Ten on Tuesday

1. We had visitors!!! I forget how much I enjoy having visitors. Rob and Emilie came a visited us for a bit. We were the "hotel" etc for their trip to the Kansas City Temple open house. Annmarie and Emilie had a great time together. Man were they up late!! We were so happy to have visitors

our one and only photo from Easter

 

2. Saturday at about 4 our neighbors invited us to their branch Easter egg hunt/BBQ. We almost didn't go. I am so glad we did. It was at the Stake President's house. It was awesome. they had a pond with paddle boats, trampoline, huge slide, a ton of swings and He even took them for a tractor ride at the end. It was awesome. I am so glad we went.

 3. what post would be complete without a new photo of Henry. He is growing and getting so big!!!!

 4. After the Easter Party we came home and quickly died eggs. The kids loved it. It was funny to watch them try and decide which color to choose. Jed's choice was easy. He picked green both times.

5. Tomorrow we head to Kansas City to see the new temple and to visit Liberty jail and hopefully another church site. The kids are so excited to see the inside of a temple. Hopefully they will all smile so we can get a half way decent photo of them in front of the temple.

6. Friday night Chris and I had the opportunity to go with our ward to the Winter Quarters Temple. We had wonderful babysitters. It was so nice to drive for 2 hours each way and not worry about our kids in the car. So tankful for the temple.

7. Saturday we spent a lot of the day rearranging the upstairs. Will now shares a room with Henry (it has actually worked great!!!) Jeffrey and Jed still share, Jeffrey keeps saying that he wants to sleep with the older kids and not a baby brother. Annmarie will be sharing with Lindsay (niece) whenever she decides to join us. Annmarie hops that is tomorrow. She loves sharing a room. Monday I finished moving Will's stuff from his old closet to the new one. Happy to be "settled" again.

8. The weather has cooled down a bit (like to normal spring temps). So going outside has not been as fun for me. The kids seemed to not notice at all.

9. The community park was installed on Friday. The kids love it. It is about 1 house right over from us. (close but not too close). The kids love it. It is a bit small for a community of 200 kids but hey it is free and out the door.

10. Chris taught Will's primary class on Sunday (i joined in) I loved how when he asked if someone wanted to read every hand come up. I wish people would do that is my Sunday school class.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Soccer is in full swing here! tonight was practice #2. Games on Saturday were fun. No photos because it is hard to coach and take photos at the same time.  I love coaching the U6. why because you see immediate improvement! love that

2. So a few weeks ago we got 2 free bikes off the street. put bike tubes in them, and they were golden. Now we were trying to figure out what to do with Henry. Well Costco had a bike trailer/stroller, so i got it. after 2 days I was starting to regret paying as much as I did. I went visiting teaching and we were talking about it and my companion told me they were going to sell their burley trailer. Then I was talking about how Chris wanted the tandem trailer as well. She said we are selling that too! wow if this is not an example of how important visiting teaching is I don't know what it (please read that in my joking tone). So needless to say we took the trailer back to Costco and now have the set up you see below.

The kids love it and so do the neighborhood kids. Chris got a serious workout riding around the "loop" yesterday.

3. Chris just did his "trail" for his class. He has been working so hard on it and is glad to be done. I will be glad to see him hopefully a little bit more.

4. General Conference was this weekend. once again our children made a few talks a little hard to hear but that is why we download the talks or read them when they come in the mail right? Loved the talks. The theme to me seemed to be all about families. Loved it because they were meant for me.

5. Saturday night we were outside riding bikes and it started to rain. not hard and the sun was still out. Jed is riding around on his "manly" pink bike singing "I'm riding in the rain, just riding in the rain." love it. He was so stinking cute.

6. The piano guys. I know I am way behind on this but a big shout out to Jill Sherwood for posting them on her blog. Love them! they have wonderful music and my kids even want to listen to them all the time. check them out on YouTube.

7. I cannot tell you how great my kids are. I'm copying a post from my other blog. They are the best!

    Jeffrey - He wanted so badly to go fly his new kite today, but he had a rough day listening etc (this has been a major trend) So he helped me load the dishwasher, after he emptied it, cleared all dishes he found and placed them in the sink. He was so cute. He even took my soup bowl off the table at 8pm. after I finished eating it. Sometimes he just melts my heart

Henry - After feeding him he was staring up at me with his beautiful blue (at least now who knows what they will end up) eyes. He was smiling and cooing at me. once again he melted my heart. I love love love how it seems he knows who I am and that he is happy to see me. I am so lucky to have him.

