Rainbow

Yesterday evening we were all sitting out in the backyard on the porch swing as a storm was getting ready to come in. The sky was getting dark and there were a few sprinkles but nothing to scare us into the house. The sun peeked out for a little bit and a beautiful rainbow appeared. It was so pretty because the sun rays were shining right through the rainbow. Very pretty. I love rainbows.

Memorial Day

I love Memorial Day. It's one of my most favorite holidays. I think it's the time of the year mixed with all of the wonderful memories of Memorial Day from growing up. School is almost out (or out), the entire summer in all its glory is still ahead, pools open up, and the weather is great. It's so relaxing and fun and laid back. I think it should mark the beginning of summer break because it sure is hard to go back after that one glorious day. (It seems like we were always out of school by the time Memorial Day came around. Am I remembering right? I know we NEVER went into June!)

We had a fun day yesterday. Tory worked in the morning and then we loaded up the bikes and trailer for a nice long bike ride. Tory even pulled the trailer this time! I usually don't mind pulling it but we put Dallin in there this time so it was extra heavy. Dally Boy needs to clock a few more miles on his two wheel bike before attempting that long trail again. He had a hard time last time-about 20 too many crashes.

We packed 3 kids in the trailer. Ha! Quite the spectacle! (Don't worry, legs and arms were inside while traveling.) It was all on a paved walking trail so we felt pretty safe and the kids had fun. I'm not going to say we didn't get quite the looks and comments though!

Austin thought he was pretty tricky riding his bike with one hand in the air and wanted me to take a picture. Very cool Austin!

It was a perfect day for a bike ride. Beautiful weather! We had lots of fun exploring in the trees...

Exploring by the water...

"Mountain" climbing by the creek...

And of course we had to climb a few trees.

We do have FOUR boys in the family after all.

Claire loves being outside. She ended up to be a tasty treat for the mosquitoes though, so we had to pack it up and get movin' again.

We had planned to do a bar-b-que in the backyard that evening with salmon, potato salad, and the fixin's but got an invitation to swim and eat with some friends at their house. Who can turn that down?! I didn't get any pictures but we had lots of fun. The water was perfect and the food was delicious. We swam for hours! It was Claire's first time in the pool and of course she loved it because it was WATER! She's a little fish just like the boys. Not like her mama. I have to say...she looked pretty darn cute in her little swimsuit, too! My goodness! I'll have to get a picture one of these times. I'm sure we have many more swimming days in our long, hot summer ahead! What a fun day!

Breaking News

This just in...

CLAIRE OFFICIALLY CRAWLED TODAY!

Not once, not twice, not...well I forget how many times but she's doing it! Finally! Now, she has been doing her own style of 'crawling' or getting around for awhile now. She's been very good at going backwards and around in circles by going from hands and knees to bum and back again, hobbling along on one knee while the other one stays sideways under her, and even going back and forth from back or tummy to sitting. But today is the first time she's actually gotten on two knees with her legs facing the right direction and moved in a forward motion. Yeah Claire! While I'm at it I might as well mention some of her other favorite tricks lately. She loves to wave and gets those little wrists going full-blast! She also loves to pull up to things on her knees. Guess it's time to move the crib mattress down!

Keeping Up

It must be hard to be the littlest of three boys. Trying so hard to keep up and do what the big boys do would sure keep a little guy busy. Sometimes he might notice he gets the short end of the stick, the smaller helping, or the less desirable toy. But that doesn't mean it's going to hold him back!

Coen is such a fun little guy. His personality just matches him perfectly. He's tiny but fast, loud yet gentle. He eats fruits and vegetables like they're going out of style and can hardly bother with any bread product. His hair is curly and red and he has the longest eyelashes in the family. His new look with his little chipped tooth just makes him even cuter. His favorite book right now is 'Go, Dog, Go'. He reads it several times a day and sleeps with it at night.

He keeps up with the big boys and everything they do. He insists on riding a scooter like they do-and he's pretty darn good at it! If they eat an apple, then he eats one. He potty trained in one day so that he could be big like the boys and hasn't had an accident since.

