It has been forever

since I posted. I have had such good intentions but alas nothing. Let's see halloween was umm. . .interesting. Nate got sick with the flu 2 days before and was so sad to miss out on the activites at school. Halloween day he was better enough to go do a little trick-or-treating. Joel's family had planned family pictures for that day and on the drive out to go do them Cole threw up all over himself in his cute little clothes. He was so sad to not go take pictures and kept apologizing for getting his clothes dirty. Needless to Cole and I hung out at home. Luckily his very nice big brother took around a bucket for him and got lots of candy. Joel told me Zach would go up to every door and hold up his bucket and then hold up Cole's and explain that his brother was home sick. Apparently everybody was very impressed.

The next 2 weeks were spent with at least one child home sick from school. One day both Nate and Cole were home sick and Zach came home from school early with a migrane headache. I called a doctor and the eye doctor and took him in to get his eyes tested. I really did not think he had an eye problem but I thought I should get it checked out anyway. Come to find out the child is pretty much blind as a bat when it comes to seeing things close up and extremely so in his left eye which is the eye he always gets his headaches above. He has had his classes for about 3 weeks and has only had one headache. Plus he looks so stinkin cute in his glasses.

We are off to Arizona for Thanksgiving and I am so excited. I hope everyone has a great turkey day!!

What are the chances

after my last post I got sick and have not been able to work out for a week and a half--grrr.

So my kids only had 2 days for fall break so we made the most of it today. We went and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D. Cole was a little scared at one point but Zach & Nate loved it. I love love love to watch movies with Zach he laughs so hard I laugh harder at him then I do at the movie. Afterwards we went and picked out some costumes. This year we will have a ninja, Spiderman and the black Spiderman.

Stinking Zach had another headache when we got home so unfortunately he went to bed while Cole and Nate dressed up and chased each other around pretending to climb walls and shoot webs at one another. Cole informed me tonight while I was putting him to bed that he doesn't really like Spiderman anymore. I didn't feel to sorry for him!!

My oldest nephew got engaged over the weekend and will be getting married in January. Lucky for me they just happened to choose the St. George temple so there will be no traveling for me!! I feel like I only got married a couple years ago which means that there is no way that he can be old enough to be getting married himself. Ahh I am not enjoying getting old!!

I have been slacking

I have been so bad about posting lately--life has just gotten a little crazy.

Zachary has been doing great in school. He has made some good friends and has a great teacher. She seems to think the world of him and he of course agrees with her. Unfortunately, he has started getting migraine headaches about once a week. He gets really sick and will sleep for the entire afternoon. He and I are going down to Show Low for a quick weekend trip and he is so excited to get some good Mom and Zach time.

Nate is a nut!! The child does not stop, I need to find a way to bottle up some of his energy. His teacher sent home a note a couple weeks ago saying what a good student he is. Apparently he is a great listener and a good example to the other kids in his class. I was so appreciative to his teacher for taking the time to let me know. He went to the BYU game the other night with Joel and his Grandpa. He loved it!! He got his very own BYU shirt and wears is as often as I can get it clean for him.

Cole has started going to speech. It makes me a little bit sad to hear him lose his little boy crazy language. He still needs a lot of work but he loves to go and practice so he seems to be making great progress. He is also going to school and has made a little friend. He has a playdate with him tomorrow and Cole is so excited.

Whew I think that just about gets everything. I had to make my tv my workout buddy. I have been trying to work out everyday and so far it has worked for me. Hopefully I don't jinx myself.

I need a workout buddy

It is a must!! No matter how fun it is to get up at 6 am all by myself I find myself more often than not turning off my alarm and going back to sleep. I do realize that I could workout other hours of the day but for me it is so much better if I get up early and do it. Last year at this time I was getting up at 4:45 am and loving it, now I have to drag my rear out of bed at 7:30. I need to just get over myself and get up and do it but blah!! That is easier said than done!!

School Time

So I can honestly say I was a little bit sad for this summer to come to an end. On Wednesday night we went and met both of my kids teachers. Zach and Nate's classrooms are very close to one another which made it quite easy (plus having them walk together after school is great). They both seem to have good teachers--I am hoping to get to know them better as the school year goes on.

On the first day both boys were up and dressed by 6:30, even though I pointed out they had a long time before school started. I made waffels and did my best to entertain them but they were both so excited to get out the door (although you can't tell by Zachary's face in his picture). Joel had lectured me about making sure I wasn't to nervous while I was dropping the kids off(Nate really picks up on my moods and Joel was worried that might make his first day harder). While walking the boys to their classrooms I was chatting it up with Nate just trying to make sure he was all excited when I realized how quiet Zach had been. The poor kid was so nervous and quiet.

