Showing Some Skin...

After a day of fun in the sun someone had to pay I guess. That was mostly me. I was the good mom and remembered to spray all the kids with sun tan lotion (LOVE the spray on kind!!! Best invention) 2-3 times each. Using a whole bottle by the time we went through all the kids. BUT, do you think I'd remember to spray myself??? Nope! Thought about it a couple times, but it never did happen, and this was the end result. My redneck husband, and my lobster back (and shoulders, neck and front that wasn't covered by my swimsuit. No back rubs for me for a while!!!!!!!

By the way, the pictures don't really do the pain justice.

Peter's Birthday Party!!!

By the way, YES I DID GO A LITTLE PICTURE CRAZY!! This is about how much fun Maxwell had at the party. He showed up the last 5 minutes and only wanted to carry around a party bag. He slept through the whole party somehow.
Peter was so proud of his special made party bag. He kept out some things that he wanted for himself. But then ended up sharing/giving them away to his friends anyway. Funny boy.
Rich had as much fun as the kids in the water balloon fight!
Sam trying to steal Dixon's water balloon.
Peter picked out this cake from our cake book! He had to have it look just like the picture. I was happy because it was an easy cake. The bear in the back left ring is supposed to be Peter.
All the shirtless boys helped Peter blow out his 4 candles.
Present time was crazy!!! Most of the kids wanted to open the presents they brought, and then give them to Peter. Thank you everyone for the gifts! Peter loves them all and is very possessive of them! We're working on that!




Peter was even biting the water balloons!
Happy Birthday to you!
The parachute game actually worked!! It was fun to see the soaking wet balls fly around!
The water balloons started out as a tossing game, but didn't last one round. All went crazy as the kids took the more than 400 water balloons out to a throwing game of fun!!!

Kaimen, Kaiden, and Max jumping in the little pool.
ALL the kids eating lunch. Peter picked out the menu. Hot dogs, Cheetos's and juice. Now that we could handle. Kids from Peter clockwise: Peter, Ty, Derek, Tevita, Josh C., Max, Kaiden, Dixon, Jacob T., Josh T, Kaimen (on the towel) Emma, Rachel (behind Emma) Sophie, and Sam. Hyrum must have been somewhere else when I took the picture. 16 kids. Most of them 4yr old boys!! Kids that couldn't make it: Holly (she was the only girl Peter actually invited!), Logan, Dylon, Tate, Micah, Porter. That would have made 22 kids!! We missed them!!
Peter up to bat first for his MUST HAVE pirate pinata!!

It took a while for them to get some good hits in. Rich eventually put it on the ground and let them at it. This is Kaiden. But Rich had to do the final hitting to get the pinata to open and revel the massive amount of hidden goodies!!!
The sticky guys were Peter's request and a favorite of everyone. I hope everyone ended up with enough toys and candy, it was hard to keep it all even!

The birthday boy getting warmed up!
Max, Kaiden and Tevita taking time out from play to look at a little bug. Are all boys alike in that manner??!!
Ty and Peter having some DRY fun!
The slip and slide wasn't a super big hit. Here's Josh C. investigating to sprinkles!
Kaimen taking a break from play.

Peter had such a fun birthday party today!!! We must have been crazy to let him invite everyone he did. But it all turned out great. The weather was perfect, nice and hot!! Perfect for the water games we had lined up. Of course it was mostly just boys running and screaming for the two hours of party. I was grateful that none of them tried to escape. They all wanted to stay and play together. And there was no fighting or quarrels either. Things that sometimes happen with kids. Peter has so many friends, he makes them wherever he goes. I was happy to be able to let ALL his friends come today. How could I say NO to my birthday boy?! Next year may be a little smaller. We were all tired by the end of it all. But it was worth it.

Everyone had a great time. Especially Peter.

School's Out For Summer...

Us moms and kids

Teresa, Pam, Chrissy, Biffy, me, and Jill. Tawna was home sick.
Kaimen, Cade, Sophie, Holly, Cameron, Brooke, Madison

