Memorial Day Weekend!

These big tires were Grandma Nola's flower beds. They hauled them off and are getting ready to redo the whole front yard! Fun!

Grandpa picking up huge tires with the tractor

Brigham digging in the dirt!

Over Memorial Day Weekend we went to Prineville to visit all the Workmans. We went to help do some yard work in Grandma Nola's yard. My kids thought getting in the dirt was lots of fun. Ethan even got to run a "weed eater." Saturday night we did one of my favorite things to do when we go visit my parents. Larry, my parents and I stayed up playing "Pinta." We played till I was so tired I was giggly. Sunday ended up being miserable for Larry, Hayden and I. All three of us were SICK! The wonderful thing was my mom was able to take the older three to church, and then to my brother Sunny's house for dinner so we were able to sleep almost all day! So by that evening we were all feeling better. Monday we were going to go out to my Brothers' land and help plant corn but I ended up taking Larry to the ER to get something removed from his eye that had been bothering him since Friday. By the time we were done there they were done too. But we had a really yummy BBQ at my mom's house and then headed home. I felt bad we were not more useful while we were there but it was sure nice to have someone take care of my kids while I was sick! It was a fun weekend even with some sickness and a trip to the ER. It is always fun to see all the cousins playing together, and to hold the little ones and see how much they have grown since the last time you saw them. My littlest nephew MacQuarie (I am not sure if I spelled that right) is 7 months old and I am pretty sure he weighs as much as Hayden who is 18 months old! He is so chunky and cute! Gotta love a chunky baby! Over all it was a nice weekend.

Brock turns 6!

My little boy turns 6 today! I tried really hard to make it a very special day. We started out with some Dinosaur shaped pancakes and off to school. While he was at school I frantically tried to finish all the prep work for his Dinosaur themed birthday party! I had to get the dino shaped pizza crusts ready, get balloons, hide the goody bag items all around the living room... So I picked him up after school and quickly got the pizzas finished and started baking them so the quests wouldn't be waiting for an hour. It worked out perfect. The kids decorated the dino shaped goody bags while I finished taking out the last pizza's and then we had all dinosaur themed games. We dug for dino fossils (I put small dinosaurs in cups of plaster of Paris) Let me recommend this activity be an out door one if you ever try it! It took quite a while for me to clean this one up, but the kids LOVED IT! Then we hatched dino eggs (balloons with small dino inside), dug for dino's in the sand, had a duck duck goose changed to dino names, and then of course there was the dinosaur shaped cookies, and ice cream (cake is for tonight with daddy, grandma and grandpa). Then there were some presents and then find all the hidden goody bag treats. The kids had a lot of fun and I was only exhausted after the whole experience. But it is well worth it to have Brock be so happy and to hear one of Brock's friends say "this is the best party I have ever been to!" Granted he is only 6 but it sure makes a mom feel good and lets me know I did a good job. Tonight it is his favorite dinner of cheese stuffed shells, dinosaur shaped cake and more presents! I might post more on this part tomorrow so I can post his reaction to his gifts that I know he will love!!!!! But I wanted to post his little video I started working on yesterday since I had about 30 minutes before I had to crack down on making dinner (don't worry I have the noodles already boiling!) So I hope you like watching the little show of my little boy growing from birth to 6!
http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/my_shared?z=22980b0ef8e98fd9b6e504&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Bunnies!

Marshmallow!

Can you tell our kids are happy?

Dotty peeking at her new friends and wishing they would come out to play!

Brock holding what he calls "his bunny" Hopscotch!

Ethan holding Marshmallow.

Amelia holding Marshmallow!

I thought getting these bunnies would make Amelia stop asking for a cat. (I DO NOT WANT A CAT!!!!) But on our way home from getting these bunnies Amelia said when I get my kitty we will have 4 pets! What she doesn't know is there will be NO CAT! So you better love those bunnies and our dog!!!

New Arrivals!

