Garage transformation...

Well, kinda. We have had a half garage transformation.

Chris and I call ourselves, purgers. (No, not that kind of purging!) The purging where you get rid of your stuff constantly because you don't like clutter and if you haven't looked at it in over a year then it is making your life harder not easier. We have always been like that. Constantly moving has helped. More kids has not. Since getting rid of our kids isn't an option (I worked too hard to get 'em here and they've grown on me) then we have to figure out more storage options. Our house is getting more and more crowded with "stuff." I really don't like "stuff." But some "stuff" makes life funner (I know that isn't a word for all you picky English people out there, but I don't care) and some "stuff" makes life easier. There is "winter stuff" and "camping stuff" and "garden stuff" and "baby stuff" (which I could probably start getting rid of but am still a little emotional about some of it) and don't forget the "massive-load of Holiday stuff." But what do you do with it all? Put it in a bin and place a nice label on it and stick it in some room or closet. That is what we have been doing lately and will probably keep doing.


Our garage was getting way over-loaded with "stuff." We couldn't go out there without tripping over something. And trying to find that "something" that was hidden in "that box" was getting to be a half hour ordeal. I don't know about you, but we don't really have time to look for something for a half hour or usually longer. So my handy husband got out the tools again and built me some shelves. They weren't the shelves I originally wanted (those were around $700 more) but they turned out amazing and we still have the other half of our garage we can do something with. Plus he built me a little sitting/shoe bench and we are going to put some hooks above it to hang more "stuff."

These are the before...scary....

This is the after. I love the feeling of a little organization and hard work and "wahlah," look what you can accomplish. It feels so good!

Elasta-girl

Have you ever wished you were elasta-girl? Not just a costume you put on at Halloween. I mean the authentic arms stretching to eternity elasta-girl. You could grab a baby tumbling down the stairs, or catch a glass falling before it shatters or, even, scoop up a baby and hold him high above your head for about 20 minutes so that you could catch your breath. (You know he would love it.)

Asher has definitely made me think that being elasta-girl would be awesome. He is so busy all day long. Sometimes it almost seems like he is looking for the next thing to get into. We take him from one thing/place and he immediately goes to the next naughty thing/place. The whole family has now learned to keep all doors closed, all cupboards locked, and books off the ground. Even with that, he still keeps me on my toes...like just 30 seconds ago, he learned how to open the dishwasher and broke a glass. Luckily, he wasn't hurt.

I know it is just because he so dang smart. He is very observant. He loves to watch you do things and repeat them. He loves to figure things out. I sometimes can't believe he is only 13 months old. I remember people telling me that they thought Austin was ADHD when he was little because he was like Asher is. He just turned out to be a smart kid and he is NOT ADHD. I am really hoping Asher turns out the same way. In the meantime, I am going to need to learn super-human powers so I can make sure he doesn't get hurt or hurt anything/one else.

Oh yeah, did I mention he climbs too! Now you may be thinking..."Geez, Jennifer, you have had 3 other children, you should be used to all this by now." I know, I thought the same thing. But he REALLY is harder. The people at the gym daycare even had to rearrange their furniture because he kept climbing on everything and they didn't want him hurting himself. So it's not just me. :) But look how cute he is. He is so proud of himself for helping clean up the mess he made.

One day, the girls were yelling for me to come and get Asher because he was stuck. I ran to see what was the matter and this is what I found. He really was stuck. I thought I was going to have to call Chris, or worse, the fire department. I finally, and carefully, got him out but ever since he has discovered the vents, they have become his new best friend. Let's just say that if we are ever missing something, the vents are the first place to look.

My Sweet Allison

Allison turns 6 today. She is growing up to be an amazing little person. She is always helpful when I ask her to do things around the house. She is always optimistic and always points out the special little details in life that make life so amazing. She always gives compliments to people like, "You are the best cook mom," or "I like your shirt today Emma," or "You look handsome Austin." It is so sweet. (She gets that from her Dad).

Today, I stopped by her class at school just to ask her teacher how she was doing. Her teacher said she was great and could have 20 more like her. What a compliment!!! Just what every mom wants to hear.

She wasn't always easy, and I'm sure that one day it might change again but for now we are enjoying everything about her!

This is her at 3 months

This is her first birthday...she loved her little horsey from G&G Carter.

Isn't this face so Tinkerbell!

No one else would go near this spider (even the boys) until after Allison did it.

Once again, a Halloween picture I love...she makes such a beautiful Cinderella.

This is her with her football makeup on...her lovely brother put it on.

I love this picture my sister-in-law took of her. She wasn't meaning to show her shoulder...she is actually very modest and doesn't like to show her shoulders. She would probably be upset about this picture. But I love it!

