Castle Park!!

Today was one of those rare days when I felt brave, and energetic enough to venture out with all four boys. There were several reasons for this: 1) I was feeling guilt ridden because we haven't done anything since the boys have been off track. 2) It was a beautiful Fall day, albeit a little warm once I started packing tubby No-No around. 3) I was beginning to literally feel like a prisoner in my own home. :) So, we got some lunch and headed to the Castle Heights Park in Fruit Heights. I know many of you have been there, and for those who haven't, you must! It is the best park around!



My photos don't do the park justice. It looks like a huge castle and has all kinds of secret passages and places for the kids to play. There is a dragon to climb on, a boat to play in, and lots more. The boys' favorite is the tire swing.


I LOVE Fall!!!! I wish we could have Fall for four or five months and maybe have a week or two of Winter. Just enough time to enjoy some nice white snow, and then have it be over! I guess we live in the wrong state for that. I guess I'd better get the boys out and enjoy it while we can!

Chunky Monkey

Happy 8 months to Noah tomorrow! I don't know why I started having the boys' pictures taken at 3, 8, and 12 months...I guess it was enough spacing that they looked different enough to warrant another photo. Plus, I find it ridiculous how much you have to pay to get photos done! So, poor Noah is the only child who has never been to a "real" studio. Which, is probably okay since at about this age my kids tend to get scared of strangers and refuse to smile for a photographer. Mark and Devin got No-No to smile in these. They did a pretty good job, don't ya think? The photographer wasn't half bad either;).

As Sisters....

Haley flew off to Hawaii to reunite with her hubby/BYU Hawaii student this morning. Last night all "us girls" got together and did what we do best-eat! It was good to gab and fill our faces. I must say, for all the talk about girls and how competitive and catty they are, we don't have any of that in our family. We all get along, and we're all very different. I am so thankful to have so many sisters and I love them all!(I'm including Mom, of course, she's a "sister", too!)

Haley's hair used to be really long, but she recently got it cut. We have similar hairdos, so we thought we'd take a photo. It ends up we have more in common then just the same cut and color! We both have the dreaded greasy complexion!! Shine On!! :)

I'll Take the Short Cut

Ty got his hair cut by a "real" hair stylist for the first time on Tuesday. It was a little sad, but his hair was getting a little shaggy. I have never loved the long hair look for boys, and although Cooper did look pretty cool with his former do, I am hoping none of my boys decide they want the long hair look, at least not for a few more years-and by then hopefully it will be out of style!!! Mark and I substituted in primary last week and the 11 year-olds had sharing time. One of the kids got up and he SERIOUSLY looked like he had just rolled out of bed. His hair was down to his shoulders and SERIOUSLY matted...I mean SERIOUSLY! Boys are a little sloppy by nature, do we need to add to it with the hair? Come on!!

Just because I have put this out there I guarantee one of my boys will decide they want the shaggy dog do. I guess I'll just have to say, "If missionaries can't do it, you can't do it". :) That will go over well. I can see it now.

I want to be a missionary NOW!

On the way home from school on Fridays I stop at Maverik and get the boys an Icee. Today we started picking up Riley, a friend of Sam's. We all headed to Maverik for the weekly treat. There are usually two flavors, and most of the time one of those is off limits because it is made with Coke, or something else with caffeine in it. Now, don't get me wrong. Mark and I are not fanatics, we have our caffeine once in a while, but for the most part we avoid it, and we don't let the boys have it. So, when I got inside I found there was a blue Icee, made with some type of energy drink, and a red Icee made with good 'ole Minute Maid. Naturally I made four red Icees and gracefully carried them out to the car. When Sam asked me what colors (flavors) they had, I told them blue and red, but the blue was made with a drink that had things like caffeine in it. Riley said, "I drink caffeine". And that did it. Sam promptly began telling him that caffeine makes you ornery if you drink it, and if you drink too much of it "you'll be ornery all day". (Maybe Sam has secretly been drinking caffeine behind my back:) Riley told Sam that he is never ornery all day. Then Sam said, "Riley, will you please stop drinking caffeine? It isn't good for you." (Note the missionary commitment pattern :) I said, "Sam, people get to choose for themselves, Riley and his family drink caffeine, and that's okay." Later when I went to pick Sam up after playing at Riley's house, Riley's Mom said, "So, I guess Riley has committed to stop drinking caffeine." I started laughing and told her all about the Maverik trip. She said she thinks Sam will make a great missionary. Boy, is she right! Sam is very persistent, and when he believes something is right, there is no backing down. What a kid!

If at first you don't succeed....if at second you don't...if at third...

I just finished reading cousin Kim's blog, and can I just say, I am VERY impressed!! She has "lunch lessons" she sends with her kids' home lunches and she has a chore chart that includes kind words and secret somethings (secret acts of service). I have an oh-so-cute chore chart/magnet board that I had made up with little vinyl pictures of each chore and a magnet with matching pictures that the boys can put over the picture when they have completed their chore. Believe me, it is a chore for me to remember to remind them to do their chores, and half the time they do them and forget to put the magnet on, which isn't the point anyway, it's just that we started out with the board so that the could earn money, only a quarter a job people-when I was growing up it was a dime! So essentially if they had all the magnets on the board at the end of the day I would calculate what they had earned that day and at they end of the week they would get paid. Well, Mark and I had the discussion about how kids shouldn't be paid for things they need to do because they are part of the family, etc. etc. So, we came up with other jobs, ie. take the trash out, and Saturday jobs, that aren't paid for. Whatever. They don't get paid for anything now, because of the whole remembering to remind. But, they DO do most of their jobs, all be it with a little complaining. And piano practice...it took us 1.5 years, and finally Dodger D will practice most of the time without complaining. As for the lunch lessons, my kids refuse to take home lunches...any ideas for school lunch?

If at first you don't succeed.....

Blog Facelift

Hey all! I got on Cutest Blog on the Block after seeing Paige's and Angie's blogs, and if anyone is interested in changing their blog, let me know, because it was a little tricky. But, they have some way cute templates, I think the site is cutestblogontheblock.com. Not that your blogs aren't cute already, but I was ready for a change....