Luckily they both seemed to have a good day--actually Nate had a great day and Zach told me he wouldn't go back if he didn't have to. The next day when I picked the boys up from school Nate told me that some of the kids were being mean to Zachary on the playground. I tried to talk to Zachary about it but he just shrugged it off and told me he walked away and then asked me not to talk about it. I didn't want to make something into a bigger deal than it is so I let it go but it makes me so sad to think that Zach is having a hard time. He is my quiter more loner type child and is happy by himself but still. I have a really hard time knowing that someone/something is making my child unhappy and not knowing what to do!!! Hopefully next week will be better.

Homeward Bound

I had such good intentions of keeping up on this while I was out of town but alas I did not. I can not believe how fast this month has gone by. My kids have had a blast traveling around seeing all their cousins on my side (there is about 3 times as many cousins on my side then on Joels' and very close in age to my boys). Cole started a four year old club with his two cousins his age. It has been great to spend so much time with my family but a month is a long time to be away from home and more importantly Joel. Nate has been counting down the days until we see him again!!! I am pretty sure we will make this a yearly trip!!
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I can't believe that summer is gone!! This is the first year I can honestly say I am sad for the summer to be over. There will be a couple days a week when everyone is in school and while I am sure I will get used to the alone time right now I am a little sad to think of it.

9 Years

I DO NOT feel like I am old enough to say this but 9 years ago today I was in the temple getting married. The time has definitely flown by and a lot has been crammed into that 9 years (3 kids, 2 houses, an innumerable # of pets and A LOT of fun/sad/scary/good/ times). I am so grateful to my two friends who invited me to take the institute class with them and then encouraged me to ask out the HOT guy in the back of the class room. While this may not be where I planned for my life to be after 9 years of marriage I am grateful for my wonderful husband who puts up with my craziness, takes great care of me and the boys and is a good example to all of us. I love you Joel. (Hahaha this post can also count as a I love you happy birthday post also).

I lost my wedding ring about 6 months ago. I kept hoping it would turn up but still has not. A couple weeks ago Joel and I went and picked out a new ring for me for an anniversary present. I still have high hopes that when we move my other ring will turn up but I LOVE my new ring.

Crazy Days

So I thought once baseball season was done life would slow down. Nate had his last game a couple weeks ago and he loved every second of the season. He had a sweet coach who did a really good job with the whole team. Zachary had his last game Wednesday--he ended the season in great fashion with two homeruns and a triple. It was a great game and he was so PROUD of himself. We definitely need to practice some more but he wants to keep on playing. Nate is excited for soccer season to start.

So girls camp is getting closer and closer. It is supposed to be super cold and I am pretty sure I won't survive. The idea of camping for 5 days without a shower really creeps me out. I am trying to have a good attitude and I am sure that it really will be a lot of fun. Two days before we leave is our anniversary, the day I leave is Joel's birthday and the day after we get home is Father's Day. I am sure we will survive but it is going to be full week.

I am lovin' this summer so far. Our days consist of homework in the morning and hanging out in the pool for the rest of the day. My boys are getting dark and getting better at swimming but I totally wish Miss Erin was around to refine their swimming. I don't suppose Aqua Babes wants to open a Utah branch hehehe.

Almost Done

I can't believe school is almost out--one more day and we are done!! I am actually really looking forward to this summer. I have girls camp in the middle of June and then we will be down in AZ for the month of July (woo-hoo) going to wicked and hanging out.

I figured since everyone has had there Graduations/Performances I should post about them.

Cole enjoyed his class. There was a little boy who Cole insisted on calling Mr. Jamison and he would tell me stories about him all the time. At their graduation Cole got the award for 'Always having a Smile' which is very fitting--even grumpy Cole is still smiling. They sang a mr sun song, signed there name in sign language and each child repeated two nursery rhymes.

Nate was officially know in his class as 'Nate the Great'. He had the sweetest teacher who adored him. They had an early program and it was awesome. They sang cute songs, and each student had a speaking part and dressed up for there part (Nate was an athlete so he just wore his baseball uniform). At the end they sang 'God Bless America' and waved little American flags. It totally made me get all teary eyed.

And last but not least Zachary. We were so lucky to get such good teachers when we moved here. Zachary's teacher was perfect for him. I was really hoping that Nate might have here next year but she is actually moving to a school closer to her home. It was a good year and I feel like my kids learned a lot of good (and some bad) things. They seem to enjoy school although they still like to bring up living in AZ I feel like the have had chances to do things we couldn't have let them do if we were still living there.

For Zach's performance all of the first grade got together and sang some songs. Then each of the classes went and did a performance in their classroom. Zach's class put on some reading theaters. He memorized his whole part and amazingly enough was not even nervous to say all his lines. It was a cute end to a great year.

