Megan's Birthday Dinner

It's been a while since we took a picture of the 6 of us (plus Megs needed one for school).

Seriously the kids ADORE grandpa.

I think he likes them too. :)

This was part of the reason she wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse, sitting on the saddle.

Megs was so sweet and willing to share her ice cream treat with her brother and sisters.

Friday, September 30, we went to Texas Roadhouse with Mark and Kathy to celebrate Megan's birthday! She wanted to follow suit like her sisters before her and she chose the restaurant because she wanted the ice cream and to sit in the saddle. As much as I LOVE Texas Roadhouse even I am getting a little Texas Roadhoused-out. I think we'll take a break for a while!

We had quite the long wait and some people were a little grumpy (mainly adults) but we finally got in and they even brought out some silly straws for the kids and some peanuts to take home.

A Wyatt Funny

This morning we were heading downstairs to get breakfast and Wyatt started crying because he wanted me to carry him down the stairs. Rob turns around and says, "Wyatt, quit being a wuss" (Rob assures me he has to be tough on Wyatt because I just give into him way too much). Aside from me being mad about Rob calling him a wuss, it was hilarious because Wyatt stopped crying, pointed at Rob, and said, "No Dad, you wuss."

Remembering Dad-8 years

My older brother Ryan, me, and my younger brother Rhett (I am one lucky girl to have these men as my brothers).

Melinda, Ryan, me, Rob, Rhett, and Heather



Yesterday, September 25th, was the anniversary of dad's death 8 years ago. We sat in the very room where my Dad died, it was in the front room of the house I grew up in, which happens to be the house my older brother and his sweet wife live in and are raising their family of 5. We shared memories of that day, what we each remembered, how we felt. I feel like I don't remember all that I wish I could, but also I feel that if I remembered more of the details that living each day without him would be more difficult if my memories were so crisp. Rob didn't have much to say last night, but on our drive home told me how much he does remember, that it is the most vivid 18 months of his life. He remembers spending every single night at home with my dad, most of the time Rob, I, and Dad (this was before Rob and I were married even) because my Mom had a cleaning job at night that she took all the younger kids to help her with. I love it when memories do come back and when I dream of him. It was a truly amazing and life changing experience to be so involved in the process of death and being there as my dad crossed over to the other side, knowing that he is not gone forever but lives on and that I will see him again.

We headed over to the cemetary, where the kids looked for "baby graves" (creepy right) and then started taking all the flower vases off of the mosoleum graves and stacking them up like a big ice cream cone. We were all so mortified and made them put them back right away! I had made breakfast cake, it was my dad's specialty, and we ate that at his grave while we talked some more about him. We also left a piece of cake on his grave when we left.

Looking at the pictures we took, I just feel so grateful to have my amazing family. I have two of my three brothers living close with their awesome wifes and adorable kids. I love them! I love that I have my big brother who has so perfectly filled in as my dad whenever I have needed him, he is amazing. I know they would do anything for me and I would do the same for them. I miss my family that doesn't live here, but I am so grateful for them as well. They are truly amazing people. Thank you Dad and Mom for giving us such a strong foundation of love and of the gospel, I will forever be grateful to you!

Art City Museum

I just LOVE this picture (okay Wyatt could be smiling and it would be better) but seriously, so cute!

Grandma working on crafts with the kids.

HAHA! I made them pose because I thought it was funny, Rob thought the picture was creepy.
Maybe he was right.

September 24, 2011

They had a free day at the museum so I took the kids over and Kathy came along since the men had business stuff to do. They had some crafts set up for the kids and had local artists there actually working on a painting/drawing so you could watch them (one of the artists was Hannah's friend Natalie's dad). The kids just loved the garden area, the cool old stairs and doors, and the way it echoed in the bathrooms, they all kept yelling "echo, echo, echo" over and over. :) I would have liked to see the artwork a little better, but it gave me a goal for Rob and I to go on a date there. Wouldn't that be so nice and relaxing?

Discover, Share, Inspire

Rachel, Me, and Maddy

Atlas, Greg, and Aayliyah

Rachel and baby Atlas (his name is VERY appropriate).

My sister Rachel and her husband Greg and their 5 kids are going to be driving to Argentina in the truck pictured above, a truck that runs on used vegetable oilt, and those totes on top and what they can fit inside is all they own. I am just amazed at their dreams and ambition to fulfill their dream, and I am amazed at the differences in my life compared to my sisters'. We are totally different people, but similar in that we are both mothers and we stay through our motherhood and I love that! No matter where she has traveled (and where I have not traveled) we can get together and share our joys and frustrations of being a mother. I look forward to the next time we can reconnect and see where are motherhood journey's have taken us by then.