And his latest phrases just crack me up. No matter what anyone is doing, eating, or getting-if Coen is around you're sure to hear, "What about me?" and lately "Hey! No fair!" Cracks me up! And I'm not kidding, he says one of these phrases EVERY SINGLE TIME anyone does something that he's not doing. We hear it over 20 times a day. Even when I get Claire her food I hear a, "Hey! No fair!" Someone puts their shoes on and it's, "What about me?" Last night I was cutting up vegetables for fajitas and I started slicing an orange bell pepper. From some corner of the house he could sense that he was missing something and before long he was peeking over my elbow watching me cut into one of his most favorite vegetables and I hear a "Heeeyyyyy! Nooooo faaaaiiiir!" I slipped him a few slices of pepper and off he ran-a happy little boy. Keeping up is the name of the game with this little guy and I've got to hand it to him...he does a great job!

Good Stuff

We've been enjoying a lot of this lately:

I have to admit-Tory and I are pretty good at pickin' out watermelons. We rarely, if ever, get a bad one. I don't know what our secret is. Maybe we're just lucky.

I think Tory actually has a system for picking a good one.

I just pretend like I know what I'm doing but it usually comes down to what looks good and then there's something to do with 'feeling heavy for its size'.

But at any rate...nothing says summer like good, sweet watermelon dripping off your chin. I didn't get any pictures of Claire but she was lovin' the watermelon, too, and couldn't eat enough of it. Good Stuff!

Love Story meets Viva La Vida

OK...I'm just going to have to post this here on my blog. I find myself visiting my sister Amy's blog frequently just to listen to it. (Don't worry Aim, I'll still visit you!) I love it! Both of the songs are two of my favs and I love Jon Schmidt. Doesn't this song just make you want to get up and dance? Oh...and doesn't it make you want to play the piano like that? He makes it look so easy and so FUN! I could get into dancing at the piano. I find myself dancing while I'm watching him anyway. Ha! OK, I need this piano music...and that piano...and a cellist, well maybe I want to be the cellist, too...with a base drum. Might just have to settle for the piano music. I'd practice every single day if I could play it like that!



OK...I've listened to it 40 times now. Guess I'm ready to go to bed now....Well, one more time won't hurt...............

Thanks again Amy!

Mother's Day

This post is a little late but that's okay. I had a wonderful Mother's Day! Tory and the kids made it very special. The boys got up nice and early as usual but were more quiet than usual. I actually got to sleep in until 8:00! What luxury! We went to church and they handed out bags of quite the variety of chocolate hugs and kisses to all the moms. The cute primary kids also sang a couple songs to the moms. Very cute. Tory was there to keep Claire and I had a helper in my class. :o)

After church we came home and Tory let me kick back and read my book while he made a super delicious dinner. We've been doing really good eating healthy and Tory didn't break the streak. He made the most delicious dinner of roasted shish-k-bobs, asparagus, and a purple cabbage soup. He even made a punch made from nothing but fresh strawberries and grapes with bananas and kiwi's floating in it. It was really heavenly!

Tory and I called our moms and then we all went out to the backyard to swing and play until it was time for the kids to go to bed. Tory and I finished the evening with a couple rounds of a new card game called Scrabble Slam! and then a round of Skip-Bo. What a fun day!

Beautiful flowers from Tory. He also got me a vegetable peeler because our mysteriously disappeared. Too bad. We bought that when we were newlyweds and it was a good one! I also got a nice ladle that I was in need of. Thanks Cutie!

Here are some of my treasures from the kids. I love these! They're so special.

Austin's projects from school:

Just for the record...I only have 3 boys and 1 girl. He was counting ALL of the boys and ALL of the girls in the family.

I get to pick a petal off and he will do what it says. Cute!

I love this picture! This is me. I love the details like the earrings, necklace, fingernail polish, and even high heels! Love it!

Mother's Day Cards from Austin and Dallin. They made these at church. The flower petals are their fingerprints.

Dallin's picture for me. He says it's a picture of me walking on the sidewalk. You can see the grass and even the roots growing underneath. Cute!

Coen's picture he drew for me. It's a picture of apples. Two big red ones. Can you see them?

Coen's little hand print picture he made in nursery at church. Precious!