American Idol

2008- After mutual a couple of the other leaders and a whole bunch of the yw hung out at my house and watched the American Idol Finale. It was very weird to hear all the girls eww and aww over weird looking way to tight jean wearing boys. I never got to see the winner (dvr didn't record that far) and I was a little shocked that David Cook had won (although I was really ok with either one working)

2009- I called in and voted last night (eww I know I am WAY to old to be voting but I felt very strongly about who I wanted to win). I set my dvr to record the news after American Idol so I wouldn't miss anything. After Joels' softball game I sat down by myself and watched the entire show--I was to scared to fastforward it and find out the wrong person won. Just for the record when Kris' name was announced I did a little jig--I so did not care for Adam!!!

Quiet

Joel just took off for Father & Sons!! My boys have been so excited--Nate was packing last night and helped Cole get all packed up first thing this morning. When I checked their backpacks I found a jacket, pj bottoms, socks and a whole bunch of toys in Coles'. Nate had packed clothes for tomorrow but not pjs' and lots of toys. They were literally pushing Joel out the door. When I went to go tell them good-bye Nate told me he would pray for me tonight. Zachary and Cole told me they loved me about 10 times and Cole kept patting my head and told me to have a good day. I love that my kids are sad to leave me for a night--I fear that will not last forever. I am sure they will have tons of fun and I sent Joel with my camera with specific instructions to take A LOT of pictures!!

The joys of school

A couple months ago my kids learned about the 'bad finger'. I have just began to come to terms with it (and that Nate enjoys pointing to stuff with that finger since he now knows it is the 'bad finger'). The other day we were eating dinner and Zachary mentions that there is a bad word on the slide at his school. I said oh yeah what word. His exact words were, "The bad (and spelled) f . . .". I was seriously so shocked I amlost fell off my chair. He was very matter of fact about it and knew that he shouldn't say it but it makes me sad that he even knows what that word is.

New Look

So I got my hair done today. . .I have been getting brown and blonde put in my hair for as long as I can remember. Well today the girl who does my hair encouraged me to do just blonde to look more summery. Well I am DEFINATELY blonde, plus I had my bangs cut a little shorter so I seriously am shocked whenever I see myself in the mirror. Joel doesn't really care for bangs so I don't think he really likes it but my answer is they will grow out in no time!!

Zachary

Ha ha so I decided to break it down by child--I am a bad person and my blog is my way of keeping journal so this way I can make sure to get everything about my kids. Feel free to skip over any of this.

Zachary had a fairly easy going week. We were in charge of bringing the snacks for his game and I let him pick out what we would bring--donuts of course. His game was on Wednesday night (which was just a crazy day. Joel had to work late all last week and on Wednesday Cole had a dentist appt, we picked up the boys from school came home did homework hurried up and fed the kids, took everyone to mutual with me for an hour, came home got the snacks and everything ready. Took all 3 boys to the game. I had to park far away from the fields and I didn't feel like making multiple trips back and forth to my car so I piled my arms with 2 boxes of donuts, a cooler full of drinks and a purse full of Gatorade for Cole and Nate. It was the longest walk of my life and I was sure the whole time I was going to drop them but luckily I didn't). Zach's game was at 8--yes 8 at night!! Luckily once again my kids were great, I think they sensed that I really couldn't handle them being stinkers. I looked over at one point and Nate had a whole group of kids playing soccer with him. During Zach's game a couple of the coaches got very annoyed with one another and it was INTERESTING. Luckily everything turned out fine and everyone was excited for their snack. Who doesn't love a donut at 9 pm. The next day Zachary had a swim day fieldtrip for school. He was up and ready at the crack of dawn. He had such a good time and has been talking about going back any chance he gets. He was so tired and grumpy by dinnertime and was honestly almost asleep before his head hit the pillow. These late games may be the death of me.

Zachary has been begging me to make strawberry jam. I finally took pity on him and got everything while he was at school on Friday. When he got home he was so excited until I told him I thought it would be a good Mom & Zach activity. He hung around for all of 5 minutes until I finally told him he could go play with his friends. I made 6 batches of jam!! Zach has had jam as some part of every single meal since lunch Saturday. We have already gone through 2 containers--I have a feeling I should have made more.

I don't know if you can tell but they tied a rope to the back of Zach's bike and he pulled around the little neighbor girl on the scooter. It almost gave me a heart attack to watch but they loved it and no one got hurt.

Zachary entertaining himself at his game. I am totally the mom that hurries up and takes pictures and then scolds. There are 14 kids on his baseball team so there is a lot of down time when they bat, so why not climb up and hang out. . .

Another month gone

I can not believe how fast this year is flying by already--I feel like we only moved up here a couple months ago and it has been 6 months already. I have totally been procrastinating posting with everything that has been going on so I am going to do a picture post.

