Life as we know it...: June 2012

Thursday, June 21, 2012

An Enchanted Date

This year the theme for the daddy-daughter date was "Enchanted". The girls dressed up in nice dresses and headed out for dates with dad. Since there are so many students at the Elementary school, the different grades were assigned a time to go "dance with dad". Lauren's 1st grade time was from 5-6:30 pm and Maddie's 4th grade time was from 8-9:30 pm. This worked out perfectly because each of the girls got one on one time with dad and they went to dinner with other dads and daughters in between the two sessions.

Lauren and Jeff

Maddie and Jeff

These two are always being silly

What a great looking family I have!

Of course we had to get a picture of Jeff

and Parker. Can't leave anyone out

Lauren was so tired after her date that she came home,

quickly showered, put her on her pajamas and

fell asleep like this while watching tv.

My little buckaroo turns 4

Parker turned 4 years old on February 6. I seriously can't believe it's already been 4 years since he was born. Parker is such a great kid. He is 100% boy and he fills our home with such joy. He has a great attitude and a contagious laugh. He does and says the funniest things. I wish I could put him in a mason jar and preserve him forever. I am doing my best to cherish every moment of his fun loving life. I am afraid that I am going to blink and he's going to be on his way out the door to serve a mission.

Showing us he is officially 4 years old

He was very excited for his birthday!

Breakfast in bed is a MUST on your birthday

Parker loves the round tray and wishes

he could eat breakfast on the tray everyday

The goods all wrapped up

Woo Hoo!! Ute soccer and basketball

A RED baseball mitt

a batting tee.....hey I'm seeing a pattern here!

A basketball hoop

Definitely the year of sports - SCORE!

Yep- 100 percent all boy

Coldstone ice-cream cakes are the best

and so easy to make :)

Happy Birthday little Buckaroo-

I love you so much!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Student of the month

Lauren was chosen as student of the month. The character trait for the month was Initiative.

She's so excited to get her award

She got a certificate, a pencil, and a very ugly yellow

sticker that we are supposed to put on our van

Someday my children will learn to stand IN FRONT of

the crowd. We can barely see our little Lu

See the ugly yellow sticker!! Even though

it's ugly, we still put it on our van.

We're so proud of you!!

Mr. Popper's Penguins

For our mother-daughter book club in January we read Mr. Popper's Penguins. It was Maddie's choice and a great read. If you haven't read it.....you should. It's totally different from the movie.

A very talented mom made us a delicious treat

We went ice-skating as a group. It was

fun watching the moms and daughters

ice skate together. I think the moms fell

down way more than the daughters

Monday, June 4, 2012

Christmas Picture Overload!!

We made the trek from Cali to Utah again this Christmas. We started our vacation out with the annual Helm Family Christmas Party. It's always so much fun!!

Lauren was excited to sit on Santa's lap

Maddie was also happy to sit on Santa's lap

Parker wasn't happy to sit on Santa's lap. His words,

"I don't like that fat man with the white beard!"

We got to met the future Mr. Jill Allred

Tyler is a great guy. We love him!!

Lauren won the limbo contest.

Look at her bend backwards....TALENT!

Musical chairs started and.....

Maddie was the winner!!

Parker and Jeff were the winners of the dance off

Look at those moves :)

We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma Farrell's house

The girls got travel cases for their American Girl Dolls

Parker got a Big Buzz. This made him happy because

it will go well with his Big Woody

Christmas morning was spent at Grandma Georgia's

and Grandpa Karl's house

The kids waiting so patiently to open their stockings

Grandma, Grandpa, and the gang

They are a HAPPY bunch!

My cute family all dressed in their pajamas

These girls are my favorite presents!

Love his boy!

Our little fashionista

Our animal lover

A laser remote control car. The car follows a

laser - Great invention!!

I gave Jeff a new wedding ring.

His old one was....OLD!

Luckily for us we got Grandpa Homer with us

on Christmas morning. It was so nice having

him but oh how we so badly missed

Grandma Merla!! She loved Christmas.

Yea!! Armoires for their American Girl doll stuff-

They have a lot of it and how it can be contained.

I love organization and clean rooms!!

Lauren, Isaac, Maddie, Connor, Tyler

Rachel, Ian, Max, Parker, Zac

There wasn't much snow but the kids were

determined to play in it

Maddie climbed on the rocks

Parker made snow angles

Lauren posed for the camera

It's also tradition to go bowling. I got a new

camera and hadn't figured out how to use it.