Sophie was in a Joy School Preschool this year where I took turns teaching with myself and 6 other moms. Our group had 5 girls and 2 boys. Half of the group was left over from a play group/early preschool we did last year for our kids. Today was our little graduation party at the park. The kids had the best time playing together for more than 2 hours for the last official time. It was bitter sweet for me. In more ways than one. (Max has been teething this week. My boys teeth bad. No appitite, runny everything, high fevers, majorly fussy, whining, and needy. And that's just round one. After a few days of this we get a brief reprive and then it starts all over again for another few days until the tiny tooth actually makes a permanat apperance in the mouth. Today was the first day where there was no fever and he actually ate breakfast. So I thought we'd be good to go.) Max cried almost the entire time we were at the park. Maybe I should have gone home and saved everyone having to view his awful and miserable state. But I didn't. This picnic was just as much for me as it was for our kids. I have LOVED all the moms we've been with this year. Making some new friends along the way during our 10 minute conversations between dropping off and picking up our kids each week. They've seen me at my worst when I have just rolled out of bed, somehow dressed Sophie (and only her) and loaded everyone up to take her to preschool, usually late. And I feel that allowing people to see me in that state means there is some underlaying bonding going on. At least on my part. I have walked in the rain and snow sometimes to get her there. And I have been able to teach and watch these kids grow. Getting them ready to enter the school world next year. This experience has given me a greater appreciation for real teachers and what they go through on a regular and daily basis. Where do they get all that energy from? Mine is about spent, and for that I am gratefull the year is at an end. It has also swayed my decision to send Peter away to preschool in the fall. I think it will be best for all concerned. But I truely hope I can muster up the energy to stay in touch and in friendship with these gals. They are great and I have learned so much from each one of them. We are all in different and the same stages of life, at the same time. Teresa is so easy going yet grounded. Pam has 5 kids from 15yrs down to 2yrs and has so much inner wisdom along with a great sense of humor. Chrissy is so fun and smart, always ready to listen. Biffy is Biffy, so easy to get along with, understanding, and sees the big picture in life. Jill is quiet yet firmly planted in love and life always with a smile on her face. And Tawna is so willing to do for others yet is not afraid to ask for help when she needs it. I am so thankful for these women, just as I know Sophie is for their children. We will miss our regular contact with them, but look forward to this next phase of life, whatever it may be.

SHE DID IT!!!!!

Two days ago Sophie called me outside to show me what she thought she could do. Ride her bike. She didn't quite have it, but with a little help she could get a peddle or two around before loosing her balance. The next day was a whole different story. She was really doing it. So much so that I could sit in front of the house and just watch her! She can start on her own and keep going on her own. She has somehow mastered the art of two wheel bike riding, mostly on her own, with a few short lessons here and there from mom and dad, and even the neighbor girls during the past few weeks. When it was all official and there was no turning back we were both SOOO excited. I don't know whose face was beaming brighter, hers or mine. And I told her we would buy her a helmet just as soon as she could ride on her own. So sure enough, to be true to my word, last night at 8:30pm she and I went on a mommy date and picked her out a helmet. Barbie. It came with elbow and knee pads that she had to model as soon as we walked in the door. Well modeling came with a plea to try it out. And there we were last night using the last of the days light to watch our baby girl ride all around the culdisac over and over and over. And now that's all she wants to do is get out there and ride her bike. What a great way to start the summer. I am SO proud of Sophie. I knew she could do it!!!

Weekend Projects

Well, for a lot of people Memorial Day Weekend is full of exciting plans like family camp outs, BBQ's to your hearts content and many more fun summer kick off activities. When I was in College I worked a summer in Island Park, ID. We spent more than a month gearing up for the BIG weekend of Memorial Day. And we were packed! So many fishers and campers and vacationers. We are usually right there with you, but this year we had other plans in mind. We had household projects to accomplish. Our list was just right for the long weekend. We got it all done. Including our storage room. We have two. One is dedicated to food and toys (weird combo I know, but it works) and the other is a regular storage room. Our major project was tackling the first. We took EVERYTHING out and sorted/organized. And then put it all back. It took longer than expected, of course! But SO worth it. It needed to be done so badly! Rich conveniently had to leave during the cleaning time. He said all that dust bothered him. So I had to do it solo... But now the hundreds of cans of wheat, rice, potatoes, elbow macaroni, jars, etc. and other food are super organized! And the toys are all in their right boxes, clearly labeled (for those who can read!!). I am so happy with the job that I find myself wandering down to the basement to just look at the room. How silly is that ?! But the sense of accomplishment feels so good.

We did other smaller projects that are actually part of larger projects that need to be done, but everything on our list was crossed off and we still had time to go to a BBQ on Monday night. That was fun. We took our HUGE bowl of macaroni salad (anyone want some, we still have leftovers) and had a great night visiting with friends. We really need to do that more often. Rich and I were introduced to the fun world of this fun Band Game on PS2. See, I don't even really know what the name of it is. We are so out of the loop. But it's like Guitar Hero, but with the whole band! We loved it and would love to play again. We (ok, I) have some skills that need to be improved upon. Technology is so interesting. What will they come up with next?