Zion Ponderosa

My sister and her family invited us to go to the Zion Ponderosa last weekend. It is a campground a couple of miles outside of Zion National Park. We were debating on whether or not to go because we have SOOOO much stuff to do around our house and it seems like we can never catch up and something else always comes up. But we don't see them very often and it sounded fun AND THEY BEGGED...so we went. :) It was a lot of fun and we are so glad we went.

First we went swimming in the pool. I didn't get any pictures of the slides but the pool had two slides, two hot-tubs (which is where we spent most of our time because we were so cold) and a waterfall.

The next thing we did was go on a Jeep Tour. For anyone who knows me really well, you would know that I HATE four-wheeling. I could give you a dozen reasons why I hate it but I won't bore you. I will just let you know that I have changed my mind and now LOVE four-wheeling in the RIGHT vehicle. We went on a jeep ride and it was the perfect vehicle to go 4-wheeling in. It was safe enough for me but dangerous enough for the guys! A perfect combo, right!?

Earlier in the day Abigail mentioned that she wanted to go on the "boing-boing." I wasn't sure what she was talking about until finally she pointed over to a girl jumping on a trampoline. So Allison and Abigail got to go on the "boing-boing." I am not even sure what it is really called but "boing-boing" works for me. Austin got to go on the zip line and Kody climbed the rock wall...like a spider, I might add.

We had so much fun! Thank you again Stacy and Ed for inviting us!!!

Back to School!

Austin started third grade a little over two weeks ago now. He says he hates school but I think deep down he actually loves it because he is always writing, drawing, reading and asking how to solve math problems in his spare time.

This is him trying to be serious for mom....

...this is what he is really like! Goofball!

My second baby was off to start her first day of Kindergarten a week later. There were only a few tears...none on her part. She was as excited as ever. The first thing she said when she walked through the door coming home was "That was awesome!" And she was bummed she didn't get any homework. She says she can't wait for homework. Funny girl. If she only knew, right? Austin was really excited that they would be riding the bus home together. I hope it stays that way.

I had to get a picture of her pretty hair...I was so proud of myself. :)

She wanted to ride the bus but I wanted to drop her off so we did both. She rode the bus and then I followed and walked her into school.

Getting off the bus and getting into the lines to go to each of the classrooms.Hanging up her backpack. My big girl!

Summer Vacation

We have had a busy summer this year and I can't believe it is already over. I really wasn't ready. I love having my kids home and being able to go and do anything at the drop of a hat and not having to plan everything around school. But I also love watching them grow and learn and experience new things and starting a new school year is part of the whole process so I guess it is good in it's own way.

Because we have been so busy, there are so many things that I never got around to posting - like our summer vacation, our last camping trip, playing at the park, Austin's baseball games, etc. I may not get around to posting about all of them but I thought our summer vacation would be worth taking a trip back in time for. So here it is.

This year we went up to good ole' Salt Lake City. I have only been once since Chris graduated college 5 years ago and it was a one day trip for business so we didn't do much of anything worth writing about. This time we went to Lagoon, a first for me and the kids, the Hogle Zoo, Temple Square and Cabela's.

We learned something very important about our kids that will help us plan better vacations in the future. There is no need to spend loads of money on fun activities because the things they enjoyed the most were free, like Cabela's, swimming in the pool at the hotel (which I guess isn't technically free) and Temple Square.

The first place we visited was Cabelas. Chris went here on a business trip once and thought the kids would love it. He was right! There are huge fish aquariums to see and we were lucky enough to be there for feeding time. They feed them worms, pellets and live gold fish. The kids LOVED the carnage! They also got to feed some other fish some pellets. There were lots of real "stuffed" animals from Zebras and Lions to Deer and Bears. And they played a hunting game. Plus they loved looking at all the outdoor equipment you can buy!

I love these cute pictures of the kids sleeping in the same bed at the hotel. They woke up excited for the next adventure.

Lagoon was fun but for "die-hard" Disneyland fans it was a little disappointing. Austin and Allison were brave enough to ride Lagoon's scariest roller coaster "Wicked." I was actually scared for them but they loved it! We also loved "Rattlesnake Rapids," so much even that the kids went on it twice in a row, once with dad and once with mom!

The next day we went to Hogle Zoo. Growing up in Southern California and going to the San Diego Zoo every year it is hard NOT to be a little disappointed with Hogle Zoo. However, Zuri, the baby elephant won me over completely!! I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the baby elephant and we sat and watched her play with her mom for probably a good half hour. It took Zuri about 10 minutes to walk over this log and it was so fun watching her try to figure it out. Then she played in the mud for a little while just like a little kid would, not like an elephant normally does. AND then we watched as her mom feed her some grass and then you could see she was getting sleepy and they walked off together for a nap. It was the sweetest thing ever!!!

