Spring Break!

  I love spring break! It's so fun to have the kids home from school and the weather is usually so nice. It seems like my kids always manage to get sick over the break, although this year I was really hopeful everyone would be healthy since we had spent the last 6 weeks with various colds and flu. We actually ended up mostly well, except for the awful case of pink eye that went ravaging through the family. I guess you can't win them all...
  We did our best to have fun, without going anywhere! We had two different scout service projects Ethan worked on. We had a campfire in our back yard. We went hiking and playing in the river at box canyon. I told them we could do one activity that cost money, the rest would be fun free things. They decided among themselves to go to Jump Street, which is a giant indoor trampoline place. It was really fun and worth the money. I have paid a lot before are these bouncy house places that end up being a rip off. This was much better. The kids had so much fun there. I think we'll have to go back in the summer time.
  We were all sad when the break was over, we had such a good time. I'm already looking forward to the next one :)

All of my kiddos ready for a hike!

Box canyon

Trying to catch some little fish

Emma trying catch fish.

Eli digging in the sand.

Ethan trying to catch fish with his hands. I thought his reflection looked pretty neat!

Eli and Ethan.

My Scouts

I had a chance a few weeks ago to get pictures of both the boys in their uniforms at a court of honor. I love seeing them all dressed up. I am so grateful for the scouting program. It is such a great opportunity for the boys to learn, grow, serve others and have fun! I am so thankful to all the leaders who put in so many hours to teach them. ( I know, I was one of them for years. It's a lot of work!) I have enjoyed seeing what they learn and helping them earn belt loops or merit badges. Now that Ethan is working towards his Eagle, I am so impressed by how much these young boys do! What a great program to help them learn and become better young men. Thank you scouts!!

My cute boys :)

Newest Members of Our Family

Well, we finally talked Jeremy into getting chickens. I've been wanting them for a long time, but he's been to busy to build a chicken coop. When we had a lesson at church on food storage/emergency preparedness, they talked about having a garden and raising chickens. It got him excited, so he embarked on a quest to make the perfect coop. Of course he went way overboard :) There is no way he would do anything the quick or easy way. I have not taken a picture of it yet, but I will. The chickens will be living in luxury!

The kids are having a blast with them. They are so cute! Right now they are still too small to keep outside. They have to stay inside with a heat lamp until their feathers grow in. I am SO ready to get them outside! Cute as they are, they are a mess! We are looking forward to getting eggs and having our own little "mini" farm. It's going to be an adventure!

Our Mother Hens :)

Finally!

  Eli finally lost a tooth! Actually, he lost two teeth this week. One a couple of days after another. Loosing a tooth seems to be a milestone in our family. All of my kids have been so late to have their teeth fall out. They have all been over 7 (except Eli who will be seven next week). All of their friends seem to have a mouthful of grown up teeth and my kids still have all their perfect, beautiful baby teeth.
  He was really excited to get a visit from the tooth fairy, even though he doesn't believe there is a tooth fairy. He has never been one for childhood fantasy. He does not believe in Santa or the toothfairy. When I asked him why, he simiply stated "Really Mom? Does it make any sense?" Yes, he is wise beyond his years :)
 When my kids loose their baby teeth, I always feel a bit sad. They are growing up too fast for me. It seems like they just grew their teeth in! They can't be falling out already....can they??

Eli with his missing tooth!

 

Busy Busy!

I feel bad that I have not updated my blog in so long. I suppose it might not matter though, I don't think many people other than my Mom read it :)


December was such a whirlwind, that I didn't have any time to post about Christmas. Let's just say December was a good month and we enjoyed Christmas and spending time with our families. I am glad it is over because once again, I felt like I didn't get the chance to enjoy the month enough. I had way too much going on. Maybe next year will be more relaxing...

I find it hard to believe that January has already come and gone. I feel older by the day. January was a good month. We had great weather and believe it or not, my kids managed to go the whole month without getting sick! It was unusual for this time of year, but I am so glad! We managed a few trips to the park, Ethan had a couple of scout camp outs (complete with homemade potato gun), Jeremy bought a new truck and I decluttered the entire house. Those are a few highlights of the past month. Hopefully I will be better at keeping this updated. Here are some fun pictures of some of the things we did lately.

All of my fantastic kids at the park!

We tried making homemade moon sand. It was so much fun. The kids loved it!

The weather was really warm over Christmas break, so we had a cookout one of the nights. All the fun of camping, but with showers and our own beds!

Andrew had a hike at the Hassyampa River Preserve for scouts. It was very interesting. We learned lots of new things!

Grandma surprised us and sent us come cake pop makers. Little did she know my kids beg for me to buy these every time the commercial comes on! They were really fun to make and yummy too.

Eli learned to ride a motorcycle with no training wheels! Great job little buddy!

Sparklers on New Year's Eve. We had a great party. Good food, games and of course fondue!

Ethan :)

My sweet Eli.

Bell ringing for the Salvation Army. Such a good experience!

We hiked up Vulture Peak. It was a long hike, but lots of fun! Emma made it the whole way!

Andrew at the top of Vulture Peak.

Birthdays!

The end of October is always a party week at our house. With Andrew's birthday, Halloween and Emma's birthday, we have fun all week long!
Andrew's birthday was on Sunday. We had the primary program that day too (another busy day!), so we had to get to church early. He was very patient in waiting to open his presents until after church :) He is nine this year. I cannot believe my little chubby baby is so grown up! He is such a joy to have in our lives. He is by far my easiest child. Not that I am picking favorites, just saying that is very easy going. He's always happy and easy to please. Never complains, never wants what he doesn't have. It's just his personality. I never have to nag him, he just does what he is supposed to. That has just always been him. He is a great kid to be around. He makes a room light up by coming in. He has such a happy personality. I love this little guy! Well, big guy now. Happy Birthday Andrew!

$50 from Grandma and Grandpa. Awesome!

Football cake for my football loving boy!

Emma's Princess castle cake. It is lopsided and funny looking, but she loved it!

All she really wanted was her very own pink camping chair! She was so excited :)

Emma was next. The big 4 this year! Now that is hard to believe. It is wonderful to have my youngest not be a baby anymore. It makes my life so much easier. I feel very blessed to have a girl in my family. She is constantly reminding me to how lucky I am to have a girl buddy :) She is always by my side. Cooking, cleaning, playing. I just love how "girly" she can be. We have so much fun with tea parties and hair bows. I love spending so much time together while the boys are in school. What a great blessing my children are to me. I love watching them grow and learn as they become older each year.

A quick trip to the park

We have a tradition in our family that every year for the Priesthood session of General Conference, we drop Jeremy off at the church and then head to the park. I think I started doing this when I had small, cranky kids and could not imagine another night at home alone with them! The park always is fun. Anyway, we do it twice a year and pick up a pizza on the way home. This year, I was so tired from being at football all day, but of course the kids did not want to give up a couple hours at the park. Now that Ethan is 12, he went with Jeremy and the rest of us enjoyed a great evening outside! I love the cooler weather we have had lately. It almost makes the summer worth it :)

The highlight of the night was the big irrigation pond we found!

Eli asked if he could get his feet wet. This wasn't quite what I had in mind.

My little monkey.

Andrew thought he could fit in the baby swing. Getting him out was a bit tricky :)