing anniversary dinner complete with bacon and eggs and toast, then our day was over. No it doesn't sound so romantic, but it was fine. It was nothing like our anniversary trip to Hawaii last year, but they can't all be Hawaii now. He took me out the next night and we had our time. I couldn't have agreed more with his text. That day was also the greatest day of my life. We have had eleven amazing years together and to my shock, they just keep getting better and better! I truly did marry my best friend and life is so much sweeter with him around. Thank you baby for eleven truly wonderful years! I can't wait for the next eleven!! I love you!

Where to begin!

The Spider tree.

Kael and His Fish (he earned it!)

We Love Uncle Brian!
The Ferris Wheel Incident.
Saxon got stung by a bee in the eye, sorry dude.
More of the Killer Ferris Wheel.

So many fun things have happened the past few weeks, and I have been a slacker and haven't posted any of them so this will be a catch-up post.

My brothers Brian and Scott came out for a (way too short) visit. We had a lot of fun seeing them. We went out for a trip on the boat, had a BBQ, and pretty much just enjoyed their company. I hate that you guys live so far!!

I got brave and decided to take the kids (sans Cache) to the State Fair last week and it turned out to be the best day!! I promised them only two rides and they chose the Ferris Wheel and the Gravitron (anyone remember that one??) I usually don't get that excited about the rides, but these two will always have a special place in my heart after this trip. We started on the ferris wheel. Kids were so excited we went up and up and up, then the operator left it at the top for a few minutes to let us have a good view. Well it was at that time that my dear daughter decided that she was afriad of heights! She had a mild panic attack and started bawling! This is the same girl whose favorite ride at Disneyland is Space Mountain, go figure! I am so glad I took a picture to capture the moment. She eventually got over it when the ride continued. Then we went on the Gravitron. OH MY was that the funniest thing I have ever been a part of. All 4 of us were laughing so hard that we had to b-line for the bathrooms when it was over. What a great time. We had treats, looked at some livestock, fished, got to see some pretty impressive Carnies, what more could you ask for. Definately one of the funnest times I have had with the kids. And at the fair, who knew?

On Sunday we went up to one of out favorite places up in the canyon, Cascade Springs. What a beautiful place. I love having the mountains so close. We packed a picnic and had a great time. The kids found a "spider tree" and had to climb it.

So now we start another week. We are leaving for Southern California this week so it's time for me to start the packing process, oh how fun. Here are a few picks of the great times we've had!

And They're Off!

Well it was a big week of first days of school. Vie started 2nd grade, Kael started kindergarten, Saxon started pre-school and I am finally starting to gain a little sanity!! Here are a few pics. So far so good. Everyone loves it, especially me!!

Oh, another cute thing. Saxon and I were weeding the garden together today and we had such a great conversation. He said "Mom, I'm gonna use my instincts to pull these weeds cuz I got mad skills! I think I'm an expert!" Ok, just so you know, I don't say the term "mad skills" even though it is quite awsome. I am just bewildered and quite impressed that my four-year-old does! Mad props my man Saxon!