Thus we have crappy, blurry pictures

Pro-bowler Maddie

Cheesy Parker

Determined Lauren

We stopped by the Red Zone Ute store and got new

shirts for the kids and then headed to Grandma's

to make gingerbread houses

Pedicures are also a Utah must do.

Maddie was in heaven having her toes done

and reading her book. Such a book worm!

Lauren just sat back and enjoyed being pampered

I love this picture of my kids in Grandma's front

bedroom. I spent hours in this same room

and have great memories!!

We went out to dinner on New Year's Eve and it took

FOREVER for our food to come. The kids got

bored so Lauren got creative and entertained us all

We headed back to Grandma Farrell's for a night

filled with games and electronics

Sadly, our trip came to an end and we left our

Grandparent's all tuckered out. Thanks

for the fun....ENJOY YOUR NAP!

My Funny Kids

Parker -" Mom, can me and Ben have a piece of chocolate?

Mom - I don't know. We need to ask his mom.

Parker - Why?

Ben - Because I am allergic to wheat.

Parker - What does allergic mean?

Mom - It means it makes you sick.

Parker - Oh. I am allergic to work. It makes me sick!"

11-29-12

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Parker age 4 - "Mom when I get married my wife will look just like you. She will be beautiful. She will have soft hair like you so I can run my fingers through it when we sleep. 11-7-12

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"Mom can I take a bath?" "Yes, Parker you may take a bath." "Woo hoo! You are the BEST mom ever!" 10-29-12

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Parker age 4 - I can't believe in all the years I've been alive that Dad has never showed me what fly spit looks like. 9-18-12

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"Today in school we got to play the Stocking Market. It was so fun. We got to buy, sell, and trade just like they do in New York." Maddie 8-31-12

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Yes, Parker you may say family prayer tonight. No, Parker you may not say them in dog. You need to say them in human. 8-20-12

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I just returned from the mailbox where we just got our new Friend and Ensign magazines. I came in the house and said, "Hey Maddie, we got a new Friend today." Maddie replied, "Oh yea, who is it?" funny!! 5-2-12

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Maddie is making a power point presentation for school using Microsoft. Our conversation went like this...

"Hey Maddie, what are you doing" "I am working on my microscopic presentation for school." 3-15-12

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Lauren is in her bedroom singing to the tune of "I Love To See The Temple" Her words are...."I love to see Hawaii, I'm going there some day." 2-29-12

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Maddie - "Mom, what is Grandpa's job at the bank?"

Mom - "He loans people money"

Maddie - "Oh, so you mean he's a LONER?" 1-9-12

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Maddie has been asked by Jeff to read the Book of Mormon everyday. Jeff checks in with her to see if she's done her reading for the day. Today Jeff asked her if she had done her reading and Maddie replied in a text from her i touch....."And it came to pass that Maddie has not yet done her reading." Ha, ha, ha....she's a witty little girl!!! 1-2-12

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Mom - "Parker your underwear is dirty. Please put on some new ones."
Parker - "No thanks mom, I like dirty underwear. It's my favorite kind." 12-20-11
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After Parker broke out in chicken pox he said to me..."Mom, I know how we can get rid of my chicken pox. You just put me in a sleeping bag and water me. Yep, that will do it." 12-14-11

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Parker -"Mom, I know how to say dirt in spanish."

Mom - "Ok, how?'

Parker very proudly said - "mud" 12-6-11

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Lauren proudly says..."I know how to spell DVD!" 11-26-11

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Lauren says to me...."Mom, I think Parker's almost ready for Kindergarten. He's the right size. Everything but his arms and his hands. They're still too small. They need to get bigger." 11-16-11

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I went to get the mail and when I returned Parker asked me what was in the mailbox. I told him "nothing, just stuff that's boring". Parker quickly responded without hesitation, "You mean like church." What? I asked him. "You know, church, it's boring!!" 11-9-11

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Parker said to Jeff...."Dad, I like you, but only when you yell at the girls." 10-18-11

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After walking into Parker's room and seeing popcorn kernels all over the floor.....