For years Larry has been telling me how wonderful it would be to have some bunnies. I kept telling him that we had agreed when we were engaged that we wouldn't get any pets that required cages, or tanks! (This agreement is because WE ALL KNOW who ends up cleaning those things and I have enough on my hands that I don't need to clean up after one more "person" or animal!) So anyway a family in our ward had a litter of bunnies and brought them to our primary activity 2 weeks ago for our Noah room and all of my kids were in love. Not to mention my husband! So seeing how even my 18 month old was gentle and loved them I thought ok lets price it out.... Larry picked up a cage for free! (Those who know my husband well this will not surprise you! He has a way of finding stuff for free all the time some time it is junk that needs a tiny bit of work but is a steal! Our play structure out back is evidence of this skill he has!!!) So we had a cage and we priced out how much feeding these things is.... so it is affordable. So I consented. Thanks to the sweet boy in our ward for only selling bunnies for $5 we are now the proud owners of 2 sweet bunnies! Amelia and Ethan knew they wanted the white bunny. There was one brown bunny and 4 or 5 black bunnies. Ethan and Amelia wanted the brown one and no one had asked Brock what he wanted so I thought lets have Brock vote. He said I want a black one. So we got a black one. I handed him the little black bunny and asked him, "what is a good name for a bunny?" He thought for just a minute and said "Hopscotch!" I thought it was perfect! So we decided on Hopscotch for our little black bunny and we kept talking about a name for the white one. We were going back and forth between Marshmallow and Snowball. I thought Marshmallow was perfect, but wanted the kids to vote. Amelia said Marshmallow, Ethan voted Snowball, Brock voted Marshmallow. Ethan consented that Marshmallow was alright! So it stuck! We have a Marshmallow and Hopscotch!!! They will be a fun addition to our family! Oh and our dog Dotty loves them! She wants to play with them. Unfortunately she doesn't understand being gentle yet. She just wants to pounce with them. I am hoping that as they get bigger they will be able to take her (they will end up being the same size as her!) But I think they will all be good friends!

BUSTED!

Saturday night I went to the temple with Allison and my in-laws were baby sitting for me. (Larry was on call) So when I got home at 10:30 Larry was sitting at the computer desk and he just smiled at me and said "a slip-n-slide hu!" So I fessed up! He wasn't mad though. He just told me we couldn't use it every day. Which I know that we won't! I am not willing to pay the water bill that would follow every day usage. He actually thought it was kind of funny that I was trying to be sneaky but put it on the blog! Anyway I am not in trouble! Although he told the kids while I was gone that we were going to have to throw it away. (mostly to tease them!) In the morning Brock came to me very quietly and asked, "mommy do we get to keep our slip-n-slide?" I told him, "yes we can keep it. Daddy was just teasing you."

More proof!

I just have to post this because I love Kindergarten style writing and it was a nice little boost for me. Brock wrote me this note this morning while I was in the shower! Can you read it? I'll give you a minute and then I will translate! (I am getting pretty good at reading kindergarten.

It says....
mom is the bestest mom even got us a slip n slide even a pool even a crazy sprinkler
Did you get that?

And the winner is!

And the winner is....

Me!!!!

According to Ethan today I was named the best mom ever. Which is a huge improvement since I am pretty sure every day this week he has told me I am mean. (this is usually right after I have fined him some of his allowance money for some rule he has broken!) But none the less... Today I am the best mom ever! Want to know why? Because I bought my kids a new pool, slip and slide! (We have never owned a slip-n-slide, Larry says they kill the grass but I just couldn't help my self it was $9 and I wanted to slip-n slide after all it is 95 deg today!!!) Larry doesn't know I bought it yet. (He is still at work and I didn't tell him yet! SHHH no one tell! I figure if we get it out play with it and put it away it shouldn't KILL the grass. It smooshes it and we have a sloppy yard now but isn't it worth it? My hope is he won't be to mad.... We will see. Anyway I have video proof that Ethan said I am the best mom ever, and thought I would share some of this very fun day! (Yes I slipped and slided and yes right on it, it says not for children 12 and up I am only as tall as most 10 year olds, well the short ones anyway! But lets not bring weight into the equation!) So here are a few pictures of our wonderful day!

Monkey girl!

Amelia has seen her older brother Ethan climb trees for years and being one of those little sisters who doesn't like to be left behind in any thing thought she would give it a try! Today she found that taking her shoes off made it easier to climb higher!
I'm glad she never really climbed high yet but for her it is really exciting and fun to do something Ethan does!

