Seth earned his wolf!

Seth has now earned his wolf.  He is such a go getter.  From day one he was trying to pass everything he could off.  He wanted to do every project and just get-er-done.  I love that about Seth.  I've sturggled with helping him though.  With having to get things done for Bears I haven't helped my boys like I should be.  It's a good thing they are pretty responsible!  Good Job Seth.  We are so proud of you now lets earn as many arrow points as you can before you get to come and be with me in Bears!

 

 

A Few Random Thoughts

There have been a few things happen lately that I wanted to just remember.

The other day I was mad.  I had been good all day and controlled my temper so well and then I decided to pull out the scriptures as the kids were finishing dinner, since we didn't get it in that morning, plus I figured it would count as FHE since Steve was going to be late.  The boys were so disrespectful and after many times of telling them to behave I gave up, and lost it and just left the table and went into the office spouting something to the fact that they were being disrespectful.  I was in there a bit when Steve came home (earlier than I thought) he came down to the office to see what was wrong and I told him his kids.  I went down to the kitchen to clean up the dishes and could hear Steve and Seth at the dinner table whispering.  All of a sudden they both just broke out laughing hysterically.  Seth does that often but to hear Steve giggle and laugh that hard was a little unusual.  But I was still trying to be mad and show Seth that I was so I tried to ignore it.  But Steve spoke up to tell me what had just happened.  He was telling Seth that Moms have certain times of the month when they start their periods that they get really ornery and that the kids just need to be patient with me (I was not having my period by the way).  He told Seth that a period is basically when the body is getting rid of an old egg and cleaning everything out so it can get ready for a new egg.  That's when Seth spoke up and said, "Dad, I like the old egg better."  I turned around and then I smiled, they for sure weren't about to see my face crack a smile.

Every night when we put the girls to bed we turn on music (pretty loud) for them to go to sleep to.  We rock Kenna to sleep but Railey climbs in her bed and drifts off to sleep by herself (YES!).  Anyway Railey's music of choice is The Oakridge Boys.  She always requests the song American Made.  She and Steve have a little dance they put together for it.  Part of the son goes "My baby is American Made born and bread in the USA" when they say USA they raise one of their arms up in the air.  Well the other night she was in her bed and Steve was in rocking Kenna to sleep when Railey yells, "Dad did you put your hand up?"  We thought she was asleep but nope.  Now we play that song first so she can drift off faster, and yes we always raise our hand up in the air whether she's there or not.

My mind is drawing a blank on the other random thoughts I was going to write about.  Oh well I guess that's why they are random.

Spring Break

We had Spring Break this past week.  We had originally planned to take the kids down to Mom and Dad's and Steve was going to do some work for them but he got busy with his own work and so I just took the kids down by myself.  We had a fun visit with them and couldn't have asked for better weather.  It was beautiful until we decided to come home and then the rain hit.  While there the kids discovered the game Twister.  They have played it before with big groups and our own made up squares on the floor but having an actual twister board and mat to play with made it so much fun.  They played it constantly while we were there.  It entertained them for hours.  The only problem was they always wanted to play it in the middle of what we were doing, but it was fun seeing them contort themselves into funky positions.

 

 

When Darc and Jared came over for Railey's birthday they boys were all playing football.  Damen and Seth collided.  Damen split open his head on Seth's eye but Seth came away with the worst of it.  He had a black eye all week long.  In fact the first couple of days his eye was almost completely swollen shut.  Poor guy.

 

 

We did take time to go to the fun park and the kids had a good time.  My girls love swings more than anything else and practically spent the whole hour plus playing on them but it's worth it when they are giggling and smiling the whole time.

Damen and Seth are my climbers.  But Damen was off playing basketball when I had my camera out.  We also headed over to the skate park for a while before heading home.  That place was by far the boys favorite place to play.  We headed home on Thursday and Steve left Friday morning to go to a conference up in Logan.  So I pretty much stayed a single Mom all week and Steve was going nuts being single without kids.  By the end of the week we both wanted to trade spots.

Another Set of Dresses

I got the girls Easter dresses all made and then I found some really cheap fabric at Wal-Mart that I just loved.  I had to buy it.  The girls are growing out of all their dresses anyway so I justified it in my head.  But if truth be told I like these dresses better than the other ones.  They are so cute on the girls.  Plus I have beautiful girl to put in them.


Oh Kenna why won't you ever smile for me, at least not when the camera is pointed at your face

 

Oh thank you Railey for always showing me your beautiful smile you make up for Kenna's stubbornness.

 

 

Railey's Easter Birthday

Railey turned 4!  I can hardly believe it!  This year she was the "Easter Girl" and she let EVERYONE know it.  For over a month before Easter she kept telling everyone and anyone that her birthday was on Easter and that she was the Easter Girl.  Somehow that was supposed to get her extra of something.  But she did have a great birthday.  When she was waking up in the morning I went in to wish her a happy birthday and she was adamant that it wasn't her birthday yet.  I asked when it would be and she told me not till after they sang to her in primary.  So we didn't sing because she was just being quite the bear.  Well lucky for me I got to be her teacher and was there when they called her name to come and open the mail box and find all the birthday surprises in there.  Yes there was one for her, surprise, surprise!  She was grinning from ear to ear.  They sang happy Birthday to her and she came and sat back down next to me and I asked if it was now her birthday and grinning from ear to ear she said YES!  Well we went home and quickly took a few Easter pictures and then headed in to open presents.  All she wanted was a Tinkerbell doll.  Because when she grows up she is going to be Tinkerbell.  So she got that and a couple of princess shoes (we split the box between Railey's and Kenna's birthdays.  Oh she was in seventh heaven.  It was fun to see her excitement.

