Friday, December 17, 2010

Life as we know it

I swear every year the same two things:

1. Christmas shopping done before December 1st and
2. NO working the month of december

Needless to say, this has NEVER happened. December is just a crazy busy month and I just have to learn to come to terms with it! A couple highlites over the last month...
We went to Reno for Thanksgiving. Which we love. It is always fun to see Jeff's family. And the boys get to play with there cousins.
webIMG_0252webIMG_0223

We decorated a tree
webIMG_7809webIMG_7820webIMG_7805

The boys had their first piano recital. They each played four songs and did awesome! We had only started Jake in piano at the beginning of the school year, but about two months into it, Cole one day sat down at the piano for TWO hours (no joke) and started playing through Jake's books. So, we signed him up. I am not sure if it is a good thing or not. He practices constantly and wants to play as fast as he can. His cute teacher tells him to slow down every time he plays, but apparently it is a race. He LOVES it. They both do. Jake has a major crush on his teacher. We have yet to inform him that chances are, she will not wait around for him. Poor kid.
webIMG_8971webIMG_8969

One bright and cheery sunday morning, we woke up to tons and tons of snow. Of course, the first thing out of Crew's mouth was that he wanted to build a snowman. Out we went. All morning. And then the pictures of the snowman. Crew did not like that part so much.
webIMG_9091webIMG_9132webIMG_9077webIMG_9127webIMG_9106

And last but not least, Jeff and I took a much needed trip to San Diego. Although, I should probably say Mandy and I took a trip to San Diego. We did not see our husbands much. They had a conference for ACN down there and me and Mandy decided to tag along. We went shopping and slept and read and met up with the boys for a late dinner. I have been a slacker and have not pulled out my camera as much as I should have. I didn't take one picture there. Sad.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

A little bit of Crew...

One day I looked in the shower while Crew was taking a shower and caught him peeing in a cup. Apparently it is something that has been going on on a daily basis. Lovely. Remind me not to put my toothbrush back in it.

webIMG_2802

I pulled out his elephant costume and he saw the tail in the back and yelled, "Wook mom! There's his wee's!"

webIMG_5096
For some reason he seems to constantly be mad at his gramsies and tells her on a daily basis to "SHUSH gwams!" or "You be nice, Gwams!"

When he is mad, he will tell us, "I kick you?" And then proceeds to pretend kick you. Or bite you. Either one works for him.

He and Cole have started to baptize each other in the shower every day. Maybe the shower thing is not such a good idea? I am thinking that the baptism thing might be a little sacrilegious.

My favorite is his kisses. He with holds them until you beg and then he proceeds to cover every inch of your face with kisses. AND then he thinks it is funny to wipe his nose all over your shirt and run away giggling like a mad man.

His prayers consist of mumbling for about 10 minutes about mom and dad and silly bands and elephants and really you can't make out any words except for the "AMEN!"



Bottom line. This kid makes us laugh.
webIMG_9392

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Halloween

Here is a little peek at what we did the WEEK of Halloween. (It almost seems a little much sometimes. By Halloween night, I think my kids were sick of dressing up. I take that back. They didn't care... after spray painting Jake's hair four times, I was done.)

Costumes this year were somewhat ridiculous trying to figure them out. Crew wanted to be an elephant. That one was easy. Up until it came in the mail. I think he was afraid of it because when he saw it he would not touch it and started to yell, "No! I be a giraffe!" He was still the elephant. By the time thursday rolled around we had him convinced it was not scary and he is still carrying it around.
webIMG_5093webIMG_5098

Jake is a vampire obviously. Cole wanted to be the bat that he turned into. No such luck. The only bat costume I found in his size was on ebay for over $100. Lame. SO, we spent an hour at the computer trying to come up with a costume. His is my favorite. I think because it fits his personality to a t. He is Max from Where the Wild Things Are.
webIMG_7156webIMG_7151
webIMG_5032webIMG_5058webIMG_5074
Jeff and I were Fred and Wilma from the Flinstones.
webIMG_1521webIMG_1516

Between the two parades at school and the ward halloween party and then trick or treating in the rain and the party at Gramsie's and Pa's, we have enough junk food to last into next year! It was another crazy busy week but so much fun!
webIMG_7167webIMG_7186
webIMG_1517

Monday, October 25, 2010

What is October without a trip to the pumpkin patch. The highlite of the the day was listening to the cute old men argue with each other about how they needed to go stop some kids from stealing some pieces of wood from them. It was quite entertaining to listen to them yell at each other.

webIMG_0498webIMG_0536webIMG_0545webIMG_0489webIMG_9751webIMG_0457

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Continuing on....

