Oh, Cole!

Cole was one of the copy editors of his classroom paper this year. Every issue has different quotes in a text box along the bottom of the pages. While reading his last issue, we came across this random quote by Cole...

"I plan on growing a goatee in my
senior year of High School."

How random can you get!?!

Look Out Ladies.....

Jake is now 16!!!!!

We surprised him today with a party.

He had NO idea.

It was great!

As it turned out, the girls out numbered the boys but I doubt Jake cared!

Lee took him and Scott up to scout out an area for the Aaronic Priesthood Emcampment this summer. While they were gone, we set up the cultural hall and got the food ready.

Thank heavens Elisabeth was here to run the games. I didn't want to be one of those embarassing moms! First, they played the Hand Game. Here's a picture of Jake being goofy while playing:

Then they played that game that you have to ask yes and no questions to guess what's taped to your forehead. They had a great time with this game so they played two rounds. Jake took forever to guess his. Scott knew who his was after a couple of questions. His last question was,"Am I hot?"

We then chowed down.

Then it was cake time...
We had to walk to the church since Lee took the car. On the way, the sun melted the frosting a little and the red border slid down the side of the cake. It looked really bad but it tasted good.

He blew out all of the candles! (uh, no I didn't light candles in the church. shhhhh!) So I guess it didn't matter what the cake looked like! Who knows what he wished for?

After enjoying cake and ice cream, they played a game of Psychatrist.

Then just hung around and played with the balloons until it was time to go.

I think they had a good time. I HOPE they had a good time! Jake was really happy and had a smile on his face the whole time so I guess it was a success!

I feel a little bad because I didn't make sure he showered before he left with his dad this morning. That would have gave it away! (He was embarassed because he looked like he rolled out of bed.)

Happy Birthday Jake!

I love you and are so incredibly proud of you and your awesome accomplishments!

I wish you a great year!!!!

Emma the "Super Big Girl"

Emma turned 3 today!

She was very excited about her birthday.

She has informed us that she is now a

"Super Big Girl".

Here's some pictures of her fun-filled day:

After a quick trip to the store, we went to the park.

(Not just any old park -- her "birthday park")

After the park, we stopped by Walker's for an Icee.

The Walker's ladies sang "Happy Birthday" to her and she got all embarrassed. It was really funny.
Here she is enjoying her Icee and watching a little

Paula Deen (her favorite).

I gave her presents to her during the day because, well, I couldn't wait.

She got skates, a helmet with knee and elbow pads, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, pink Keds, a polka dot skirt, and a matching pink shirt.

We played a little Hopscotch, drew circles on the sidewalk, blew some bubbles, and even skated to the mailbox!

She loves her skates!

(They have locking wheels so she's basically walking but thinks she's skating like the big kids. Shhh...don't tell her!)

We then made her cupcakes and waited for everyone to get home.

After dinner we sang "Happy Birthday" and she blew out the candles before we were done singing because she was so excited. Everyone had strawberry flavored pink cupcakes with purple frosting and chocolate chip ice cream that Emma picked out.

Happy Birthday to our

"Super Big Girl"!

(Now, if only our Super Big Girl would learn to go potty. That would really be Super !)

Is anyone else ready for this school year to end!?!

5 school days left!!!

YIPEE YAHOO!!!

Summer here we come!

(I can't wait!!!)

My Poor Baby!!!

Today started very, very early.

At 5:45 a.m. I left to take child #1 to her new job at the MTC. I stopped at good old Albertson's for milk and cereal (we just can't keep them in our house!) and then went straight home to get more children off. Child #2 needed to be at early morning Seminary by 6:30 and child #4 needed to be at his school at 6:30 also because he was helping load the trailer for his school camping trip. Well, child #2 was on time but child #4 was a little late (you do what you can!). I got home and went back to bed (mistake!) for about a half hour then got child #3 and child #5 up to get ready for school. Luckily Lee took them on his way to work at 7:30. Child #6 was sound asleep so I thought I'd take advantage of this rare time to rest (especially after the day I had yesterday).

Well, my resting turned into full-on sleeping.

Meanwhile, child #6 (almost 3 years old) woke up. She normally will not get out of her bed without someone getting her out but today was different (of course!).

I have no idea what time she woke up but around 9:30 I woke up to wimpering. She was sitting on our living room couch wimpering and saying,

"I'm home alone!"

in a tone of disbelief!

It was the saddest thing! I felt like a horrible mom! I told her I was in my bed and that I would NEVER leave her alone. But she kept repeating,

"There was no one home!"

over and over again until the whimpering turned to sobs! She managed to calm down (with lots and lots of hugs and kisses from me!) but I think she still believes I left her alone. I feel like a horrible mom! I hope I haven't scarred her somehow.

This is how I found her. I had to go clean last night and this is how she went to bed. In the shirt she wore yesterday, no pants, and hair (and ribbons) still in braids. Nice. Thanks guys.