And one more picture that Austin drew for me. A mama butterfly with her little butterflies. I love the little bird learning how to fly. You can see the 'action' of him flying down out of the tree.

I am so blessed to be the mother of these four wonderful children. It's wild and crazy sometimes and usually I feel like I'm pedaling backwards trying to keep up with the house and everything else but I wouldn't trade it for anything. They make my life happy. I always wanted to be a mother. That's it. People would always ask when I was younger "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and I'd always come up with some sort of 'right' answer but what I really wanted to be was a mom. I'm so thankful I have my dream job. I'm so thankful for my own mother and for everything she has done and taught me (and still continues to today!) I really have the best mom in the whole world. I'm thankful for my mother-in-law who did such a good job raising her own kids (especially the one named Tory). And I'm thankful for my two wonderful grandmothers who have taught me what great mothers they were and are. I have some wonderful women to look up to and I'm so thankful for all of their examples. Happy Mother's Day!

Part II of.....?

Yesterday was Part II of Kindergarten Roundup for Dallin. They really like to string it along here. Yesterday Dallin and I went for a little orientation. I thought they were going to do the assessment on the Kindergartners while the parents were in a meeting like they did with Austin. They even told us to make sure we bring our Kindergartners but then they just sent them to the library for story time. We have to go back on June 3rd for Part III...the assessment. (And it doesn't end there! Oh no!) That's the last day of school! Can you believe it? Bummer. Not like we have big plans for that afternoon but still...don't you want to RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN at the end of the school year? I signed up for the first slot though so hopefully I can pick up Austin and just wait a few minutes before Dallin's turn. Dallin had fun at the story time though. He was a little hesitant to leave me and join the group at first but I think he's glad he did. They even learned a song about a rabbit that they sang to us when we picked them up. He sure is excited to be a big school boy!

My Very Own Jewelry Holder

A few weeks ago Dallin came in and surprised me with something he had made. The boys love 'working' in the garage when Tory's out there. He usually gives them some scraps of wood, a hammer, and nails to work with. Dallin's project was a jewelry holder for me. He brought it to me already filled with all of the bracelets and hair bands he could find. he even hung some bobby pins and earrings on the little nails on the sides. I thought it was so cute! I love it! Very rustic. He was sure proud of that nail he hammered in. Thanks Dally Boy!

Tired Out

Sunday, May 3rd, was a crazy day around here. Tory had to go to his review sessions early so I had to get myself and the 4 kids all ready for church by myself. We were doing really good and I might even go so far as to say better than usual! Everyone was bathed, dressed, and fed. My lesson was prepared and all necessary items were cut or printed off. We were set to go and off we went.

I was just about to turn into the church parking lot and realized I'd forgotten the Mother's Day cards for my class. I was supposed to bring them for the kids to fill in so we could return them to the primary presidency. I was supposed to get it done the week before but didn't so I figured I'd better go back and get them. So what turned out to be a 10-15 minute drive turned out to be 30-45 minutes. Yep. We were late.

I unloaded the boys and then got Claire out and yep, she was stinky. First time she's ever messed her diaper at church in 9 months! (I know...I don't know how I've been so lucky.) So I had to take all 4 of the kids into the bathroom to change her. And of course once we were in there all of the boys had to go, too.

We finally made it to our meeting. The boys were wild and crazy! They are normally pretty good but not that day! I was kind of happy we had less time than usual to sit there. Then came time for me to teach my class. Normally Tory takes Claire that hour so that she's not a distraction and then I take her the third hour while he teaches his class. And normally I have an extra adult in there to help me with my wild bunch. Of course no Tory so I had to bring her. I thought that at least I could have my "helper" hold Claire if she got too bad. Well there was no helper that day either. First time in months. Ha. And Claire screamed and cried the entire time. I think my class and Claire were having a competition on who could be the loudest. I don't even remember what my lesson was about and I'm sure they don't either. I was actually glad to have those Mother's Day cards for them to work on so they'd have something to do. Finally it was time to go. My class left first and the second they left Claire was quiet. I think it was just a little too crazy in there for her.