The last thing we did was go to Temple Square. We have been several times before but there is always something new to see. We actually got to see the top of the Conference Center this time. It has been closed every other time we have tried. We ate lunch at the Nauvoo cafe for the first time. We also got to see the new movie "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration" which was amazing! And we visited the Church History Museum.

FUN TIMES!! :)

Happy Birthday Asher!

It has been an entire year since we have been blessed with our sweet boy, Asher. He has definitely brought balance and a feeling of wholeness to our family. I am glad to report that I finally feel done having kids. I didn’t know if I would ever feel that way and was worried that too many other factors would play a role in deciding if we would have more children or not. But Chris and I both feel like our whole family is here and that we are complete. It is truly a peaceful feeling.

Asher is so far my smallest one year old. He is only in the 25th percentile for weight and height! That is just weird when all my other babies have been in the 70th and above and still are. I guess he might take after my side of the family instead of Chris’. What he does have is a “DeMille size head.” Both my boys heads were off the charts for size…which if you ask Austin just means he is that much smarter than the average person.

Asher may be little but he is very smart and energetic already. He is walking around everywhere. He is still getting into the toilet every day. The older ones haven’t learned to keep the bathroom doors closed yet, but at least they have learned to keep the toilets flushed. He likes to put things in the toilet like mom’s makeup, toys, clothes, brushes, combs, etc. He likes to turn off mom’s computer and always before I have saved. He likes to take all the books off the shelves and clothes out of the drawers. He has already learned to go up and down the stairs, sooner than any of the other children. He also loves to cuddle. So far he isn’t picky when it comes to food but his favorite food is definitely chicken (along with dirt and rocks when he can get it). He loves chicken and recognizes it immediately when I am cooking it. He likes to stick his bum up in the air like a stinkbug. He has learned to love water. He can already throw a little tantrum, also earlier than any of the older ones. He has 6 teeth and likes to use them! But most importantly he is my happy boy!

He was actually very timid to eat the cake at first. It was very out of character for him. Finally his Uncle Keith took his hands and smashed them into the cake and then he started eating it and he loved it. Mmmm!

More About Asher...

This is a video of Asher's funny crawl. He knows how to crawl on all four but usually only uses one leg and one arm. He started walking and we hadn't got his crawl on video yet. The only time we could get him to crawl again was when we opened the front door and he wanted to get out of the door fast. We think it is pretty cute! But then again, we are a little biased. :)

This is Asher opening a kool-aid packet.

This was just a random picture I found that I thought was cute!

Tumbleweeds

Austin and Allison got to be in another play this summer, this time called Tumbleweeds. Tumbleweeds is a western comedy based on an old comic strip. There were about 50 kids, ages 4-18 in the play. They practiced several hours a day for several weeks. The night of the performance I wasn't sure how well they were going to do because they hadn't actually made it through the whole play without stopping yet. But they did so well they gave me goosebumps. I loved it and am so proud of them.

Austin was the Indian Chief and had about 20 lines. Austin is my super-smart boy but gets really nervous speaking in front of people. He is a perfectionist though, and doesn't allow himself to fail so will usually perform well, regardless. That is one reason I really want him to be involved in the singing, dancing, acting group because I want him to be more comfortable in front of people. By showtime, he had practiced and performed so much that he said he hardly got nervous at all and did so awesome. I am so proud of him.

Allison was a little Indian with the rest of the 5 year olds. They didn't have any speaking parts but she danced in three muscial numbers and the audience loved them and thought they were all too cute! And they were!

Asher just hanging out during rehearsals. Chris and I were involved in making props, scenery, costumes and choreographing so the kids did a lot of "hanging out."

In the comic strip, the Indian chief has a "bodyguard" named Bucolic Buffalo. Chris played that part so he got to be Austin's bodyguard. Austin loved it. Chris didn't. :) But he loves his wife and son so will make himself feel like a fool for us.

Allison singing in the last musical number of the show.

This is the final musical number.

Austin, Dad and Allison after the final scene of the last night's performance.

Fourth of July Weekend...a little late.

The kids performed twice during the Fourth of July weekend with their singing/dancing group. They performed at the American Heritage Festival and during the parade. They loved being in the parade and they ended up on the front of the newspaper too!

Later that night...we had a BBQ with the family, rode the family train, watched our own fireworks and then watched the city fireworks which are let off just down the street from our house. :)

Abigail is so timid about everything. She always wants to hold the sparklers but they also scare her. She tries to be so brave.

The cool thing about getting together with a large group of people is that they all bring their fireworks and so to get through them all you have to light several at once.

This was a very LARGE firework. It lit up the whole sky and the kid's faces looked like this....

Mom and Asher