Looking like this and thinking she was home alone. . .

My poor baby!!!

Good Day

I wasn't going to do a Mother's Day post this year but I had such a good day and learned a great lesson I had to share.

Every year I build up Mother's Day in my imagination and every year I'm disappointed to a degree. This year, I decided to change my attitude. I decided to focus more on doing something special for my Mom and Mother-in-law. I expected nothing for me.

So, I went on a 3-hour shopping excursion, Saturday, all by myself which I haven't done in like FOREVER! I found the perfect gifts for my Mom and Mother-in-law. It was great!

While I was gone, Lee wanted to cook a special taco dinner in honor of Mother's Day. He saw the recipe on the Food Network and thought I would enjoy it. They were shredded beef tacos with guacamole and salsa on fried flour tortillas and he made Mexican style corn-on-the-cob (like the kind of corn Steven eats in Nacho Libre!). It was so yummy!!!! And to top it off, he had the kids clean up!

Sunday, I was treated to breakfast in bed by my children. They do it every year but I wasn't expecting it this year because we have 9:00 church. But I was greeted with hear-shaped pancakes, donuts, scrambled eggs and juice. (I think I heard one of them sneaking out to Walker's for donuts on their skateboard but no one fessed up to that one! That's okay! I'll forgive that one this time!) It was yummy too!

This is the GIGANTIC card Scott gave me. Pretty awesome huh!

Then, when I walked into church, my parents were there! My Mom is having a hard time right now because her mom passed away in January and this was a hard Mother's Day for her so she wanted to be with family. It was great to have them there. Cole sang in a group of 5 boys and did a great job and the Primary sang. Max didn't want to sing but Cole did and it was fun. My present to my mom brought her to tears. It was a silver locket with a picture of her parents in it. She said it was "perfect" and that made my day! (Along with my boys finding the biggest plant with the most flowers for me from the ward! They really do love me!)

After church, we had left over tacos and corn and then a long nap. It was wonderful! We then headed over to the inlaws with strawberry shortcakes and greetings. My Mother-in-law loved her Willow Tree statue (she collects them) and the shortcakes. It was a fun visit. Then, she surprised me with another gift! (She already sent me a card with some money.) Anyway, I opened up the small box to find a diamond necklace! It is so beautiful! I was really surprised!

When we got home, the kids were enjoying each other's company -- just sitting around talking and laughing-- and Lee and I snuck upstairs. We were talking and laughing...I love him so much! Emma came and joined us. She's at the stage now where we can't get her to stop talking. She's so funny and so animated!

I just feel so blessed to have my family!

Overall, I had a wonderful day and I know it was because I tried not to be self-centered and expect my husband and children to make it a good day for me. I enjoyed every little surprise because I know they did them in love. I tried to focus on others and it made for a great day!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother's Day as much as I did!

Do you ever feel like your walking in a whirlwind?

Like things are so confusing that your head is spinning?

I feel like I don't know what end is up and I have a knot in my stomache that could probably set a world's record!

Out of the blue on Wednesday, Lee was offered a job by someone we know and trust. It's a regular salary job with good pay, benefits, and stock options.

At first, I was elated.

A regular paycheck every two weeks!!!

I could actually set up a plan to get out of debt! The kids could go to the doctor/eye doctor/dentist! Things could be somewhat normal.

I thought Lee was on the same page as me, but now I know he's not.

He has worked hard at building his real estate business and it is at the verge of exploding (exploding in a good way!). He likes what he does. He's good at what he does. But, it's such an uncertain business. You never know what you're making until the check comes. You work your butt off sometimes for nothing because the deal you've worked 80 hours on falls through. But with all that, he likes it.

So, he has to tell the man who offered him the job his decision this morning .

I'd like to say that I feel really good about the decision he's made. I should be grateful that he has taken into consideration what would be best for his family and not thought too much about what he would be giving up. But he's the one actually doing the work.

I want him to be happy

and feel good about his decision. I don't want him to do this because it's what I want. He says he's doing what's best for the family but he's part of our family. I'm not sure he's doing what's best for him.

I'm so confused and I feel horrible.

Quote of the Week...

"The older you get,

the tougher it is to loose weight,

because by then,

your body and your fat have gotten to be

really good friends."

I believe in my case, my body and my fat are bossom buddies, kindred spirits, and best friends forever (and a day!).

Freshman Year...CHECK!

My baby girl just finished her first year of college!

Three cheers for Elisabeth...

Hip hip hooray!

Hip hip hooray!

Hip hip hooray!

We're so proud of you!

We went to pick her up today, along with my parents and some of the older cousins.

We ate in the SUU cafeteria (kind of gross! No wonder she's so skinny now!) and she showed the cousins around a bit. Then she checked out of her dorm, drove home through awful weather, but now we are all home together and all is well again!

Welcome home Beth!!!