Maddy's 3 year Stats

I took Maddy in for her well check, really I thought she needed shots, but she doesn't need any until kindergarten. Her weight was 28 pounds, 22% and her height was 36.5 inches, 37.88%. I had asked the doctor about why she may wake up in the mornings really shaky and one morning she was pale and even a little limp. She also threw up as soon as she drank some water. I pumped yougurt into her and she perked up a little and then she finally felt like eating and as soon as she did she was fine. He said it sounds like ketotic hypoglycemia. Nothing that serious, just pretty much she can't get away with skipping dinner and she may even need a bedtime snack to ensure that she can make it through the night without her blood sugar getting too low. She should outgrow it in a few years, and it doesn't happen every night or anything, just occasionally. Megs actually showed similar symptoms when she was younger, around Maddy's age, also so there must be something genetic to it.

Wyatt's Black Eye

The pictures above are the day it happened.

These are about 1 week after it happened. This kid cracks me up, look at that face! I asked him to close his eyes so I could see it and he makes the cutest squinty eyes!

Wyatt and Maddy were just having fun jumping off the couch and I really didn't mind because it was keeping them occupied, but then Wyatt didn't jump on the cushion of pillows they had out, he jumped the other direction and hit a big wood chest. OUCH! He didn't cry very long, but I was surprised how quickly his eyebrow area started to swell and look dented. Poor kid! He had one proud Daddy though, Rob thought it was pretty awesome Wyatt had such a black eye. What we thought was so funny is Rob would ask him what happened to his eye and Wyatt would point to it and say, "Purple." The girls and I had been talking about all the different colors it was turning. So, then he would also say, "Green, yellow, brown." It was so cute!

More of Maddy's birthday

We celebrated Maddy, Annie, and Sophie's birthdays at our house. We had fondue and cake for dessert. Maddy got some fun presents and we love having cousins over to play.

Day-to-day Mothering

I got this idea from a blog I like to read http://71toes.com/. She wanted her kids and herself to remember the nitty gritty of motherhood... you know the day to day stuff. So...I am picking today.
5:30 a.m. -Alarm goes off, push snooze.
5:35 a.m.- Alarm goes off, push snooze.
5:40 a.m.-Alarm goes off, roll out of bed, put on running clothes, quietly use the bathroom, quietly tiptoe past sleeping children's rooms, slip on shoes, and quietly slip outside through the sliding door in the back into the chilly air.
5:45 a.m.-Meet up with some woman in the neighborhood for a 5 mile run.
6:45 a.m.-Sneak back into the house, quietly walk past sleeping children's rooms, and jump into the shower before anyone wakes up.
7:00-8:00 a.m.-Throw on some comfy clothes, because I don't want to think about what to wear, grab a brush and brush my own hair while telling the kids to get dressed, make their beds, brush their teeth, brush their hair, etc. Megan wants to take a bath, but we don't have time before we drop off Hannah for school so I tell her to wait. Head downstairs to start pancakes, Hannah has testing at school today and Iwant her to be full, not just cereal for breakfast. Still trying to finish brushing my hair while I am mixing all the ingredients together. Wyatt and Maddy are now up, telling me they're hungry. I tell Hannah to make her lunch, she can't find her lunchbox. I serve up some pancakes, which Hannah complains are "burned and taste funny" and won't really eat them anyway. I give her some strawberries too, which she says she doesn't like to eat strawberries cold because "they hurt my teeth." The kids are playing around, not really eating. I make Hannah's lunch while I finish cooking up the rest of the batter. I put her lunch in a ziploc, hopefully she finds her lunchbox at school today. I tried to get her to do school lunch, she wouldn't go for it. I even went online to see what they were having today, turkey and potatoes, but still a no go. I tell Hannah to grab her backpack and everyone get your shoes on, we're leaving to take Hannah to school. Megs, Mads, and Wy are still all in pajamas.
8:00-8:15-We drop Hannah off at school and come back home.
8:15-9:00-I get the three kids in the bath together, I think they are getting too big for this as I see their legs all tangled all over and not much room to move around in the tub. I wash everyone's hair and rinse it, which they don't like, and then I let them play for a mintue while I bring my blowdryer into their bathroom to blow dry my hair and still keep an eye on them. As soon as the splashing starts to get crazy we pull the drain and get out. I chase Wy down to get his diaper on, the girls get their underwear on and get dressed. Maddy needs help finding pants. I make Megan change because she has worn that same outfit every day she has preschool. I pick out something I like. I do Megan and Maddy's hair, Megan doesn't like what I do and I have to take it out.
9:00 a.m.-I turn on Milo and Otis for Maddy and Wyatt so I can do reading lessons with Megan.
9:30 a.m.-Wyatt is throwing a fit, crying, says he's hungry. I take him downstairs and Maddy follows, I give them leftover pancakes and peaches for a snack.
10:00 a.m.-Get online to check my email, facebook, et cetera. Get a phone call, visiting teaching tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.
10:30-11:00 a.m.-Did puzzles with the kids, Megs and I did 100 piece Tinkerbell puzzle together. Oh, and Megan asks me to do her hair like I had before she asked me to take it out.
11:00-12:35-Fed the kids lunch, picked up toys, put laundry away, got Megs off to preschool, read books to Maddy and Wyatt, put them down for a nap, hung a few things on the walls I have been meaning to do for literally years, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher.
12:35-2:00 p.m.-Got myself some lunch and sat down at the computer to work...slow day today, work isn't coming in very quickly.
2:00-2:45-The kids wake up from their nap, need a snack. Megan gets home from school and does her homework.
2:45-5:45Pick up Hannah at school, come home get a snack, she does her homework, does her reading as I supervise. The kids start a movie, friends come over to play, more friends come over to play, my friend comes over, I get to have some adult conversations. I throw in a load of laundry.
5:45-8:30 Rob gets home from work and quickly changes. We load the kids up in the car to go to Classic Skating for Hannah's school. The kids skate and scooter to their hearts content and I spend my time counting heads and keeping track of my four munchkins and taking trips to the bathroom with Maddy. We get dinner there, a slice of pizza and a drink and the kids keep playing.
8:30-We load up the kids and head home, get jammies on, teeth brushed, into bed, we skip books and forget to say family prayer.
9:00-12:00 a.m.I sit down at the computer to work (now its busy)....and check out blogs (hey they keep me awake). I call it a night at 12:00 a.m.