Needless to say...it was a very long day for all of us. No naps, lots of crying, and eating schedules all messed up. That night Coen got undressed and was so tired he couldn't even get off the chair and it wasn't even 7:00 pm! It got really quiet so I went to check on him and he was out! Nothing could wake him. We held his mouth open, brushed his teeth, and tucked him in along with his brothers. Whew! What a day! I think these pictures pretty much sum up how we all felt at the end of it!

The Smell of Jasmine Wakes Us Up

This is my favorite thing right now. It's Jasmine...and it's blooming right now on my front porch! Have you ever smelled Jasmine? It's glorious. It's one of those scents that I would like to bottle.

Sometimes I throw my front door open and let the breeze blow the scent right in. It fills up my entire home with that sweet smell. I love it! Every time I leave my house or come home I breathe deeply and take it in.

And every time I smell it this song runs through my head. Usually Tory and I just go ahead and sing the line from Craig Morgan's song "That's What I Love About Sunday" right out loud as we walk by. You know the one..."The smell of jasmine wakes us up". We can't walk by without singing it. No matter how hurried we are. Isn't it wonderful how nature and beautiful things can make us pause and brighten our day?

Here is the song for your listening pleasure. Sit back and relax....

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If you don't want to listen to the entire song then fast forward it to minute 1:45-2:00 and listen to those 15 seconds. Or even more specifically to 1:55. Good song. Love that song in the first place but especially that line at this time of year. Here's a link to the music video if you'd prefer that route. Click HERE.

Austin's Creations

I guess I'm a little behind. I was looking back through old pictures and realized I forgot to mention some of Austin's projects. Every year our church holds a General Conference. We get to listen to great talks from our church leaders for two days. It is broadcast worldwide. It's something we always look forward to in April and then again in October of every year. Well this year something even MORE exciting (according to the boys and especially Austin) was happening that day. Grandma and Grandpa were here and they brought something special with them. A TURKEY! I never saw a kid so excited to cook and eat a turkey. Grandma and Grandpa got here April 1st and General Conference wasn't until Saturday the 4th. And then the plan was to cook it in between sessions on SUNDAY (the 5th). What a long wait for a little boy who wanted to eat turkey so bad!

Sunday morning finally came and Austin got up early to make a sign announcing this great event. "Happy General Conference" it read with a big picture of a roasted turkey. You'd think it was Thanksgiving! So funny! We made all the fixin's to go with it and it really was good! Thanks for bringing the turkey Grandma and Grandpa!

Later on April 7th, Austin had to bring a decorated egg to school. He was supposed to use a real egg, poke a hole in the top and bottom, blow out the raw egg contents, and then decorate it. Austin said he wanted his to be a Superman egg. He had a lot of fun decorating it and packed it nice and gently to take to school. He was a little disappointed that he didn't get one of the top ribbons but he did get a gift certificate (who wants food when you can get a ribbon to display in your collection?) Cute boy.

All to Myself

Tory's in the middle of review sessions once again. They started last Wednesday and continue until May 14. He has to go to Parker for them so it's a good drive. He has to be there by 8:00 am and then gets home at 7:00 pm. Feels like school all over again! Ugh! Saturday he drove all the way into town and found out it was cancelled because the instructor wasn't feeling well. Geesh! But not to fear...he had a service project with his church calling waiting for him! Surprise, surprise! It was an outdoor project doing yard work so he decided to take the two older boys.

Coen was very sad when they left...until he spotted his train box. He asked me to build him a train track (which was a pretty awesome train track if I do say so myself!) and that got his mind off the missing brothers.

He had a BLAST! He played for hours all by himself. No big boys to have to divide the trains with. His train was as long as he wanted. No one to run into on the tracks or have to go around while "driving" the train. He could go as fast as he wanted or as slow as he wanted and if he felt like changing directions he could. I loved listening to his little dialog he had going. He would stop to open and close gates, load the train, etc. All of the things he doesn't get to do when there are two bigger boys playing along. He was in heaven!

And Claire loved watching him. At one point it got very quiet. When I checked on them I found Coen squirting out lotion and rubbing it all over Claire's legs and arms.

She was loving it and smelled like a blueberry!

It was fun to have just the little people. A little taste of what's to come this Fall when Austin and Dallin are both at school all day.