Annmarie - she was reading me a book she got from school. She asked to read it to me during conference. I told her later. She was reading it to me while the others were watching Horton hears a Who. Love that she really enjoys reading. I needed help with Henry while I was making soup. She did a great job (as always) holding him on the couch. It is so funny to hear the kids talk to Henry. They totally copy me. It makes me laugh. I love how much my kids love to be around Henry

Will -  Today we also had an Easter egg hunt at the Y. When we got to the car after I told the kids they could have 1 piece then they needed to give me the bags. Will says I don't need any now mom, then gave me his bag. Then while watching conference he kept finding all the caramel pieces and giving them to me. They tasted terrible, but Will knew I loved them and wanted me to have them. Once again, I am so lucky to have such great kids.

8. The older I get and the more people I meet and the more life experience I get I realize how wonderfully blessed I was in many ways.  I have wonderful parents! they set such a great example for me in so many aspects. Thanks Mom and Dad.

9.  I love my classes at the Y. I am so thankful to beable to go and exercise and get some sanity time. Without this I would loose it so much more than I do!

10. I made strawberry Jam with Jeffrey yesterday. It got messier than normal but I loved doing it with him. Jed woke up while we were on the last batch so he helped out some too. It made me realize that I need to do more things like this with my kids.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Henry turned 2 months on Sunday. I know it is not a huge moment but he actually looks bigger to me. We will find out true statistics tomorrow at his check up.
                    Height - 21 1/4 inches
                    Weight - 10 lbs

 I think this is my favorite photo ever!

2. today I turned in the rest of the paper work to officially enroll Jeffrey in Kindergarten. So crazy that I will have 3 in school next year.

3. Soccer. this past weekend we got our equipment for our soccer teams (Chris is coaching U8 and I am coaching U6). Practice starts tonight. my kids are so excited. I'm hoping that the practices go a lot fast being a coach than as a parent wrestling kids on the sideline.

4. Friday night my wonderful visiting teacher brought over the new Muppet movie for us to watch. We loved it!! oh why can't they make more wonderful movies like that.

5. Another thing I learned this week is that Spring break is long :) We had a good time and tried to keep the kids busy with cleaning and then rewarded with some activity. like the Library, swimming at the Y, Daddy dates. It was a great week but I must say everyone was ready for things to go back to normal on Monday.

6. Saturday morning after Chris and I went to an exercise class we got the older 4 out of the child watch and then played some basketball with them. What a great time. Needless to say later that day we went and bought our own ball and Will is in heaven.

7. Jeffrey's birthday was Wednesday. We had dinner of his choice stakes and mashed potatoes. then Thursday we were supposed to play at the park with some of his friends but thanks to the rain that didn't happen. He was a great sport and we are so happy he has been in our family for 5 years!

8. Friday morning we scored!!!! while driving to the Y we saw 2 bikes on the side of the road that said free. I stopped of course being the scavenger I am. one is for me and the other is for Annmarie. All they need are new tubes. Plus we got a bike trailer. so excited for all the new possibilities.

9. I might have help this summer while Chris is gone!! yeah so excited for that!

10. Last night during Family Home Evening Annmarie and Will bore their testimonies of the gospel. Such a great memory.

Happy Birthday Jeffrey!

Jeffrey is such a Happy kid, except when he decides to not be :). I cannot believe it has been 5 years. One of Chris's favorite stories of him is when we went to Seattle to visit the Allen's. Kris my sister kicked us out of the house for 24 hours (without kids) when Jeffrey was about 3-4 months. It was great to get out.  Jeffrey had been a bit of a fussy, crying baby the last few weeks. When we got back it was quiet. Jeffrey had eaten an entire big jar of Apple sauce. Apparently I was not feeding him enough. Since that day he has been our eater. When he is full he is a very happy boy.
I love to see Jeffrey with babies. He loves them and turns into a sweet boy. He loves to sing I am a child of God to any crying baby. He loves to hold Henry. He loves to help sweep the floor, mop (with a sponge), and do dishes (or play in the water). Jeffrey is truly a sweet child. When he prays he truly prays for what is on his mind. It may range from let us play to Wii today to bless Henry to sleep so mom will not be grumpy. He gives wonderful hugs, and his smile is so wonderful! I love Jeffrey and am so happy he is in our family


Some of Jeffrey's favorites (as told to me this morning)
Food - Chicken nuggets (cold or hot) Stake, Popcorn chicken
Songs - Happy Birthday, twinkle twinkle
Games - Life, Candyland
Wii - Harry Potter, Mario Cart, Wii sports, Wii play, Wii, resorts, Lego batman
Computer - PBS, Lego, Disney
Things to do - Daddy dates the most!

Ten on Tuesday

 1. This is a carry over from last week. Here is Jed refusing to eat. He is getting better. Thank goodness.

 2. I know that it is fuzzy but you can tell that Henry is smiling! I love his smile. he has a huge dimple on his left cheek and another smaller one on his right. Such a cute cute baby

3. The weather has been absolutely beautiful this past week or so. So this has been happening lots. play out side. Love this neighborhood. Love that my kids all have people here they love to play with.

