Sunday Naps

Ryan really wanted a Sunday nap today. So... we had Wrestle Mania instead! The boys got together the Nacho Libre masks we picked up in Mexico and donned capes to become the world's greatest wrestlers!

Ryan was a good sport and gave up trying to take his nap when the boys attacked him and begged him to wrestle. It usually only lasts a little while before one of the little tikes gets injured and is pretty sure their wrestling career is over. But within a few minutes they are back on their WWF pro wrestling track.

Not really sure what their poor little sister is going to do here in a few months, right now she sleeps through the madness. But it is only a matter of time before she will be forced to join the chaos, grit her teeth (she should have some by then) and show those boys how it is done! Pretty sure she will be a tough little cookie.

4-2=2

He did it! Tate decided it was time to ride a two wheeler! We have tried to convince him that he is ready for a few months now, but he didn't agree. Until.... he saw our three year old neighbor girl riding a bike without training wheels, and then his friend from preschool riding without training wheels. His training wheels came off that afternoon, he practiced for a few hours and he got it down! He is a competitive little fella, if someone else can do it, then he can to and probably better - at least that is how he feels!

He may need to work on his steering a little more!

Sunday Photos

Church was great today, we had great speakers, good lessons and pretty decent kids even! But by the time we got home (later than usual because of interviews), the boys were pretty restless and anxious to get out of their shirts and ties and into comfy jammies. With the rain today, I said go for it, less laundry later!
But McCall was happy to stay in her outfit and I have been pretty excited to put up some pics of this raz ma taz get up. We had family pictures this past week and this was her outfit. I have to say, I have never had so much dressing her up! Seriously, one word, LEGGINGS! I absolutely love them and they were so cute and easy, I am having too much fun with this, it is my new guilty pleasure (not that I gave up any of my old ones, I just added another!). Perhaps one day she will look back at all these outfits and ask why did I ever dress her in those hideous clothes? Well, at least it is not polyester, no offense mom!

I love that she is always quick to smile and laugh at me, she entertained all those around her today in Sunday School, until she got too out of hand and noisy, then it was off to disturb the other children trying to get to sleep.

Look at the flexibility! I wish I could do this, not necessarily suck on my toes, but it would be nice to have the option!

Weekly Gage Antics

Well, this week was another typical week of insane and naughty antics performed by our lovely three year old, Gage.
Here is the run down of what went down this week:
Corn syrup - did you know it is nearly impossible to get the stick out of wood floors after corn syrup has been poured on them? While climbing in the pantry trying to get the Oreos on the top shelf he spilled a brand new bottle of corn syrup on the floor, potatoes, in the sugar and flour bins, and all around. I neglected to take the time to take pictures of this not so hilarious event. It took me a good half hour to clean up this mess, all the while dropping a few cuss words (mostly silently).
Fridge - did you know you also cannot hide Oreos in the cupboard above the fridge? Gage was caught three times within an hour on top of the fridge, hanging perilously with said Oreos in his hands. Dang Oreos, I won't be buying them again, even if they are on sale and the boys beg for them!
Baby food - after packing the church bag Saturday night I sent the boys to bed. Gage snuck out of his bed and into my room where he proceeded to eat all of McCall's cheerios in my BED! So I had crumbs to clean up in my bed, grrrrr, nothing like trying to sleep while picturing sugar ants invading my bed to catch the tiny morsels left behind by their good friend Gage. He is solely responsible for feeding all insects in the entire neighborhood!
Clothing - this is an ongoing mischievous behavior. Gage is constantly changing his clothes, he will wear anything and everything from costumes to his sisters sweaters that he can find. It drives me CRAZY! Not to mention all the extra laundry I have to do.
Garage - Gage has figured out how to escape the confines of our home into the dark abyss of the garage. He doesn't seem to mind the darkness, apparently he thinks he can hide some of his mis- deeds in the dinginess contained there in. He constantly gets into the freezer and leaves it open just to melt all the Popsicles. He knocks over every bike he encounters and moves tools around to new hiding places. But this was a new one for him,

Climbing on top the van! I found him up there happy as a clam and quickly realized he could not get down on his own. I took advantage of this babysitter - I left him up there long enough to get my floors mopped and vacuumed. He declined my assistance at getting down and chose to stay up there even longer. So, I finished dinner. He finally conceded to get down when it was dinner time. I may start putting him up there when I need an extra few minutes, or an hour, or.... I had better stop here!