Mom- "Parker, you sure know how to make good messes"

Parker - "That's right. I don't know how to make bad messes." 9-15-11

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As we were driving past a strip mall Maddie exclaims with lots of excitement...."Oh look a bookstore!" Jeff and I just laughed and told her to read it again. It was a Rebok store. Nope, not a Rebook store. 9-2-11

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In order for this to be funny, you need to know that Grandma is a whopping 4 feet 11 inches tall.

Parker - Mom can we go mini golfing when Grandma comes to visit?

Mom- Sure Parker, that sounds like fun. Let's ask Grandma if she wants to go.

Parker - Do you think she's tall enough? 8-26-11

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Maddie- Mom, I think you need to take me to the doctor.

Mom- Why what's wrong?

Maddie- It's my butt.

Mom-Uh-ho, does it hurt?

Maddie- No, I need a new one. Mine has a crack in it!! giggle, giggle, giggle...

She thinks she's so funny. 8-11-11

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I need to begin by saying there is NO ROD in our tub.

Lauren was in the bathroom standing on the edge of the tub dancing, twirling, and spinning. I told her she'd better be careful or she might fall and crack her head. Lauren responded, "Don't worry Mom, I'll just hold tight to the iron rod. That will always keep me safe." 3-2-11

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Parker got out of bed tonight and asked me for a pencil. I asked him why an almost 3 year old needed a pencil at bedtime. He replied, "so I can color on my wall." Well, at least he was honest!! 1-3-11

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Lauren came into the bathroom crying. I asked her what was wrong. She replied, "I just don't know what I'm going to do about all my gray hair." 12-8-10

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We were all in the kitchen this afternoon making sandwiches for lunch and Jeff says, "I am so smart." Before he could tell us why he is so smart Lauren quickly responded, "You're not that smart!" It was hilarious .... 11-26-10

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Maddie says "Hey Lauren say I am a loser"

Lauren responds by saying "Maddie is a loser."

Ha, Ha, Ha, bet Maddie didn't expect Lauren to be so clever!! 11-21-10

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I am not sure if these next two should be funny but they are...

I was in my bedroom cleaning up trying to find the terrible smell. I kept thinking I would find a sour sippy cup of milk or a dirty diaper that somehow made it under the bed or in a dark corner somewhere. Lauren came in and asked what I was doing. I told her I was looking for a terrible smell but couldn't find it anywhere. She responded by saying, "well mom, maybe the Holy Ghost farted." maybe so Lauren...maybe so. 10-28-10

Today after church we were all in the gym while Jeff was helping clean up the chairs. I needed to talk to someone so I left and told Jeff to keep an eye on the kids. Well, we all know how difficult that is when you are busy stacking chairs. I came back to see the accordion curtains to the chapel open and Parker was on the stand RUNNING and STOMPING on the piano keys. I sent Jeff to get him because I couldn't stop laughing......I have a warped sense of humor!! 10-31-10

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We have a board game that has little super hero figures in it. Jeff & Parker were playing it & Parker picked up Spiderman & Spiderwoman. He showed them to Jeff and said, "Look, Spiderman & Spider Mommy." I'm so glad Parker thinks of me that way!!! 10-6-10

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While driving in the car today Lauren told me that she knows exactly what she wants to be when she grows up. "I want to be a mom just like you." OK, I said and why is that? Lauren responded, "so I can be the boss." 9-24-10

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In primary today Lauren was the VIP. She was asked to come to the front of the room and they read a paragraph all about Lauren. Then they asked her, "Lauren, what is one of your most favorite things to do?" She replied in total seriousness, "Breathe, I love to breathe." 8-29-30

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Today I was outside with my back to Jeff. I bent over to wind up the hose and Jeff said, "That is my favorite thing to watch" and Maddie said, "What? Watching mom work??" 8-27-10

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Tonight for FHE, I asked Maddie to read the first part of the 13th article of faith. It went like this...."We believe in being honest, true, chaste, VIOLENT, virtuous, and in doing good to all men...." It made me laugh since my kids seem to be rather "violent" during FHE. Appropriate!!?? 8-23-10

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Today I was explaining to Lauren that because her skin is so sensitive, she needs "special" sunscreen on her face or she will break out in hives. Later when I was giving her a bath she said," Mom, I am so glad you put that sunscreen on my face. I would hate it if bees flew in me." I was totally confused and asked her what she was talking about. She replied, "Well if I break out in hives, bees would for sure fly in me since that is where they live and that would be awful!!" 8-18-10