Macho Man

You probably can't see, but Grant has on 15 undershirts.

It makes him look fat and strong at the same time.

He put on the shirts all on his own.

Hi would turn to people and say, "See how fat I am. I'm fat man!"

 

Life continues to be busy, but a good busy.

We long for the no restraints of summer time.

The kids are enjoying their soccer practices and games.

 

I signed up to run a half marathon on my birthday in September.

I'm excited and training hard.

I'm so grateful for the human body and all that it can withstand.

Fort Battle

The boys have had fun making forts and then battling each other.

Noah cleaned the rooms AND made all the forts.

He is a kind, helpful brother MOST of the time. ;)

It's sure fun to see the short time span these boys all get along.

Monster Recital

Carol put on an amazing piano recital.

We ate a delicious dinner.

She gave out awards.

Then we listened to the students play duets, trios, and at a few times, there were about 15 students playing on 10 different pianos.

Joyanne played "Pickles and Cheese" with James.

James also played his solo pieces well.

Joyanne has been teaching James and Jaden for a few months now.

She was excited to see them perform so well.

She gave them an award for their hard work.

We had crayons to color and decorate our tables.

The kids thought I was a little pig for the 3 cookies I took. ;)

I shared them, but I sure enjoyed them too.

Joyanne also played some solo piano pieces.

One of the pieces was her own composition.

Joyanne, Jaden and James, way to go for sharing your talents!

Crazy Busy Life

Life has been crazy, busy lately.

With soccer practice and soccer games for Joyanne, Jaden and James, I've added 8 hours of time onto my already busy life.

Jaden played the first soccer game today at 9am.

He keeps improving every week.

This is Jaden's first year at soccer and he's loving it!

He likes playing in the middle of the field, but occasionally gets down to the opposing side.

I left 15 minutes early from Jaden's game to get James to his game.

This is also James' first year playing soccer.

He is learning so much and getting the whole idea of the game down.

James says "Playing goalie is the best!"

He played goalie twice and was great at blocking the goal.

After James' game, I made it back for the last 15 minutes of Joyanne's game.

She is always excited to play her soccer games, and she loves being on a winning team.

Her team is undefeated so far.

She has some excellent teammates who know how to dribble the ball down the field and pass the ball back and forth to each other.

It was a soccer fun-filled day.

We Miss You, Ann!

One year ago, today, my oldest sister, Ann, died.

I have missed her so much throughout this last year.

I realize she is in the Lord's hands and in His care.

I know she must be happy and free.

I remembered her smile, her laugh, her desire to do and be good, and her kind acts of service.

I tried to love my family a little more today and appreciate the ones who are here.

I can't wait to see Ann again someday.

How to Enjoy Motherhood

Thanks to my friend, Sherri, I was finally able to come up with a poster for James' teacher for teacher appreciation week.

Lately, I have felt so overwhelmed with all the chores, activities and other things that have piled up on me.

I've been kind of an ornery mom, constantly thinking of all I have to do.

I am so blessed to have a husband who enjoys helping me out.

Among dishes, laundry and vacuuming, my Prince charming also washed windows today.

I tried to accomplish all the tasks before me, but couldn't keep up with it all.

I remembered, though, that it's not about "things" but people.

So I played with my kids, gave them my listening ear and stopped stressing.

And you know what?

I started enjoying being a mom again.

So instead of push, push, pushing myself to get the next room clean or dishes put away, I will put my husband and kids first and remember that it's okay to have fun while being a mom and having a million things to do. 

A Day Off

Well, I needed a day off yesterday.

Daddy was wonderful and gave me the afternoon to do what I wanted.

I went to a concert at the USU campus with the American Festival Orchestra and Chorus directed by Craig Jessop.

The concert was free and meant for families.

They sang lots of fun songs.

They had characters from the Disney movies come out in costume and sing mostly Disney songs.

My choir friend, Danielle, sang in this choir.

I went to the temple, Cafe Rio, and did a little shopping too.

It was a great time off that helped me relax.

This afternoon Daddy, Grant and I walked over to our bishop's home and visited with him.

They have a lovely home with a family room that looks like a museum with a stuffed ram, a deer head, a large moose head and an elk.

They also had some clothes and shoes we were able to take and use.

Grant had fun playing with their grandchildren who were visiting.

Winning Soccer Day!

Joyanne, Jaden and James all had soccer games today at 10am at 2 different parks.

Daddy went camping with the scouts, so it was up to me get the kids to their games.

I dropped off Joyanne and Jaden at their park and then went to James' game.

James liked playing goalie and blocked the goal well.

He was pretty good at trying to go after the soccer ball.

James' team won, scoring 6-0. 

Joyanne won her game too, scoring 3-0.

Jaden also won his game, scoring 4-1.

Winning sure made the kids happy and excited to play again next week.

Soccer Star

Joyanne loved playing soccer last night.

It's always fun being on the winning team.

She played 2 straight games in a row.

Her team won the first game 11-1.

The second game was a bit more challenging.

Both teams played defense well.

But Joyanne's team still won 4-2.