4. I am not a very festive person with most holidays. So When I busted out the green food coloring for the pancakes the kids were excited. Happy St Patrick's day. Jeffrey kept asking me if we could celebrate Will's middle name. love that kid.

5. Chris and I got to go do sealings on Saturday. it was so nice to go to the temple together! Love being in the temple and love it even more with Chris.

6. Spring break started on Friday. We have been doing chores, playing outside, playing inside, playing with friends, and going to the Y. Hopefully the rain lets us play outside for Jeffrey's birthday.

7. I have never been able to get Will to really enjoy reading (like the way Annmarie does). I have figured out what he likes to read (at least for now). He is all about the Non-Fiction books. He loves hard facts and learning new things. Hope this continues for a long time!

8. I took a break from this post to take the kids to a new park. They love to pose for photos. . .

9. Jeffrey and Annmarie found the mud. . . I really  didn't care since we had no place to be

He had just fallen here. I think he was trying to see how far his legs would go.

 Jed thought he was so dirty. from the moment he go his feet muddy he kept asking to go home. 

10. We are almost certain that Chris will be spending the summer working ( well I guess interning would be a better word since there is no pay). in Arizona. We have not yet told the kids since there is no need to get them sad until we know for absolute certain. we are so thankful for the opportunity he has to work, but we will miss him lots.

Ten on Tuesday

1. trying to think of what happened this past week. . . oh yeah the weather has been beautiful the last few days. we have spent so much time out doors. I think I have a little sun burn on my nose.

2. Mud puddle - we have this massive mud puddle behind our house. I hate it! the kids cannot keep away from it. you would think it would have dried up with no rain for a few days but nope. I think it is just getting bigger! argh.

3. Tonight was a Kindergarten info meeting. I cannot believe that Jeffrey will soon be in Kindergarten. when did I get old enough to have 3 kids in school!

4. Thursday I had parent teacher conference's with Will and Annmarie's teachers. I am so proud of my kids and all their hard work.

5. Friday and Saturday turned into massive cleaning days. For those who truly know me you know I cannot stand to clean. I must say things looked great Saturday. they still look good now too. I have actually enjoyed spending 5 - 10 min each night cleaning to have a clean kitchen and family room. Hopefully I stay this way.

6. We had new home teachers ( 2 men from our church that are supposed to come monthly and share a gospel message, and make sure we are doing ok) come over Sunday night. I am so happy to have Home teachers. We have always been so blessed to have great home teachers.

7. We have a had a rough few days with Jed this past week. I always knew he was stubborn but he is way too stubborn! He has issues eating food he doesn't like. To the point that 3 times now he has not eaten dinner and was sent to bed, then woke up and was offered what he didn't eat for dinner for breakfast. Let's just say 1 of those times it took him way way way too long to eat it. Hopefully 3rd time is a charm and he will now realize that eating dinner at night is much better than eating it for breakfast.

8. So thankful I have a husband who recognized that I need a break and kicked me out of the house for an hour tonight.

9. We filled out our brackets and are getting ready for march madness. love this time of year.

10. I have been going to the gym for a full week now and am soooo out of shape. I am happy to be back and hope some "progress" will be seen.

Ten on Tuesday

 1. Have I mentioned how much my kids love Henry? They cannot get enough of him.

2. the other day I was searching for library books and I went into Annmarie's room. Here is her lovely decorated bed.

 

 here is what is underneath and to the side of it.

 I think she likes to read :)

3. speaking of Annmarie she wants to have hair like Rapunzel.  She has longer hair now than I think I ever did in my life. (sorry it is crooked)

4. Henry is in 0-3 month clothes!!! 6 weeks in NB clothes. I never thought that was possible.

 

5. our first family photo. I cannot believe I have 5 kids! I still feel like I'm 20. oh well someday I better realize that I am not a newlywed couple anymore :)

 

6. Sunday was a very special day. Chris had the opportunity to give Henry a name and a blessing during church. I am so thankful that I have a worthy priesthood holder in my house that can do this. Words truly cannot express how thankful I am for him and his goodness.

7, We had a fun visit from Grandpa Scott. The kids loved having him around. Henry really enjoyed "talking" to him.

 

 

8. I was able to start going back to working out yesterday. oh man it will be a long road back. I am so sore after 2 classes. I can tell the difference and am so happy to be exercising and getting the "high" that comes from that.

9. We tried a new soup this past week and we all love it!! I think this will be a weekly meal for a while. 

10. We have spent most of today outside because it is 71 out there!!! it is crazy windy but still it is 71. I love love love spring. It is such a beautiful season.