Megan's First day of Pre-K

Megan started preschool for the second year on September 7, 2011. She is in Miss Mari's class at Westside Elementary, they offer a free preschool there. Megan is so excited to be going to school, she just wishes she was going everyday. She is ready for kindergarten already, but you know how those cut off days are, she misses it by one month. I know she will have a lot of fun this year and be even more ready next fall. She sure is a cutie!

Maddy's 3rd Birthday!

Maddy took this picture herself.

Take a look at Wyatt and you'll get a good laugh!!

She was a little nervous about sitting in the saddle with everyone staring at her.

Yummy ice cream, I think Wyatt wants some. :)

September 4-5, 2011

Maddy's birthday was on a Sunday this year and we spent the day up at Starvation that day. We headed home about 3 in the afternoon and when we got home and got everyone bathed we had a little birthday party for Mads. We had bought the cake the night before up in Duchesne at this tiny grocery store and it was delicious! She got a new bike, which she wanted, but is still too big for her. She also got a little play dough set, which her and Wyatt have loved playing with together. The next day, on Labor Day, we headed up to Sandy to take the boat and truck back and so we decided to go to dinner with G&G for Maddy's birthday party. Maddy wanted to go to Outback, but we convinced her Texas Roadhouse would be just as good since it was so close and Outback was too far away. It was fun and she was happy about her dish of ice cream she got.

Maddy is just so much fun and adds so much to our family. She is so sweet and caring, is usually the first one to comfort someone who is sad or the first to cave and give up her toy to her sister or brother to make them feel better. She is a peacemaker. On the other hand, our little girl is quite the fiesty child, quick to anger and yell at whoever has crossed her. She has a lot of energy in that little body and is constantly doing something. She is never bored because she is always finding something to do. She loves the cats and most of the time I find her out in the garage taking care of them. She loves to take care of Wyatt and babies him like she is his mother. She likes to be the one to close his bedroom door every night when he goes to bed. She makes us laugh all the time at the funny things she says and does. I think a lot of the time she seems older than her age because of all that she picks up on and understands about things that seem above her comprehension. She has some street smarts! :) When we first asked Maddy how old she was on her birthday she said 1. No, we said not 1. Okay 5, she said. I think she thought she could choose! It took a little convincing to get her to tell us the right answer and now she says, "Three years old" really fast when we ask her! We love you Maddy Cakes!