Holiday, Owie, Books, and Balls!

For the Labor Day holiday we enjoyed our time as a family.  We cleaned up the backyard in the morning and the kids played outside - our weather was beautiful, we were in the 70's!  That afternoon we went bowling and ended up at CiCi's pizza for dinner.  We ended the night with FHE and Wii.  Somehow I ended up with no pictures of the bowling :(.  I guess holding kids and keeping up on our turns for bowling turned into no time for the camera.

In the middle of all of the business Clark fell out of his booster seat.  Well, I had removed the booster seat  for cleaning and I totally forgot to re strap it in :(.  So the he was buckled safely into place when the seat tipped off the chair and he hit the kitchen floor.

He was sad and took a while to calm down.  I saw some blood on his shirt and then I had to figure out where it came from...

Yup his chin hit the floor.  It was a pretty big gash too.  I sent Jeff out and we got some liquid bandaid stuff to seal up his wound.  He's done great with it, but still it's sad :(.

After bowling and dinner Mhari fell asleep in the car.  She wouldn't wake up either.  I thought her position was priceless.  Just couldn't help taking a picture... and sharing it!

so lady like ;)

This morning after the kids were off to school Clark was hanging out with Mhari on the steps.  That's when I saw him with the books.  He loves books!  Last night when we were all ready for dinner Clark was upstairs sitting with a pile of books, silly boy :).

Just too cute!

  

I got to thinking about books and realized that Clark reminds me of Talmage these days.  He always has his head in a book!

Sometimes it's annoying when you're trying to get stuff done or get him to help out with stuff, but I'm glad he likes books and learning :).  Cute boy!

Then Clark was playing with the ball.  He still loves balls!

So happy!

Dropping the ball.

So cute!

Posing for the camera!

Every day there is something happening.  The kids are growing up so fast!

10 things I LOVE about YOU!

Here are some of the great reasons I love you Hunny...

1.  Strong Priesthood Holder - the gospel makes our family eternal and you are the leading role in that!


2.  Beautiful Blue Eyes -  really, it's everything, you are just Handsome ;)


3.  Dreamer - really anything great or grand in our lives has come because you are always dreaming and planning and thinking about new adventures.  That has made me a better person too!


4. Hard Worker - because you are a dreamer and a hard worker you actually accomplish those dreams!


5.  Great Daddy!!  - you really are so sweet with our kids and I couldn't ask for a better Daddy who loves them and wants to lead them down the right path!


6.  Active - you don't want to sit around lazily and do nothing... it's great to get us out and doing new things together!


7.  Determined... this could also read stubborn ;).  I'm glad you know what you want and you are willing to make it happen, even when it seems unlikely.


8.  Hugs!  I love a good hug and some days I need one more than others... you give great hugs ;).


9.  Dancing!  I know we don't get the chance that often, but dancing with you is one of my favorite things!  I love being held close moving to the music and having you tap the beat on my back ;).


10.  Silly!  I know not everyone knows this about you, but it's true!  You say silly things, you laugh like a girl (sometimes), and you love stuffed animals... really, it keeps life fun.  


Just to show how you're silly you cuddled up with one of the kids animals as a pillow  - so funny :)

Just wanted to remind you that I think you are Awesome!!


~ meme

Water fun!

Baby is still in love with water :).  I love this about him... he's so cute when he finds water!  We washed our cars the other day and this was Baby's first time with us outside while we washed cars.  He found the soap bucket really fast and splashed and splashed... so I ran in to get the camera!

Here he is with some residue bubbles on his face and hands :)

going back for more!

While we were working the boys found a grasshopper.  I guess catching grasshoppers is funner than washing cars.


Here is Talmage holding it.

Then Grant got a turn.

It really matches our dead grass too ;)

Baby found where the water collected on the running boards and was splashing in it.  

He was very involved.  You would think the water spraying like that would scare him...

Nope, he loved it!

The girls did help, but somehow all of the pictures ended up being of Baby... not sure how that seems to happen ;).  It's nice to have clean cars and get to teach Clark more about water, oh and how to not run into the street.  Fun stuff!

3,2,K

The kids are back to school and we have one in 3rd grade, one in 2nd grade, and one in Kindergarten.  They met their teachers the week before and have been excited about starting school since then!

Here they are on the big day!

Sandra, Grant, and Talmage

Talmage is in 3rd grade and has 3 teachers he switches between.  He really likes his teachers and even has lots of friends from the previous years in his class.  He has lots of goals for this year... hmm, I can only remember one:  Read at least 150 books for AR.  He is a very goal oriented kid and I'm sure he'll accomplish all he sets out to do!  