A couple weeks ago I came out and found Nate & Cole were sitting on the couch reading the scriptures. Nate would read for Cole and tell him what to say--he was doing a pretty good job. His favorite thing to say is 'It came to pass' he loves it when he reads and his verses began with that. When he was telling Cole what to say about every other thing he told him to say was it came to pass--it was sweet and it actually entertained them for awhile.

Last Saturday we decided to do something fun. We took the kids to McDonald's and then went bowling. It was tons of fun. I was a little concerned at first because the place was packed and we were put next to 3 older ladies who were very SERIOUS bowlers. Luckily my kids were on good behavior and the ladies loved and adored them. They gave them high fives anytime they knocked down any pins. Zachary would hurry up and throw the ball and the run over to watch the screen (they had little graphics that popped up and showed the pins getting knocked down with funny little phrases). Nate was actually doing pretty good but he was very distracted by the vending machines and kept going and checking out all the candy. Cole loved bowling. After Joel helped him throw his ball down the first couple times he insisted he did not need any help so he would walk up and throw the ball down all by himself. It took forever to roll down and would only knock down a couple of pins but Cole couldn't careless and was very proud of himself. Oh, at McDonald's the happy meal prize was some Kids Bop music. Zach and Nate loved it and now insist on listening to it anytime we are in the car--Cole hates it which explains the below picture.

I have so much more to post but this is at least a start for now!!!

Odd Experience

So the other day I took all three of my boys to the library and they were quite well behaved. When we went to go checkout the man who helped us asked me if they were all mine. When I said yes he told me he had 3 boys in a row and it was very 'interesting'. He told me that about 2 or 3 times and I didn't get a good interesting feeling from him. Just for the record while I would have enjoyed a girl, I love and adore every single one of my boys and all the funny things they do. I love how close in age they are and how they are all good friends. Plus they are very fun just to be around. While I realize they are young and I have a lot of time left I hope I never describe my life with them as interesting--eventful, crazy and great yes!!

Nate reminded me the other day that Jaren (my oldest nephew) told him he (he being Nate of course) would be 6 when Jaren got home from his mission. WOW to think I am old enough to have a RM for a nephew--I believe he will be home in the next few weeks. I am thinking of sitting down with him and making specific rules of when I can become a great-aunt. In all reality he is an amazing person (and quite cute) and any girl would be lucky to have him!! I used to look at some of my yw and think about playing match maker.

It's quite late and I have been battling a very sore throat. That last few days have been very baseball filled practice, games for Zach and Nate and then Joel started playing with his brother so he had two games tonight also. Tomorrow there is no baseball--not really much of anything going on and I am seriously considering spending the day in my pjs in bed.

So much to say

Okay so once again another event filled week. It was Nate's birthday on Friday. The night before I put him to bed and he was trying to sneakily make sure that I was I was going to decorate his bedroom and make him a poster--I think I started a new tradition which is good but I informed Joel I am not listing out 32 reasons why I love him. We Joel's family over Friday for the party and Nate invited his really good friend from down the street. They played and ran around all night. I let Nate pick out a dinosaur cake with a big dinosaur on top that actually roared it was cool. While opening his presents he made the comment that he has seen tons of commercials for everything he got. Pretty much every commercial the child sees he runs and tells me he has to have for his birthday. Zach and Nate have been sharing a scooter ever since we moved up here (Nate got a Spiderman scooter for his 3rd birthday that he sold to Cole for $5--he set it outside with a home made taped on price tag and Cole bought it. Very odd children I have) and Nate has told me a time or two that he would really like one of his.

On Saturday we dyed Easter eggs. I think Joel had as much fun as any of the boys he kept stealing their eggs to dye them himself. Easter morning we told the older boys they had to wait until Cole woke up to look for eggs and check their baskets. At 8:30 Cole got up but kept telling me his tummy hurt. The boys found all the eggs and were looking through their baskets and Cole threw up all over me. He spent the next several hours throwing up every time he took a drink. Obviously Cole and I stayed home from church, right about the time the bigger boys got home he started feeling better and ate lunch and dinner fine. I am pretty sure it was his random throwing up thing he used to do in Phoenix--we shall see if it happens again next month. I hope for his sake that isn't what it is. . . Later that day all of Joel's family came over, we did an Easter egg hunt with kids and had a yummy dinner.

Zachary had another baseball game this week. He got two hits and when he was in outfield was very good to chase down the ball although he didn't really get the concept of hurrying up and throwing it in but he is learning. His last time up he got tagged out and didn't even question it or get his feelings hurt. Nate was very upset because his game had been canceled the night before and Zach still got to play.