I just love this little girl. She seems to surprise me all the time. As soon as I think I know her so well that nothing would surprise me she does something new or says something so cute it just melts my heart. She loves to have friends over to play and is quickly finding that Hayden getting bigger is going to be wonderful for her! She will have a built in playmate! I am glad that she sees it that way and is always encouraging Hayden to do what she is doing and wanting her to be a part of her playing. (Even if Hayden doesn't play along the way she wants her to) This can be frustrating to her but she is still so willing to try. I hope she continues to feel this way and enjoys having a sister to play with. I don't remember much from being little but I hope I liked playing with my little sister. I know by the time I was school age I just wanted her to go away most of the time. I feel bad about that now and wish Emily and I had been closer while we were growing up. I miss her a lot now and wish she lived close enough we could see her more then once or twice a year. So anyway a blog that started out to be about Amelia climbing a tree is morphed into something I hadn't planned. Oh well. It is beautiful outside and I just loved going out side to take some cute pictures of my beautiful little girl in a tree. After all she kept saying watch mom watch mom! So I figured why not take pictures of it! I just love that little girl!

My Mother's day

This is a lovely picture Ethan painted at school for me for Mother's Day! Can you tell it is me! I love that my lips are a heart! He also made some cute cards and things for me. Brock made a cute magnet with a close pin on it in Kindergarten. He opened it his self and told me it was for him and he would share it with me! What a sweet boy! Amelia made these really cute flowers in a jar at preschool that she wanted to give to Grandma (my mom!) which she loved!
This is what I did after church Sunday! Larry made sure I got a nap (Brock napped with me!) while he made dinner. It was wonderful pork rib lets, and baked beans!! YUMMY! He also got me a beautiful hanging basket of fuchsias! He made it a wonderful day for me!

Primary Fun!

This is a picture of a few of our young men who came to be our Indiana Jones guides. They helped the kids follow their maps to find the treasure (I think they had just as much fun as the kids!)
Here are some of the kids making pine cone bird feeders in our Noah's arc room (they also got to pet bunnies!

Above:Here are some of the kids shooting down Samuel the Lamenite's Wall.
To the left is Sister Gatherum teaching the kids about Alma's Faith and they got to plant a seed!

This weekend we had our Primary Quarterly Activity. It was a lot of fun and with Sister Jackson's help we always have great ideas and tons of fun! We had an Indiana Jones' Themes treasure hunt. They went to station to station with their Indiana guide and learned about one of the prophets at each station. The other stations I didn't post pictures of were Moses and they learned about manna and the travels in the wilderness, And Ammon, they heard the story and played a game moving cotton balls from one bowl to the other blind folded. In the end they found that the treasure was really the scriptures, following the prophets, and our families. You know all the stuff that is really important in life. I had two treasure chest full one with jewels, and gold and another with pictures of family, scriptures, and the prophet. It was so much fun.

Happy Mother's Day!

I just wanted to put a big Happy Mother's day to my mom! She is the best mom I could have hoped for! I remember always being close to her even as a child. She has always been supportive, fun, and a friend. She has taught me tons of amazing things! Things that have helped me be the person that I am today, how to be a mother, a latter day saint, and a decent human being! She has always been so generous to me! (I can't count the number of times she has just bought clothes for my kids just because she saw something and new they were growing out of their old ones.) My children love her and cheer when they know that grandma is coming! My kids showered her with gifts when she came to spend a day with us this week (just for fun!) They all made them on their own and wanted to keep making her more till she left! I think they did this because they feel her generosity towards them. Not that she spoils them with huge fancy things but grandma always has something even if it is candy, books, or time to just spend with them! I love that she comes just to have fun with us, or to take care of us when a new baby comes. They love to do crafts with her and go to her house to spend time with her there! Last summer she took the older 3 for a week so I could get my act together (I had a new heavy calling, a baby, and too much time with 4 kids underfoot!) They loved the time with her and I was soooo grateful for a little time to find myself, rejuvenate my self and remember that I totally love being a mother! I love that my mom recognized that I just needed a little break, was willing to help me and she loved doing it! I think I have the best mom in the world! Thanks Mom for all that you have done for us, all you give us and all you will continue to do!!! We love you!!!!! (Oh and thanks a million for the cricket MOM!!!)

The Streak is over!