Grant is in 2nd grade and switches between two classes this year.  He has different teachers than Talmage did so that's a fun change (even though we really liked Talmage's teachers).  Grant is loving his class and his teachers - especially his home room teacher, he says they are her best class ever and that makes him happy!  His goal for the year is to not get any notes home and to do his homework!  He's a great kid. 


Sandra is officially in kindergarten.  She likes her teacher, as do we.  She only has a couple of friends from her pre-k class so that makes her sad.  Her goal this year is to read really well and make lots of new friends.  I got a note from her teacher yesterday about how Sandra had a great 2nd day of school and wrote a story all by herself.  Sandra was very pleased with herself.  We're looking forward to Sandra really blossoming in reading and writing this year ;).


It's nice to have the routine back and the little ones are enjoying their day, even if Mhari asks lots of times when it's time to go get the older kids from school :).  The days are going by fast.  Happy back to school schedule everyone!

Wii Party

Our family has been living life with the very basics over the last... well, forever.  Jeff and I decided it was time to get a flat screen TV that we could use it to show pictures - like a big digital photo frame, in our living room.  When we were picking out which one to get Jeff suggested that we also get a Wii for the family.  That sounded like a great plan to me :).

We had one week with our wii before school started so we tried to get some good playing time in.  Our first Wii night was for FHE and the kids weren't really good at Mario Kart, but we also got Wii Sports and they had fun with that.  

Here are some pictures of the kids bowling - some with a little help from daddy :).  

Mhari.

Sandra

The new TV (32 inch).

Grant

and Talmage

It will be fun to have more Wii parties with the kids, they just won't be as often with the school schedule.  It's been fun to see the kids learning how to play the games :).  Jeff and I have even had some fun when the kids are in bed... even a few wii nights with friends.  Fun times ;).  

Baby accomplishments!

Baby has been growing up so fast.  He keeps doing new things and before I know it he'll be too big to call "Baby."  Here is an update of some of his "accomplishments."

He knows how to throw a fit... he even crawled under the stools and throw a fit!

He was so darn cute doing it too ;)

He is also a great thief.  Maybe that's not something to be proud of, but how can you help it when he's so cute!  Oh, and he's a trash thiefer... maybe the better term would be dumpster diver - see, not really a thief at all.  
He got the celery out of the trash (it had been left out from dinner and just wasn't worth keeping, unless you're a baby).

He really had a good time with it too!

Even got some chewing in on it too (I know, gross, sorry for the baby eating from the trash picture).

This one really doesn't count as an accomplishment, but just too cute not to share :).  Every one of our babies has a picture in Jeff's Michigan hat.  Well, I guess we forgot about it when he was younger so we did it now.  Let's just say he's not as cooperative with having hats on his head anymore.  It's fun to take them off though!

Just before he grabbed the hat.

When I shower the girls, Baby gets to hang with Daddy so he stays out of the way.  This night Daddy was on the bed so Baby was cuddled up next to him with his toothbrush.  By the time I was done with the girls Baby was asleep!  

What a handsome little Baby!

OK, last one:  I discovered this one because he was being too quiet and I went to see what he was up to.


Baby has figured out how to climb the stool in the bathroom.  He was super cute up there playing with the toothbrushes!

I wondered why he was so excited about it.

until I saw that he was enjoying seeing himself in the mirror.  He was so proud of himself!

Now he just needs to learn how to get off the stool!  He gets stuck up there now ;).  Silly Baby!


Clark is so great and we just love him!  I hope you enjoyed our little baby update ;)

One last stop

On our way home we got stuck in a traffic jam.  At first I figured it was from construction, but with the length of the delay I realized it was from an accident.  We were delayed an hour, and after seeing the accident I could tell why.  There were two vehicles and they were both really smashed up, especially the sedan.  We later found out it was a fatality.  

Here is a picture of the truck (it was pulling a boat that was 20 yards down the road).

With that behind us...


Our last place to see on our way home was the Albuquerque, NM temple.  It was pretty hot outside, but we enjoyed walking around the temple grounds.  
Here are the kids in front of the fountain.

In front of the temple

Grant, Mhari, and Sandra

Talmage

Baby and me

Trying to get a good picture as we drove away... sorry it's a little tilted.

We arrived safe and sound the next evening.  It was nice to be home after a long week of travel.