 

 

 

 

Later that afternoon Darc and Jared came over to have cake with us.  We found some really cute cakes online of some Easter baskets with a chocolate bunny in them and she loved is so I tried to duplicate it.  I came to realize rather quickly that I can't do a basket weave and with lots of kids hanging out around me I quickly turned it into some sort of next looking thing.  Oh it doesn't matter she LOVED it no matter what!  They decorated it with all the peeps and bunny and eggs and everything.  That's when I realized It didn't matter what I did to the cake all the candy alone would make the cake perfect for any child between the ages of 1-15.  

 

She made her wish and refused to tell us what it was.  But that's normal she won't even tell us her dreams because "a dream is a wish" (yea from Cinderella) and if you tell your dreams or wishes they won't come true.  But we have a beautiful birthday girl who continues to grow up faster than we want her too.  She is definitely our happy girl.  In every prayer she says she prays that we can all be happy and then she goes about trying to make that come true.  She is definitely the sunshine in all of our days.  That's not to say that she doesn't have her fair share of arguments with her brothers and even Kenna but that smile she has is everywhere.  We love you Ray, Ray.  Happy Birthday!!!!

Kids Easter Pictures

We had a great Easter this year.  The day before was hectic but I would rather it be that way than have Easter day be crazy with having to fit so much stuff in.  It was a very relaxing day and we were able to focus a lot more on what Easter is all about.  I loved being able to go in and teach Railey's Primary class this year. I know we have talked about the resurrection before.  In fact we just finished reading the 4 gospels on Friday so I know it's been talked about but it was the first time that it actually clicked in her mind that Jesus died and is now alive again.  It was so fun seeing the light bulb turn on.  After church we were able to snatch a few pictures before their new outfits were torn off.  All the kids got new clothes this year.  Even the boys.  We went and bought them new pants and a suit coat that they can switch off wearing every other week.  They got it a few weeks early and so they had already been wearing it and it was now Damen's turn on Easter.  Seth told him that it was his own turn to wear it and that Damen had had his chance the week before with general conference but had chosen not too.  Too bad that didn't fly, but it did give us a good laugh.  I made the girls dresses.  Railey is becoming quite opinionated about what color her dress should be--dang her.  I was wanting to do something green but ended up finding some material that would go for both and still give Railey her pink.  They turned out great and look so cute on them especially when they are together.  Here's Easter 2012 Pictures


Railey is the best poser ever 

Kenna not so much.  But that is the only smile I got.  She didn't want her dress to get in the dirt. 

 

 

Any time I tell Kenna to smile she will put her fingers up to her mouth and do the "smiley" face

 

 

 

Our beautiful kids

 

 

 

Seth is also my poser and has the whole hand positioning thing down--- in his head

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Saturday was crazy this year!  We had so much going on.  Our ward did a sunrise breakfast/devotional and Steve and the kids went to that while I was finishing making orange rolls for a baptism.  They got home and everyone got cleaned up and the girls and I headed out the door to the baptism while waving goodbye to the boys who were headed off to a soccer game.  After the baptism we went to the luncheon for a minute and then rushed home in time to do our little Easter Egg Hunt.  I really didn't know how we were going to get it all in because we had to be up to a wedding luncheon an hour later and then Steve would be late getting to the temple after the luncheon.  So to make it all work out we had to dash  a few dreams.

I was telling the kids a few days before not to expect the Easter Bunny to bring them a little present because they just got new tennis shoes and church shoes instead.  Seth winked at me and said he already knew.  I asked him what he knew and he said Dad had already told him that the easter bunny and tooth fairy and all that weren't real.  Truthfully he has questioned it since he was 2.  But Damen is a boy full of faith and still believed.  In fact he said "there's no way the Easter Bunny isn't real.  He came last year when we were all working out front."  Oh I love his loyal faith.  Well I put Steve in charge of putting all the stuff out before they went to their game and he ended up recruiting help.  Damen wanted to just keep reading, hoping for all hope that if he didn't help then it wouldn't make the Easter Bunny a thing of the past.  But Steve sat him down and told him there's a time and place to be excited for finding but there's and excitement that comes in hiding the eggs and watching as others are excited to find what you hid for them.  So they all went to hide eggs.  Steve did take 10 eggs and hid them in really hard places for the boys to find and they enjoyed that just as much.  But I loved watching their excitement in helping the girls find their eggs.  It was a lot of fun and yet a little bittersweet knowing they have now outgrown that stage of their lives.  Here's a few pictures of the hunt.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Doesn't this face tell it all.

 

The big boys after just finding the last of their hidden eggs

 

 

 

Seth was so cute and excited to help the girls find more and more eggs.  He's such a great kid.

 

 

 

We had a great hunt and the kids didn't even have all their candy gone before we got back from the luncheon a few hours later.