Kite Festival 2012

It's always fun at the Kite Festival, and this year was no exception!  Parker was finally old enough to read and earn a kite, the boys were super excited to find a BLUE ANGEL kite available!  I'm sure this was a popular pick :)  The weather was a little hot and not so windy, but we had a blast playing games...

flying kites... 

eating food  and enjoying each others company !

Jordan won a shirt at one of the booths, he shot 9 out of 10 at a basketball competition.  Parker was a pro at finding all the candy and SWAG.  Taleah was exploring using her new Princess sippy cup...she almost has the hang of it.  Ryan was the pro-kite making/flying/fixing resident (thanks Daddy!)  Another great day in sunny St. George !

Jordan's Grand Preschool Adventures

Jordan has had an eventful week at school.  Last Friday they had a karate and gymnastics end of year performance at the Wash Co Rec Center.  All year, Jordan has enjoyed his time in Karate and gymnastics - although if you asked him about it he would just reply..."it was fun" or "we had fun".  He was super excited to show us all that he had learned!

Here he is showing off his mad-nunchaku skills!

Look out bad guys - move over Kung Fu Panda...Jordan is here to save the day.
He looks so serious!

Then they moved on to the Gymnastic portion of the performance.  I was impressed with how strong Jordan was, he really did well in all the areas.

 

He looked like the Olympic gymnasts on these rings...I have always wondered how the men swing and turn over on these things.

The family was given a pass for the Rec Center after, so we went for a quick swim!

And then ended the day with a stop at In-n-Out!  Jordan was so proud of himself to be able to read the sign..although Parker was quick to point out that they were missing an "a" and a "d" around that middle "n" :)

Then on Wednesday, Jordan got to take his Daddy fishing for "Father Fishing Day".  The school provided all the supplies, they just showed up and fished.  Ask Jordan and Daddy about their adventures...I'm haven't been given clearance to post their top secret fishing stories :)

I love these guys!

Here is the Smilebox, with all the pictures and videos for the Grandma's (and anyone else) that want to see all the performance

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The Story of ONE Desperate Mommy,Two Great Boys and 251 Pennies

In a place not so far away, there was a desperate Mommy who was a little overwhelmed with all that she had to do that day.  One huge project weighing her down was the desperate need of the floor to be mopped.  She had just been given her "Piggy Bank" from her childhood by her Mom, complete with a lot of pennies.  So, this desperate Mommy got creative!  She went around that dirty footprint laden floor and put a penny in each square, and filled two buckets with wash water.  She then called in her two fun boys (the culprits of the muddy footprints) and told them she had a game set up for them.  The game had two simple rules, clean a square - then pick up the penny and put it in your bucket.

These brave little souls  started with smiles and laughter, excitedly discussing what they would do with all of their riches.

 

They soon realized, it was a lot of work...but they didn't stop and "raced" to be the one with the most pennies.  This Mommy's little heroes really worked hard, and there wasn't ONE complaint,whine or back talk

 

Soon the floors were sparkly clean (even a bit soggy - like a swimming pool!) and all the pennies were picked up.  The desperate Mommy was a little less desperate with that job off her list, the boys were happy with a trip to the Dollar Store, and everyone was glad to know that there are 251 tiles on our floor!

And they lived happily ever after...at least until the next rain storm :)

Sweet Seven Month Taleah

I know I say it every month, but Taleah is growing so much and we are loving every minute with her!  Even thought she lost 1.5 pounds last month (due to RSV :(  she is happy and looks like she can take her monkey friend in a wrestling match :)  She loves to talk,coo and growl at her brothers and toys...if you want a picture just have Parker tell her to smile, it works every time! 

She is learning to use her Princess sippy cup...what a big girl!  Taleah has started to explore things with her tongue and sticks it out a lot...it is too funny :)

Taleah loves to explore new things, her toys are boring her...she is much more interested in Lego's and Hero Factory guys.  Who knew?

Taleah loves the outdoors...even the grass! She loves to go on walks, and really loves it when she can sit-up big girl instead of being in her car seat.  Everyday we go out after naps, to sit on the grass - soak up the sun and watch brothers play.  I think this is her favorite part of the day!

She DOES NOT like to swim!  Although she loves to bath and has discovered her toes. 

 

Taleah was SO ready to eat, so when when the doctors finally gave us the okay we started her on big girl food.  She likes to feed herself, but HATES rice cereal!  I was a little worried I had a picky eater, but when I started vegetables she has LOVED them all...even peas and beans! 

She spends a lot of time watching big brothers playing sports, but she is their biggest fan and loves going to soccer,basketball and t-ball games!