The cool cake

Opening Presents

Dying eggs

The egg hunt

Checking out the prizes

Baseball Day #2

Holy cow life has turned CRAZY. I picked the boys up right after school, went to the store and ordered Nate a birthday cake. Came home helped both boys with their homework while making dinner. Ate dinner way early, went to Zach's school for Literacy Night/Book Fair and still managed to get to his game 30 minutes early (the boys get out of school at 3:30 and we were all at the game by 5:30). All I can say is WHEW. Nate has baseball practice tomorrow and then we get a good baseball break.

So Zachary's game went pretty well. They have a pitching machine that shoots pitches out at them and the rules are more strict on how many pitches you get. Zachary's first time up he struck out his second time he hit the ball but right back to the pitcher so he was able to grab the ball and tag Zach out. Zachary tried really hard not to be sad but was a little confused why he was out. Joel went over to talk to him and Zachary told him, "He tagged me--this is baseball not tag." I was very proud of him--he never cried and still managed to have a good time and said he was excited to play again. Oh and on top of that it was FREEZING. The wind was blowing and it was sprinkling it felt like winter in Phoenix.

After the game Zach was complaining that his head hurt and his stomache was unhappy. I took him upstairs and he started freaking out. Within seconds he was throwing up everywhere. Poor kid was so sad and confused. He has a field trip tomorrow that he is very concerned about missing so hopefully it was just a fluke and he will start feeling better.

Nate's First Game

Nate had his first t-ball game tonight. I seriously almost fell off the bench laughing hysterically through the whole thing. Nate ran so STINKIN cute in his little cleats and way to large helmet on his little head. One time he hit the ball and ran all the way to second and passed his teammate who was just hanging out on second base not really wanting to move. There are a couple of kids on the team who are really good, Nate is definitely not one of them but I think he will have fun and get better as the season goes on. Zachary has his first baseball game tomorrow. It should be fun--the next few months are going to be very very baseball filled.

My parents went up to general conference this past weekend. On the way home they stopped by. They were just going to stay the night and leave first thing Monday morning but as seems to be my case I convinced them they didn't really want to leave and they stayed an extra day. After the older two boys were at school, Cole, me and my parents went out to the monument for the Mountain Meadow Massacre and then Jacob Hamlin's home (early pioneer). It was fascinating!!! There was a missionary (a young guy) at the monument cleaning it up, he was missing his legs from his knees down. Cole of course commented on it as soon as he saw him and the guy was really nice and told me he loved kids. He actually took the picture I have posted of all of us. My mom grew up in Utah and my grandfather was her history teacher so she is quite knowledgeable and can tell fascinating stories. It was a good time and I already am counting down the days until I see my family again.

From 30 to 16

I decided it was time to get a Utah license (I have to take baby steps even though we have lived in Utah for 5 months I am still not quite ready to accept that I left the GREATEST state ever). Joel and I went to go get the new licenses yesterday--I was actually kinda happy to get a better picture then the one I currently have--I look about 12. We were there forEVER, I wasn't aware that I was going to have to take a test. It was open book but even still I felt like I had to verify every question the whole time thinking if I failed the test I would have to have Joel be my chauffeur.

The other night we were eating dinner. All my kids (and lets be honest even me) have a hard time sitting in the chairs around the table because they roll. One second Nate was sitting at the table eating and the next he was on the ground. I looked up and all I could see was his little hand thrown up like he was at a rock concert and he was saying, "That was awesome." It was great.

Speaking of Nate he is quite a random child. He was asking me about something my father had made me when I was young, he asked me if I thought Ronald (my father and yes that is what he called him not grandpa) could make him one. While my Mom was here over the weekend he asked her the same thing, everyone got a good chuckle over it but I honestly don't know that he realized why it was funny.

My Husband Rocks

So I was trying to have a good attitude about my birthday--and for the most part I did. But as my birthday came I was missing my family and AZ friends and kinda just feeling blah (granted I spent the whole morning cleaning and who wants to do that on their birthday). Joel got home from work late and even though I wasn't really in the mood we went out to Texas Roadhouse (YUMMY YUMMY) for dinner. We took the kids to Wal-Mart after dinner (they wanted to spend their allowance and I was a little surprised but Joel thought it would be a good end to the night). When we got home I went down into the basement and hiding there was 4 of my sisters and my Mom. I had jokingly told Joel that for one of my other sisters 30th birthdays we had all gotten together. I totally did not mean that as any sort of a hint but he arranged (LYING a whole lot to me for example he sat around at work for 1 1/2 hrs just wasting time giving my family more time to get here and calls/texts that were supposedly from friends were really from my family members) for everyone to come up.

Besides the fact that we have WAY too much birthday cake left (I made one, Joel bought one and then my family bought one also) it was the perfect weekend. Lots of talking, games and a pedicure. My husband is great for planning it and my family is great for making the 7-10 hr drive (one way) to come see me for a short weekend.