We have resorted to letting Gage stay up with us one night per week so we can remember how much we love him when he is not getting into trouble. One on one he is so much fun to be with and so manageable, but this is not possible during the day, so we are doing what we can when we can to remind us of his sweetness. And believe me, we need that!

Down Pour

The boys enjoyed a sudden down pour of rain this afternoon. I enjoyed that it cooled things down. I love spring and the ever changing weather!

Kid Funnies

I've been keeping a mental list (most things with me are mental) of the funny things my kids have been saying lately.
Connor came home from school today so excited that he got to see a "dead mans truck" today. I asked, what do you mean? He replied, "you know the truck you ride in at the end of your life." I am thinking it was a hearse! I guess it was vehicle day at school where the kids were able to see and play in firetrucks, police vehicles, ambulances, etc. But the dead mans truck was the best one, not sure why that was at the elementary school, perhaps morticians are recruiting earlier these days. And I thought people were dying for that job!
Tate asked if we could get a pet. I told him as soon as we have a bigger yard we can get a family pet for all of us to share. His suggestion? An ELK! He wants a pet elk so he wants us to get a really big yard!
Gage, everything that comes out of his mouth is hilarious! Everythind is freaking funny, freaking scary, freaking everything! While dressing up in his cousins dresses last weekend he informed us that those were boy dresses, not girl dresses!

Swim suit season

This may be the first swim suit season I haven't completely dreaded buying a new suit for. This is why:

I think McCall likes this one. Her brothers picked it out for her, with a little help from mom. She didn't even mind that it showed a few rolls, she felt the polka dots were slimming.

Perhaps she felt this was too large a print for her svelte little body. Not sure, but she is grateful for the cute swim suit grandma G! I think she was maybe just tired of photos by this point, nothing against the suit! Or perhaps her dad was squeezing her arm tightly?? It's really hard to say, but she does look cute in it!

Another Green Dress

Grandma bought this dress for McCall in the best little antique village in Pennsylvania. It was a great find and now that she fits it I thought I had better take some pictures for Grandma to be able to see. McCall is starting to sit up by herself, only for small moments, but she is getting it down. She really is the most pleasant baby all the time! I am so grateful for that. Except maybe when her brothers are in her face all the time, she tires of that quickly! And she doesn't like to be on the grass without a blanket between her and the grass!

Gage - again

We spent Friday night at Michelle's house since we had to be up early for the run. Gage had a blast using all MaKenzie's costumes. I have to say, the kid does pretty well in heals, better than his mom sometimes!

Ogden Marathon Relay

We did it! We ran in our first marathon! Only it was the relay, which I think is the only way I can complete a marathon :) It was so much fun, I had no idea how much fun it was to run and have people cheering me on throughout the race, not to mention giving us water, oranges, etc. It was so very much fun and I can't wait to do another one. Maybe we will get a few 10k's in this summer and work towards a half for this fall.

Thanks to all the ladies for running - Michelle, Tara, Jessica and Lindsay! And of course the other team! Let's do it again next year!

Oh, and a special thank you to all the men who watched the kids for hours while we ran and to Lani for keeping them sane!

Give AWAY!!!

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Random Act of Kindness

I was the grateful recipient of a random act of kindness today.
It is Ryan's birthday today and I have planned for months to get these great doughnuts for him to bring to the office for his birthday (he LOVES doughnuts). The boys were so excited to be in on the secret and were so helpful all morning getting ready to go.
We made it over to Beyond Glaze and waited in line to order our 1 1/2 dozen doughnuts. There was a gentleman in front of me who bought one doughnut and quietly left. When it was my turn to pay I was told that mine had been paid for already. I was a little perplexed and explained that I had not yet paid and I still needed to. The cashier informed me that the man in front of me wanted to pay for our order and so he had. SERIOUSLY, I got a little teary, nothing like that has ever happened to me before, and I am ashamed to say, I have not ever done anything like that before.
A perfect stranger did something so nice for me, my boys were elated and so excited that someone was SOOOO nice and generous.
I tried to get out to the parking lot quickly to thank the kind stranger, but he was gone and I was left with a smile and a warm feeling in my heart. I want to go back out and do something nice for someone else now, I will definatly be more aware of things that I can do to pay it forward.
My day has been so pleasant thanks to a kind act of a stranger. I wish I could have thanked him personally, but passing it on will have to do.
To the kind stranger - thank you for reminding me of kindness and generosity, thank you for the best gift you gave to my boys - a grateful heart and the desire to serve others. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