Taleah loves to sing...her favorite is the eensty-whinsty spider, she giggles every time she sees your hand coming toward her.  She has FINALLY moved up to her princess room (my fault not hers) and has been sleeping 10-12 hours a night for a few weeks. When she wakes up and makes any noise her brothers are right there to talk and entertain her...I don't know who loves this arrangement more Taleah or her brothers!  She is almost on a nap schedule, unless we are running errands or car pools (oh the life of the little sister)  Taleah loves when Daddy comes home, and squeals when she sees him.  They play lots of games together like "3-2-1 blast off" and "Indian noises"...she has Daddy well trained :) 

We love this baby girl so much!  What a blessing she is to our little family, it is amazing how much joy one sweet little spirit can bring!  Parker,Jordan and Taleah have truly completed me. 

Our "BIG" City Adventure !

That is right we went to the BIG city of Salt Lake City and had a wonderful adventure!
We packed our new lunch pails with McDonalds and hoped on TRAX, off for an adventure.  We rode to the new City Creek Mall and had so much fun exploring it.  The first thing that I noticed is that is smells so good, you know like fresh paint and newness!  Everything was so clean and beautiful!  The architecture was amazing and there was an excitement to the crowd.  I foolishly thought that it wouldn't be crowded on a Monday afternoon (everyone was back to school after Spring Break, Right?)  Not so, it was PACKED...but that didn't stop us from having a grand time.

We stopped on the bridge for a great view of the Temple and the city.  Then we went to the food court to find Mommy's Favorite Meal...CHICK-FIL-A (oh how I wish there was one in St. George!)  Look even the McDonalds was a bit fancier :)

We discovered the amazing Dinosaur Themed Play Area and thoroughly enjoyed it!
The boys ran,slide,played,climbed and giggled their way over every species, while Grandma Kathy chased them with the camera and I feed Taleah :)

We stopped for several pictures...still trying for the perfect shot for the wall !
The boys were awesome and we got some fun pictures...this may be my favorite, don't you just love those little feet !

 

Grandma had a coupon for the Disney store, so we had to make a quick stop.  This place has always been so fun...but now with a PRINCESS it could be dangerous on the budget!  I love the way Taleah was looking at everything, especially herself in the mirror.  Mommy's little princess is truly the fairest in the land!

We saw some new things as well, not sure there is any need for words here!
We aren't in St. George anymore !

We then went to the $0.75  movies and at ourselves sick on popcorn!

And caught the last flight home to St. George.   These are two tired little boys, they were all snuggled up and asleep before we even took off! 

Thanks Grandma Kathy for the fun adventure !

Our Jordan is a HAND FULL !!!

Yep, that's right my baby boy is now a HAND FULL, a FIVE year old!

We had an amazing Star Wars Birthday Party, complete with a Jedi Training Camp. Jordan picked the theme and I had so much fun planning it. Ryan and I did a pretty good job on the Death Star Pinata and the C-3PO Oil cans. We made 3 Specialized Lightsavers and got the remaining 18 ready for the big day. For refreshments we had 5 Lightsavers made out of mini cupcakes and Yoda Soda of course.

Finally the big day arrived, and we had 21 young Jedi's participate in the Training Camp.

As the boys arrived we made individualized lightsavers (as each Jedi must allow the force to guide him to his lightsaver). Of course many practice battles started so we moved on quickly from there :) We then had some training on the Jedi travels and the Galaxy. We then made our own "Galaxy Play dough", they were all so proud of their own blob of the galaxy.

We then had our outdoor obstacle course (because of the CRAZY wind that day we had to move most of the party into the garage...it actually worked really well!) They Jedi's used the force to swing,climb,slide and balance. As they all passed the first test they moved on to Lightsaver Training with Jedi Master Ryan. This was SO cute to watch! They were all trying so hard. We then had the second obstacle course in the garage where they crawled through caves, shot Storm Troopers and "crushed" the Evil Force (popped balloons with all the enemies of the Rebel Forces) For the Young Jedi's final test they each had an one-on-one lightsaver battle with DARTH VADAR ! (thanks again Ryan...what a Daddy!) Now our little Rebel Squad was ready for battle and they over came and defeated the Death Star and enjoyed the spoils (candy for all) We then had refreshments and opened presents!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN!!!

The next day was Jordan's real birthday and we had a little surprise for Jordan when he got home from school. A Brand New...Straight From The Store...Never Been Ridden By Parker...Spiderman Bike) He was so excited he jumped on it in the living room, rode it out the door and hasn't gotten off of it since :) We love this little guy and all the love and joy he brings our family! He is still Mommy's best snuggle bug, Daddy's little shadow,Parker's best most loyal friend and Taleah's best advocate. Jordan has such a tender heart and can melt your heart with those amazing eyes! I am so blessed to be his Mommy and have him in my life. I love you little guy!

Here is all the pictures if you want to experience the full force of the party !

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