I forgot to mention this in my last entry....
Larry and I have been married just over 9 years and we have 4 children (8 and under) and just the other day I was thinking... "It is amazing that with 4 small kids we have not had to have Larry snake one drain." He does this as part of his job (all though less now then in the past). Not to say we haven't ever had to plunge a drain. But with children often times other things get flushed and end up needing power tools to remove them...Well it finally happened! Saturday night while getting the kids teeth brushed, and all the potty stops done I thought that doesn't seem right. I did a double check and noticed the toilet was defiantly not flushing correctly (not over flowing just not filling and draining properly and I knew if someone did flush any toilet paper it was going to be a goner!) So I told Larry and he brought in the snake, pulled the toilet, and even ran his camera down the line we did find about 4 huge box staples. But we never did find the culprit. I am guessing this was a gift from Hayden I know she had just been playing near the toilet and more then once I have walked into a bathroom after her and had to pull a hotwheels car or something else out of the toilet because of her! So and hour and a half later we still didn't know what it was, but the problem was fixed! YEAH Daddy!
I told him I wanted to take a picture of him working on the toilet so I could put it on the blog and he looked at me like I was crazy.... maybe there is something wrong with me!?

Updates!

So I don't have a lot to blog but feel as though I should....
I did one thing that was kind of exciting for me anyway. I cut my hair Thursday. Let me rephrase that. I had Becky cut my hair (I am not crazy and cut my own hair!) But I hadn't done any color for over a year and was back to my all natural hair color and I just have to say BLAH! My natural color is just BORING! Not brown, not blond but somewhere in the middle that has no life! So I love to spice it up a little and it felt so good to get rid of my pony tail! I love to pull it back don't get me wrong! But the problem is when it is long enough for that, that is ALL it does! No variety! So now that I have it short I am having fun playing with different dos! I might get brave and go shorter next time!!! We will have to see. My husband isn't thrilled with that possibility so I might not. (Just to keep peace.) Sorry I will not be posting a picture of my new hair because I just spent about half an hour trying to take a picture of myself and my arms are not long enough to get a picture that doesn't make my face look HUGE! I tried to have Brock do it.... Let's just say my 5 year old who is very good with scissors, tape, and glue.... not a photographer. Maybe Ethan can handle it. He usually can do a better job. So maybe later for now now pictures!
We had wonderful weather this weekend! This is very therapeutic for me! I just am a happier person when I can see the sun!
Saturday I was just so ready to get some more of this spring cleaning stuff done! I am sick of the clutter and mess so I have spent a day or two each week for the last month or more doing a room or two at a time getting them CLEAN! So Saturday I was cleaning the living room and got to the point that I was vacuuming and though the carpet really needs shampooed. Maybe Monday... Then I thought NO I am going to do it right now! So I just finished vacuuming every nook and cranny (the way my dad taught me my sister calls this ultimate vacuuming!) Then got the carpet cleaner out and went to town! I kids think this is always a blast because I move the furniture out and the room seems huge and they run laps! Pretty fun! The nice thing was I moved one of my plants out side thinking it was so dusty and I was going to gently hose it off after I was done with the carpet and it started to rain so my plant got all clean with no work on my part (other then lugging that huge thing out!) So I am feeling so good that the living room looked great that I went to town on my kitchen floor. Let me say Brock has done a little more gluing this last few weeks because he has used ALL my tape! (he is my crafty kid who does some kind of project EVERY day while the girls are napping, in fact he is doing one right now!) But anyway I had glue all over my kitchen floor and it took twice as long to mop to get all the GLUE off!!! But it sure feels good to have clean floors! If only the lasted for more then 5 minutes with kids!!!
The Weather was so nice we even went for a little walk as a family after dinner on Sunday. This is something we like to do a lot when it is nice enough! Hayden LOVES it out side if I haven't said that before! She will spend most of the day out in the back yard if it is nice enough!
My Spring cleaning fever didn't stop Saturday. Today (Monday) I went crazy with my Scrap book closet. I had piles, and piles of stuff I just hadn't found a place for. Larry had built me these beautiful shelves for my paper for Christmas and I just wanted to be able to use them with out moving other stuff out of the way all the time. So I dug everything out and threw out stuff that was junk(somehow some of those old head bands for babies ended up in my scrap closet and I had them in the throw away pile. Amelia found them and thought they would be the perfect accessory. So I just had to take a quick picture of this! My 4 year old with a babies head band on! Oh and her Pinkie Pie had to have one for a necklace!) Anyway I reorganized everything so it is nice and neat and easy to use! Now I can't wait to scrap! Good thing my mom is coming Thursday and we are going to scrap till we drop! (Anyone is welcome to come!) Anyway that has been my weekend in a nut shell! Oh even my boys cleaned their room Saturday and I didn't even have to yell (much!). So we were all successful!