FOOD

Thanks to aunt Cammy, McCall has started on "solids". She fixed her up a bowl of rice cereal and the little girl gobbled it right up. I have never had a baby eat so easily the first time. She didn't spit any out at all. She has followed up rice cereal with banana's, which she loved and downed them like a _____, I don't know, but she ate them right up.

Side note: Why are baby cereal and foods called solids? There is nothing solid about them. Anything that you can pour out of a bowl is NOT solid. Seriously, it is about the consistency of a milkshake, but no where near as tasty, unless of course you enjoy rice, formula, squash milkshake.

Your thoughts...

This may be a question for the all knowing Jake , but I thought I would throw it out there for all of you.
Is it humane to de-claw infants? I mean, we do it to cats, dogs, even some birds, they don't seem to mind, and that is only to save couches. What about saving me?
It has been weighing on my mind lately as I clip fingernails for the umpteenth time, only to be clawed viciously each time I pick up my little "angel". Seriously, my neck, chest, and arms are covered with scratches. I can't escape all the lacerations given to me daily.
As for the boys, I am just tired of the filth that accumulates under their fingernails. I suppose I could paint their nails black so you don't see the dirty blackness under them, but the maintenance ... oh my. What is a mom to do?

Shoes

I again have to ask, why? Seriously, are they that much more comfortable? I know it wasn't easier to get them, as his were in the hallway and his Dad's tucked away neatly in the closet. But this is our son, we love him for who he is, but he continually drives me absolutely CRAZY! This was after he played with the life jackets in the basement, he had to dig through so much other stuff to find them. Maybe I should look at this instead as a good thing, he is creative, imaginative and definitely head strong.

Fire Safety

I decided to read the story in Daniel about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to the boys before bedtime tonight. Not sure how, but they hadn't heard it until tonight. Anyway, we got to the part where the guards go to throw the three stalwart young men in the furnace and "the flame of the fire slew those men" who were to cast Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego into the furnace. Tate was exceedingly concerned for the guards, but not Connor. He said, "they should have tried touching the handle first and then they would have known that it was hot and they would have known not to go in there. I learned that in fire safety."
Well done, way to liken the scriptures unto yourself. I was going for the obedience and not being afraid to stick up for what is right and courage lesson, but fire safety is good too!
Then at the end of the chapter king Nebuchadnezzar (try spelling that without using a reference!) made a decree that anyone who shall speak evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego "shall be cut in pieces, and their houses be made a dunghill." I don't know about you but I would not like to be cut into pieces. Again, this is not what concerned the boys. They immediately were grossed out and asked, "does that mean they will have to live in poo houses? I would never want to live in a poo house!"
Given the two options, I would choose poo house. I hope they got something good out of that! I guess the scriptures really do teach everything, today we had fire safety and hygiene!

Princess Chubb Chubb

We can thank Uncle Garyn for coining the phrase/name of Princess Chub Chub. The name fits and we love her! McCall is almost 5 months now, I can't believe how fast time is going. She has finally learned to roll over and now can make it across the family room pretty quickly, the boys think it is a great game to roll her all around, passing her back and forth between them, and she is crazy enough to enjoy it.
She has also learned to spit and spends all day spitting and chatting at us. She has so many talents! No matter what diaper we put on her, she can blow out of it, she can drool enough to soak outfit after outfit, and she can laugh hysterically at her brothers pulling crazy faces and she can reach her toes (which is more than I can do).
I can't tell you how many people stop me in the grocery stores, etc to tell me that I have a "live cabbage patch doll". Well, that might be great, except I always though those dolls were a little funny looking. I think she may look a little more like the Michellin Man baby. Either way, we love this little girl, she has melted our hearts.