Since I have moved up here I have become slightly obessed with digital scrapbooking. It is nice because it has given me something to do. My sister and I thought we should try to make our own paper and we just released our first free kit. If you want to take a look click here

The countdown has begun

Only 17 more days left in my 20's. I gave Joel such a hard time about turning 30 (and the fact that he was having a hard time with it) that I deserve all the comments I have been getting lately. He points out almost daily that my birthday is coming up. I don't really have that much of a problem with it, 30 has just always seemed old and I don't feel old.

Cole was sick on Friday but refused to take any medicene. He slept and drank lots of Tang and the next day he was fine. He was so proud of himself and informed me that he was magic and never needed medicene again--great.

We had parent teacher conference last week and both my kids teachers had great things to say about them. Nate's teacher ranted and raved about what a good listener he was--kinda funny because that is the area I really struggle with him.

My children have found the joys of being little boys. Every night at dinner they show me their newest wounds, we have had a lot of bruised and scrapped knees and elbows. A hurt chin and some slivers. They love to play outside and seem to think it is worth the cost.

Back to preschool

Cole has been dying to go back to school ever since we moved here. Everyday he would remind me that he really wanted to go to school. I finally found one (my neice actually goes there so it was nice that Cole knew someone). He was so excited and was dressed all the way down to shoes, jacket and a backpack by 8 am even though school didn't start until 9. He kept on talking about going to see Ms. Krysten and I would have to remind him that Ms. Krysten's school was in AZ not Utah. He had a good day his class learned about dinosaurs this month so today the made pancakes and on Thursday they get to go to a mueseum. I asked Cole if he wanted to go back and he said, "No thank you I'm all done." After some pretty good convincing by Nate, Cole decieded he would give it another try.

I am posting some pictures of the birthdays I have missed. Appreciate Cole's cake I think it turned out awesome.

My first I hate you

So the other night Nate was trying to watch tv and I was encouraging him to go get in the shower. I turned off the tv and nicely asked him to go hop in the shower (I was not even a little upset). He walks out of the room and said, "I hate you." I asked him to come back in and tell me what he said and he started cryind and told me he didn't want to say because he used the bad 'h' word. I was honestly so shocked I couldn't even think of what to say so I sent him to his room and told him that his dad would have to deal with him. He has since apologized tons of times, told me he loved me even more times, and has given me yet even more hugs and kisses. Joels' answer was to inform me it was just the first of many more to come.

Zachary pulled out one of his front teeth tonight. I really do NOT enjoy the whole losing teeth gross thing. EWWWW. It was almost all the way out and was just hanging there. He got great pleasure out of coming up and bug me with it. It totally made me gag. After being in bed for 30 minutes he came out with the tooth in his hand. I asked Joel if he had any cash and he informed me that the tooth fairy can't work on Sunday--Zachary would notice if she started and would not be impressed. Zachary didn't even ask if he could put it under his pillow. Great I guess I have to pay attention to that for the next few years now.

So I went and taught in Nate's primary class today. The first time I have ever taught primary. His class sits behind the sunbeam class Cole is in, he kept poking his teacher and saying, "That's my dad, that's my dad and she's my mom." He was so excited about singing and pretty much anything that was said by ANYONE. During singing time he was jumping up and down excited about every song. I was so embarrassed until I looked up and the primary presidency was all smiling laughing at him. We definately need to work on his reverance but he is just a happy very excited little boy.

The Monster turned 4

I am so not ready for my baby to be 4. I held Cole in my arms today like a baby and had to laugh that more of him was hanging out of my arms than was actually in. He has been so excited for his birthday all week. On Sunday they did a spotlight on him and he was jumping up and down so excited that they were describing him. Starting Monday he asked every single day if it was his birthday. On Wednesday we went and ordered him a birthday cake. He really wanted a Ben10 cake but I really didn't think we were going to have any luck finding one. We were looking through a huge book of cakes at Albertsons and as soon as he came across his cake his little face lit up and he yelled to the lady working in the bakery, "You have my cake."

Last night after he went to bed we decorated his room and put up a 4 things we love about you poster. His turned out much better than my first try since I had a better idea what I was going for. Cole woke up at 5:30 this morning and saw his room, realized that it was his birthday and refused to go back to sleep.

We had a nice little family get together tonight. He was so excited to show off his cake to everyone and tell them it was his birthday and he was 4 (although sometimes he would get confused and hold up 4 fingers but say 5). I think he had a good time and he is already looking forward to his next birthday.
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I have been blessed to have 3 great kids and they are so much fun. Cole is sweet, funny great and can make me smile just by walking in the room. Happy happy birthday, baby!!!!

