TJ turns 36!

I couldn't get anything out of TJ this year as far as what he wanted to do. He shot down all my ideas and said let's just do dinner. So that was the plan but once I asked the girls which sitter they wanted to come over both Tallie and Chloe immediately teared up. They had been counting down the days until TJs birthday and were so excited to celebrate it with him that they were crushed to know they were going to be left at home. Chloe even sent Tj a tx saying how she felt. It was so sweet and so we all went out to Cubbies. We did start the day with a donut cake and the girls got Tj an airplane and I got him some new Keens since the ones he had got stolen in Hawaii.

I love every year with this guy and love him so much! 

Happy Birthday TJ!

Late Easter pics

busy

The other day I was a mom to 9 kids. And I was surprised how the day went and all that I got done. I exersised while the 5 littles played, did some laundry, did the dishes and got ready. We played outside and then had lunch. I took one to school and then went to Walmart for food with the 4. We came home, put the groceries away, finished the laundry, had a snack and played some more outside with 2 more neighbor kids. We picked up 3 at school and dropped 2 off at piano and came home. Had some more snacks. My older 2 came home from school. I take the two babies, leave the rest at home, and go pick up the 2 at piano. We come home I lay one baby on a bed sleeping, and rock the other to sleep and all the older kids eat snacks. We play, I make dinner, TJ comes home, we now have added a dog and bunny to the mix. 5 leave and go home and there is now 4 left at home:)

Busy day but it wall went well and everyone had fun playing.

This kid

This kid is in a bad routine.

He refuses to take naps and will scream and yell forever when I lay him down for naps. He will not fall asleep. Sometimes if I have the time I end up driving him around for 15 min to get him to fall asleep and then carry him in to his bed. Sometimes he will let me rock him (which is why I just can't part with my ugly rocking chair just yet). But everyday, and it never fails, he starts to loose his mind around 4pm. He doesn't even know what to do with him self. The only thing that gets him to calm down is his blanket and me in the rocking chair. Within minutes he is fast asleep. He is waking up on my bed an hour before bed time and then staying up late and sleeping in and then doing it all over the next day!! He NEEDS his naps and I don't know how to break this cycle. BUT he sure does look cute on my bed everyday :)

Little things to remember

This is a typical view for me when I'm in the kitchen trying to make dinner..all the kids at my feet, all trying to tell me something at the same time. And lately they have been doing the "air quote" thing. Most of the time they don't use it correctly but every now and then they get it right and it is so funny. 

 I haven't really gotten serious about potty training Kasen, not sure why, but I can't find my motivation. But he will sit on the potty before bed and bath and he looks so darn cute.

 We are trying the hit up the parks more often now and have been taking our lunches. I really love having these two around. It is so different with a girl and boy then when I was taking just Tallie and Chloe on picnics.

This is how we drink water at our house. Everyone has their own bottle and this is how they and I know how much water they are actually drinking throughout the day. When I don't drink enough water I get headaches, I get irritable and very grumpy. And it goes the same for the kids. They each know how many times they need to fill their bottles before they go to bed and they think its a fun game to see who can get done first. Its cool.

Spring break in Arizona

We weren't planning on going anywhere for spring break. I knew TJ had the rest of his days off from work spoken for for family reunions and things so I had planned to do some fun stuff at home. I even shot the Welsches down when they asked us to go to Moab with them. I feel really bad and hope they don't think I said no just because we didn't want to go with them. TJ surprised me and said he was cashing in some sick days and he wanted to leave Tuesday after work for Arizona. The kids were so excited. Its been a long time since they had been to my sisters houses...actually it was the first for them and TJ to see the new houses. We were also excited to see new cousin Rosie! We drove part way Tues and stayed in the the La Verkin house and then drove into Heidi's Wed evening. Its always fun going to her house and seeing all the kids. We did some night swimming, went to see the new movie Cinderella, swam (with little ducklings that hatched one day we were there). We spent one whole day with my sisters. And funny enough we still never made it over to see Tandy's or Chelsea's new house. We swam at Deidra's and then went over to Jodi's new apartment and swam some more and played volley ball, the kids drank endless hot chocolate and talked late by the fire at the pool. It was fun to be with my sisters and I wish we could do it more often. I actually think my dad is trying to plan a sisters trip to Tennessee in November. Anyways it was fun to get away and enjoy some sun since it was snowing that week at home in Utah. Lately, and I can't admit this to anyone but the thought of moving to Arizona was sounding not so bad. I know the summers are miserable but for most of the year its outdoor weather and that would be heaven for me. And not that we were ever thinking of moving but just the thought was sounding nice. Well after going to visit this last time I realize that I will never live in Az. It's nice to be around family don't get me wrong but because of my older sisters and the fact they have been there so long and are established, and the fact that TJs sister has a resort for a house, we would never have our own life there. We would be living our lives at Heidi and Deidras houses and all of our memories would be there and not at our own home. All holidays would never be at our house and I think thats sad. There would never be any reason to have family over to our house. So I'm glad we live here and that we do have family here. I love though how we lived here for several years, just TJ and I with not a single family member here. We created our own life and I love it.

VT

I'm pretty much the worst visiting teacher ever. Maybe its hard for me since I'm always saying "dang" in my head when my visiting teachers are trying to make appointments with me. Its awkward time on my couch for 30 min doing small talk and I don't always enjoy it and I definitly don't want to be that "burden" on someone else who has to schedule me into their day. I know I need a better attitude. But I also think the whole reason for VT is for sisters to have friends and have someone they feel like they can call on when they need a hand. So I have been trying to find different ways to VT than sitting on a couch. I try park dates with our kids, I'm planning lunch with Michelle this month. And for some of the women I visit they just need help with life and getting thru the day. So I take a lot of meals. I don't ask, I just tell them I'm showing up. And you know what, that for me is the best visit. Give me a night off from cooking, say hello and I promise you will come to mind when I need help or someone to talk to. So the other day I went to town and bust out all the dinners, plus our own, all at once. And throughout the month I like to drop some FB messages to say hello. I'm not great at this but I am trying to actually try and be better.