Joyanne really got in there to kick the ball wherever and whenever she could.

By the end of the 2nd game, she was pretty tired.

She enjoyed the shake and fries we got afterwards.

So, the insurance adjustor came and checked out our damaged van.  

Apparently our van is worth more than $2500 because they're gonna pay for the crashed, banged up door and panel to be fixed.

That's a yay! and sadness for us.

Yay, because our van is getting fixed and we don't have to pay for it.

But a little sadness because we were hoping for an excuse to get a new van.

Oh, well. It'll happen down the road sometime. 

Hiram's 4th Grade Program

Hiram had his 4th Grade Program.

He was so happy to see Daddy, Grant and me there.

He sang all the songs well.

He had 1 speaking part that he memorized and recited well.

My favorite part was hearing the whole 4th grade play their recorders.

The program was good to watch and see how much these kids are learning.

This was one pleased mamma of her happy, talented boy.

Way to go, Hiram!

Car Crash

I was heading in my van to the Intermediate School to pick up Joyanne.

I saw the green stoplight ahead and as I neared the intersection, the light turned yellow.

As I entered the intersection, a gold jeep cherokee going across the other side of the intersection, ran their red light and came crashing into me.

Thankfully I swerved and instead of hitting my door, they crunched the passenger side door behind me.

Shaken and frustrated, I pulled over, got out and checked the other vehicle, whose bumper was hanging off their car and car parts were littered in the intersection.

Thankfully no one was injured and no airbags deployed.

I called 911 and we waited about 4 minutes for a police officer to come.

Four minutes seems like a long time when your adrenaline is pumping.

I called Jade to pick up Joyanne and then he came to join me at the crash.

There was an older couple in the other car who was just sure the light was green when they went through.

There were 2 witnesses who gave a report of what they saw.

The other car received the citation and I was let go with information to follow up on.

So the silver lining in this is that our van was getting run down and breaking here and there.
So we think the van may be totaled, which means we may be van hunting here soon.
The kids are excited of the possibility of getting a new car.

Park Time

I love taking Grant to the park after I take James to Kindergarten.

Grant likes the swings, learning to do the monkey bars and the slides.

I had quite a busy day.

The laundry piled up, but I made it through 4 loads with my half working washer and dryer.

My fridge smelled something awful so Daddy helped me tackle that chore, and we cleaned it out.

A little shopping stocked our fridge with fresh fruits and veggies.

Daddy took Grant and me to Subway for lunch. Yum!

Chicken, carrots and potatoes got thrown in a crock pot for dinner.

After picking up kids, I helped out with the Tremonton Children's Choir.

Hiram helped me finish up and sort the laundry.

I picked up 2, 55 gallon water barrels for $20.

After getting the kids set up with dinner, Joyanne and I went to a neighbor's to look at clothing she was getting rid of.

We came home with 3 bags of stuff.

So it was a busy, successful day.

Nose Pickers

Our family has struggled with picking our noses.

Last week Daddy said that anyone who picks their nose gets to do 5 push-ups, and if Mommy or Daddy pick our nose than it's 10 push-ups for us.

 

Guess who were the first people to do push-ups?

Yep, that's right, it was Daddy and me.

But throughout the week we all got better at not picking our noses.

Last night Grant saw us all doing push-ups for fun, so he joined in.

Our little three-year-old can do some pretty good push-ups.

So, the moral of the story is: DON'T PICK YOUR NOSE!!!

Get a tissue. :)

Tulip Festival

We went to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point.

The flowers were gorgeous, especially the ones with faces. ;)

The waterfall was a perfect place for pictures.

I sure love this forever man of mine.

We also spent the majority of the day at the Musuem of Natural Curiosity.

The kids never get enough of that place.

But they were really excited to show Dad around.

We love spending time together as a family.

Thankfully my brother, David, is letting us stay at his place tonight.

We are off to bed with Noah having a mild fever and croupy cough.

Bounce House

Our new bounce house was dropped off yesterday.

The kids were so excited to come home and try it out today.

We enjoy our bounce house business.

We have a website if you are ever in need of a bounce house or a dunk tank.

www.carnivalpartyrentals.blogspot.com

For short we call it CPR - you know, because we are the life of the party! ;)

 

It makes us a little bit of money, but we love to bring joy to other people.

Our neighbors are going to use it this next weekend, so we are already rolling.

 

More ways to have HAPPY DAYS!

Museum of Natural Curiosity

We went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. 

This place is absolutely AMAZING!

There are 5 different venues to explore.

In the 4 hours we were there, we only made it through half of the place.

The jungle area was a favorite for the kids.

They climbed across swinging ropes.

Grant particularly liked the plane.

The outdoor playground was creative and a great way to expend energy after lunch.

Winding around the outdoor maze was an adventure.

There were a couple of caves to crawl through.

All the kids loved the spider web.

They could climb up and down it.

They lost shoes and got bumped and kicked at times, but they still thought it was the best!  

Joyanne and Jaden found the magic section fascinating.

Grant liked it too.

The kids savored an ice cream treat halfway through.

We had SO much fun that we will definitely be back again soon.