Sick Kids

I think there should be a sign that pops up above kids heads when they are really sick enough to go see a doctor. I have such a hard time telling. It seems like when I rush them out to the doctor they just have a cold or viral infection that the doctor can't do anything for. However when I wait it turns out to be something real and I feel horrible for making my kids wait. On Sunday Nate pretty much lost his voice and was running a very low fever. He had a hard night and I decieded I would take him to the doctor but the next day he was perfectly fine. He was running a low fever again on Tuesday so I had him stay home again and told him he would definately being going to school today. Well last night he was burning up and managed to be up over half of the night coughing and just being miserable. Lucky for him, Cole picked up whatever Nate had and he was up (it seemed like one would wake up as soon as the other one was sleeping) so sad and refused to take any medicene. This morning they both seemed fine but I wasn't fooled. I took them over to urgent care. Nate has ear infections and basically a sinus infection. Cole had ear infections and the start of Nate's infection. Had I know that they were really sick I would have rushed them over to the doctor right away but it is just so hard to tell. So far I have bribed my kids into taking all their drugs and we have just had a nice relaxing day.

Nate is getting a kick out of not having to go to school but really I can only be so entertaining. Even sick the child has way too much energy.I am ready for healthy kids and a good night sleep as I am sure they are too.

My goofy kids

So I told Zachary I thought he should start saving his money, he had managed to get quite a bit from Christmas and his birthday. We made the deal that if he saved until he got to $46 I would give him the last 4 to get to $50. He was so excited and has been a little scavenger picking up any loose change he finds laying around. I give him a quarter for milk everyday and somedays he won't spend it and bring it home to save. Well a couple of weeks ago he went to a birthday party for one of his cousins and came home with tons of candy. Of course both of his brothers ate all their candy within a few days but Zachary saved his. He has it laid out in his room grouped into price catergories. Nate and Cole (Zachary takes pitty on Cole and sells him the candy for less) have bought quite a bit of it and he has made a couple dollars. I went in and took a laffy taffy last night and the stinker informed me that it would be $.50. Really, for a banana flavored rock hard laffy taffy.

I was hanging out at my sister-in-law house yesterday. She does daycare and one of the dads walked in to pick up his kids. His arms were COVERED in tatoos. Cole walked up to him and clear as day said, "What the heck. How'd you get that all over you?" The guy just laughed and told Cole he drew on himself but we almost fell over laughing. Gotta love the honesty of kids.

Nate has a good little friend (our bishops' son). He has come over a couple times and the two are so silly together. On Monday the just sat in Nate's room and laughed like crazy. It was very odd but it's good to see Nate adjusting. He used to talk about going back to Arizona all the time and he now seems pretty happy.

Happy Happy Birthday Zachary

I had every intention of posting on Zachary's birthday and doing 7 years of Zach. Unfortunately the day was gone in a heartbeat and before I knew it his birthday had come and gone.

Luckily he had a good day. Cole, Nate and I decorated his room while he was at school and made a poster '7 Reasons we love Zach'. The boys had (a fun time doing it and it was totally worth it to see how grateful Zachary was. He told me thank you about 8 times and gave his brothers each about 5 hugs. His birthday was on Wednesday and his room is still decorated at his request.

We did a family birthday party (with all the cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents and great grand parents that live here). It was perfect and he had a good time. If anyone wants any birthday cake come and see me we still have lots.

So the day before his birthday I was telling Zachary the story of when he was born and I thought I may want to put it down in writing--feel free to ignore this it is mostly for me. Zachary was supposed to be born on January 14th. In true Zach fashion the child still hadn't come by 20th. That Sunday my Dad was returning from Mexico so Joel and I went to go pick him up. Since 9/11 was pretty recent the security at the airport was very tight. I had been having little contractions most of the day but I decieded it would be easier for me to get out and go get find my dad then it would be for Joel. I got out and wandered around and checked ther terminals and had him paged several times but to no avail. Finally after wandering around for about 45 minutes and having pretty bad contractions we figured out that my dad was waiting at a different terminal.

Once we were back home the contractions continued. After a couple more hours Joel forced me to pack a bag and took me to the hospital. They put me on a monitor and made me wander around the hospital and decided my labor was not really progressing so they sent me home. They were nice enough to give me some pills to help me sleep through the night. The pills worked great but unfortunately around midnight I went into full on labor. Joel had the lovely chore of getting me to the hospital but I was competely drugged so I was less than helpful. I woke up a couple of times on the drive over but only when I was having a contraction. We got back to the hospital and I was checked in right away. We hung out and I got my first epideral (which I have to admit I LOVE). My sister came and hung out with me for a couple hours. All the nurses got a kick out of Joel and his not wanting to watch the birthing or cutting the cord. Around 6:15 am Zachary was born. Joel cried when he got to hold his first baby boy. I was so touched I cried.