The best part of our project weekend was just having Rich home. And the fact that we didn't HAVE to go anywhere, or really DO anything we didn't want to. Love that.

A Family Favorite

ASPARAGUS

Our families favorite vegetable. (Max not included) There is something about the tender and tall green vegetable that is so sweet and delicious. But with it being more than $3/lb at the store sometimes, we don't get it all that often. Turns out there is a great farm near by(Day Farms) that grows asparagus and you can pick it yourself for only $1/lb!!! Heaven, I'm in Heaven... We've gotten it a bunch since we heard about it, but I'VE never been. And every time I've tried they've been out. Too popular I suppose(and now I have just leaked the secret even farther)! But I find life to be unfair in that respect sometimes. Always having the right shoes in your size when you are 'just looking' and then gone when you're ready to buy. Things like that. Last night when we got there we saw a sign warning that the fields were low. But I was determined to pick some myself... And it was our FHE activity. We couldn't have just turned around empty handed. And it took about an hour in the blazing evening sun to pick each piece of asparagus to equal 3lbs. And when we left all of our shoes and all the wheels on the stroller had a mass amount of pokeys. We didn't want to track them home so we sat and un-picked the pokeys. Good thing Rich and Sophie have a fetish for picking things. When we left the farm we were all hot, sweaty, tired, dirty and hungry. But it was SO worth it!!! Fresh asparagus like that tastes amazing! In fact, that is all I ate for dinner. A large heaping plate full of fresh steamed asparagus, with butter and salt and pepper. My mouth is watering again... On top of being super yummy, this pregnancy has given me wonderful cravings for all things fresh and real. Meaning fruits and vegetables. Seriously, they taste better than ever! Meat is so-so, and sugar is good at those peak craving times, but not all the time. So maybe this baby will be a healthy eater? If not, I'm really enjoying it!

The plan was NOT to let the kids use the knives to cut the asparagus themselves, but they got really bored when Rich had to go all the way back to the van and get the stroller. I gave in and they actually did really well. PS-did you know that asparagus grew like this? I didn't. When we walked onto the field I didn't even see the asparagus at first. Till I looked really close and saw the green shoots shyly coming up through the brown dirt.

Laser Tag

My friend Biffy organized this great event! Outdoor Laser Tag! There is a company based out of Orem that comes to you were ever you want (we were at Barnes Park in Kaysville) and sets it all up, and does it all for you to make the night super fun(it was $10/person for the laser tag)! I'll get the website to you later. I was excited about it from the first time she told me. The night was a huge group date with 17 couples in all. Some of them were new faces and some were old faces we hadn't seen in a while. She organized dinner at 6:30pm. $10/couple, not bad!! Sometimes that is so the better alternative to potluck. And dinner was really yummy! The games started as the sun went down and we played till the curfew of the park. 11pm (that's right, we were there for almost 5 hours!)! We were randomly split into 2 teams and played all sorts of different games. All with the same two rules. 1. Don't get dead. 2. Get some (kill the enemy). I wasn't super sucessful at either. My 6 1/2 month belly felt more like a 10 month belly as I ran and ran, at a somewhat slower pace than my team mates. And crawling or laying on the ground? Didn't really happen for me. Why was I invited again! I wouldn't exactly have called myself a strength to my team, but I still had so much fun. (I guess there is a good imitation of me running/waddling around that I haven't seen yet. All in good fun, right??) So as the guys were explaining the rules and what not they pulled out the guns and the head gear. Apparently Rich and I were the only ones that thought the head sets were a little special looking and we were secretly laughing to each other when they held them up! But it was all in good fun, and at least all 34 of us looked a little goofy together! I am sad to report that my team, the blue team, or team Bravo, was the loosing team. In each game. And I think we played 5 games! But win or loose, we all had so much fun! Thanks Biffy!!! Let's do it again sometime...

Look at all those dangerous weapons!The whole group
Cool special effects!

SOOOO fun!!

Slip N Slide

Today was nice and hot. So we tried out our new Slip-n-slide that we got for Peter's Birthday Party. Sophie and Peter each invited a friend over and had so much fun! Well, Sophie did anyway. Peter and his friend Josh did, for about 2 seconds. And Sophie's friend Holly stayed on the side lines. Sophie especially loved it when Rich would pull her along at full speed and let go at the end. Get ready for party fun!!! Here we come!!! All the kids enjoyed the plate of chocolate covered Rice Crispy treats that Holly brought. They didn't even make it in the house!