I am sure that you know, along with turning eight, a baptism is included. Jake was baptized a week after his birthday. There is something very special about watching your own kid get baptized. He was extremely excited about the whole ordeal and the attention that was thrown his way. (My children all love being the center attention. I think that comes from their dad.) After he was baptized and we were changing him back into his dry clothes, he told us, "I am so happy to get baptized. Now I have Jesus in my heart!" He makes us laugh. Jake's cousin, Ellie, was also blessed the same day which was really special. We love this kid.

webIMG_0254 copywebIMG_0263 copywebIMG_0270 copy

After the baptism, we had an ice cream bar and a potato bar. Bet you can guess what none of the kids ate and what they did eat...
webIMG_0274 copywebIMG_0304 copywebIMG_0289 copy

We had a book that we passed around that everyone could sign for him so he can always remember his baptism day. I had him write in the back about his day and this is what he wrote,
"I felt different in...my heart. My dad baptised me. I felt the spiret in my heart. Thank you everyone. I love you Jesus!"
webIMG_6745
Yet another Cole-ism...

While standing at the toilet going to the bathroom, he was watching himself with his head tilted back and eyes as wide as they would go in the mirror.

"Mom, know why my eyes are so shiny? It's cause I clean 'em everyday."

And then he proceeds to rub his eyes vigorously to make them as shiny as can be.

webIMG_1425
Is it bad that I do not want my six-year old to learn to say his 'R's? I love it. And I hope it never goes away. For example, a conversation went something along the lines of this at breakfast one morning.

Me: "Who is your favorite friend at school cole-train?"

Cole: "Washeed."

Me: "Washeed?"

Cole: "No, WA-sheed."

Me: "washeed?"

Cole: "No mom. Watch my mouth. WA-SHEED!"

Me: "RAsheed?"

Cole: "Yes mom. Washeed."


Oh. How I love him.

webIMG_9689

Thursday, October 14, 2010

The beginning. (of october)

Ahhh. Where to even begin? October is always a busy month, but it seems this year has surpassed the busy-ness. In the last ten days we have attended a funeral, had a birthday, a baptism, a baby blessing, a mission farewell, a missionary leaving and another birthday. Not to mention family in town and work and school and kids on top of that. As crazy as it has been, we have enjoyed every second.

First off... Jake is now eight years old. Which means i am old and Jeff is even older. Haha. How depressing (about me anyways). I can't believe we have an eight year old. It is crazy. His cute personality is the same as ever. Very stubborn, very sweet and very fun and stinkin' cute if I do say so myself. He loves to swim and is now on a pre-comp swim team. We have been informed that he wants to be in the Olympics one day. He loves to play video games and always wants to be with his friends just like every other eight year old. He is still as sweet as can be and is a huge help with Crew and his younger cousins. He is still too smart for his own good and be careful of the things that you tell him because he will never forget. He is our miracle and we are so grateful everyday that we still get to have him with us... Happy Birthday Jakers!!

webIMG_0049

For his birthday, we gave him a few options and he decided on a "smore's party". We went up to the canyons and spent the afternoon roasting hot dogs, opening presents and making ourselves sick on chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers.

webIMG_8845

webIMG_8943webIMG_8797webIMG_8852webIMG_8910webIMG_8904webIMG_8816

Funny story about the birthday cake... it took a miracle to light the dang candles because of the slight wind that kept blowing them out. We FINALLY got them lighted after about ten tries and while in the middle of singing happy birthday, our precious two year old decided to blow them all out. Luckily, Jake just giggled and was a good sport about it. We were not about to attempt to light the dang things again.

webIMG_8933