After a day at the hospital we went home. The first few months with Zach were very trying, but he quickly turned into the sweet (grumpy, helpful and great) boy he is.
Even though it is late I am still going to post my 7 years of Zach--probably tomorrow.

Ben 10 has moved in with me

Two years ago Cole bought himself a Ben 10 watch with some of his birthday money. The child wore it EVERYWHERE we would let him. After about a year the stinkin child took it into the shower and it would no longer work. He still continued to wear it and would every once in awhile tell me that it needed new batteries. I would remind him that he took it into the shower so it no longer worked. With some allowance he went to the store and bought the new Ben 10 watch but it just wasn't the same and he continued to wear the old one. Well the other day he took the watch to Grandpa and he changed the battery and lo and behold now the watch works. Cole has had it on his arm non stop and insists that you call him Ben 10. If you call him Cole he will correct you and only answer to Ben 10. He is such a nut.

Bad Bad Tooth Fairy

Zachary has had a slightly loose tooth. Well yesterday he was bound and determined that it was time to come out. All during church he messed with it (ugh I feel sorry for his primary teacher you could hear the roots breaking as he moved it around) and it was amazingly loose by the time we came home. After lunch he resumed the messing and it was out in no time. He was so excited and put it in a bag under his pillow. After that we went over to my Joel's brothers house and had dinner and got home an hour passed bed time. I hurried the kids into bed and didn't think twice about Zachary's tooth under his pillow.

This morning Zach was quite peeved that the tooth fairy had 'forgotten' him. Joel was very quick and reminded him that it was Sunday and of course the tooth fairy does not work on Sunday--which he actually took very well. I sure hope that he doesn't loose any other teeth on Sundays.

We took the kids to McDonalds on Saturday. Nate got to bring home the class bear and he needed to have an adventure. Joel suggested McDonalds and they were all about it. Nate was cute he took the bear down the slide, put him in a high chair while he ate and pretended to share his food. Today he had to write a story about the adventures. He was supposed to draw the pictures but was struggling with drawing the bear so I offered to draw it for him. I am pretty sure that he could have done much better himself. Drawing is definately not my thing.

While at McDonalds' the boys got small toy dogs for the toy in their happy meal. Cole (and actually all of the boys) have carried the dog around with him. The dogs name is Friday, which Cole says in a very cute high pitched voice. I go out of my way to make him say Friday as often as humanly possible.

Special Visitor

I have been blessed with a great family and love and adore every single last member. This was the first year that I didn't spend the holidays with a member of my family and as Chirstmas time came and passed I was really missing having them around. The Sunday before Christmas we were sitting in Sacrament meeting and the choir was singing a Christmas song that I totally associate with my mom. I turned to tell Joel that and instead I got all teary eyed and couldn't say anything. Luckily my sister Laura (who has spent every Christmas since 2003 with me) was missing me also and had planned a visit for the week after Christmas. I was more excited for that than I was for Christmas.

She came up Monday and planned to leave on Thursday. We took my kids to the movies, played tons and tons of games, got pedicures, went to the park and just hung out and talked until the wee hours of the morning. When Thursday came no one was ready for her to leave so she put it off one more day, but it vanished before we knew it. Friday morning I used Zachary against her and he begged her to stay for just ONE more day. She did even though it meant driving 10 hours all in one day to get home much later than she wanted. Thank you thank you thank you Laura. I love you!! Moving to St. George was good for my little family and while I know it is the right thing to do, it makes me sad that I am so far away from all my friends and family who I love so much. You guys are all the best!!

NOTE: I have gone to bed around 3 am everynight this week so I am sure that I am extra emotional from lack of sleep!!

Christmas

Wow I can't believe that it has come once again. We had a great Christmas. Zach and Nate each had a chain that they got from school so they were very diligant in removing a link a day to remind me how long we had until it was Christmastime. Christmas Eve Joel's grandparents and uncle came over and we had a nummy dinner and played dominos. The pajama elves brought each of my boys Star Wars the Clone Wars pajamas. We had all the boys sleep in one room (a tradition I loved when I was young) and they actually went to bed pretty good. The next morning we heard Zach and Nate start talking at 5 am. We waited for a few minutes but then decided we may as well get up. We had to wake Cole up which took a little work but as soon as he figured out what was going on he jumped out of bed asking if Santa had come. The boys each got a new bike--Zach informed me that he didn't even know that he had wanted a new one. It was a great morning. I got a new laptop and Santa surprised me with a pink Ipod. I love it. Just to let you know Miss Becker I got a long brown and pink sweater and TIGHTS I thought about posting a picture just for you.

Opening the pj's.

Leaving a snack for Santa (he got a big peice of eclair, 2

chocolate chip cookies, 5 carrots and a glass of egg nog)

Santa came!!

Opening presents

Lovin' his rescue pack