Kids are never just quiet!

You'd think that after having five kids I would have learned this lesson by now, but apparently is hasn't sunk in. Well today it sunk a little deeper into my brain. I was watching my friends two little boys today (ages 2 and 3) so she could get some painting done. Things were going well with very little fighting. We played train, and swords, and little people - all the things little boys love. Well, I went to make lunch while the boys were playing. One of them, my friend's child was upstairs with me. Things seemed so calm and I thought how nice it was that they were playing quietly together. Well, when I went to call the rest of the gang up for lunch I was shocked to see white stuff all over the floor at the bottom of the stairs. No, it did not snow in my basement, but it looked like it had. Apparently the boys thought it was fun to do laundry, and were pouring cups of laundry detergent around in the basement. Oh my! Well I took all of the boys upstairs so they could eat while I vacuumed the basement. At least it smelled really nice. Of course the whole time I was vacuuming I kept hoping that the boys were ok upstairs. Well, after cleaning up one mess, I went upstairs to find that about two cups of water had been dumped on the floor, but at least it was water. The rest of the day went fine, but oh that moment was a bit crazy. Life is always an adventure with kids.

Pumkin Patch visit take two!

October isn't October without a visit to the pumpkin patch. Even though Emily, Parker, Carter and I had just visited it the week before, we decided to go have some fun with the big kids on their Columbus Day vacation. (I think that's why they had the day off) Anyway, they had a lot of fun jumping off hay bales with their friends. Taylor even got a little creative with some of the decorations in the spook alley - don't tell anyone. It was a fun day. The only downside was the next day Ashley and all of my friends girls complained about sore neck and backs. Taylor wasn't sore, but being taller he landed a little differently. I think the hay was just a little too high this year.

Fieldtripping

So I decided to try to go on some fieldtrips with my kids this year.
This can sometimes be a big undertaking because most of the time the school says not to bring other kids. Well, one of the fieldtrips I could take additional kids on was Emily's trip to the pumpkin patch. It was fun, but freezing!!! Poor Parker whined the whole time, and then it turned out he was running a fever when we got home. Yes, I failed to qualify for the good mom award that day. The things we do to support our kids. Emily was glad we came, and Carter had a blast. I just felt bad for Parker. The other field trip I got to go on was with Ashley to the zoo. Couldn't take the boys, so I'd gotten someone to watch them a couple weeks before since it was an all day deal. Well, unfortunately my friend had a family death, so I had to call on another friend who willingly took the boys. She is a lifesaver. The fieldtrip was fun, and Ashley loved the individual attention from me. I'm grateful for friend who make it possible to me to do things.

Crazy things kids do

Here are a couple pictures of the funny things the kids do. Parker showing off his muscles while holding his dinner plate (why I'm not sure), Emily with her barrett finger nails, Carter after chewing up an orange marker I didn't know he had, and the much needed goggles (not) put on before our last trip to the pool at the YMCA. I think it's funny how Parker always wants goggles, and now Carter is copying him. Neither of them put their faces in the water.

Soccer, soccer, soccer!

Fall wouldn't be the same without soccer games. This year we got to enjoy three hours of soccer games every Saturday for six weeks. A bit much, yes, but the kids enjoyed being able to play so it made it worth it.

Ashley's 8th Birthday

Sharing a birthday with my daughter has been a neat thing. Yes, it does mean sometimes my birthday is over shadowed, but I get to participate in a party every year for now, which not all adults get to do. Anyway, we had a fun purse party this year. The theme for this party is kind of funny because it came as a result of the only invitation cards Jeff could find at the grocery store at 10 pm the night before I left for New York. I'd been so stressed getting ready to go, that I hadn't had the time to make invitations for Ashley's birthday. Being the loving husband he is, Jeff willingly went out to the store on a wild goose chase trying to find any kind of invitation like card he could so I could get them out before I left. He then ended up having to write them because I ran out of time to write them myself. One invitation ended up not having the time of the party on it, and another had the wrong time on it, but they got out none-the-less and we had a fun party. The girls had fun doing a relay, decorating purse candy bags, and decorating their own purses to take home. My favorite part was making the cake, and seeing the smile on my daughter's face.

New York Girl's Getaway!

So on September 17th, I got to go on a wonderful weekend getaway courtesy of my wonderful mother-in-law (I prefer 2nd mom). She generously took her daughter and daughters-in-law to New York City for four days so we could play, and play we did. New York is truly the city that doesn't sleep. I was amazed to find myself walking around Times Square at midnight without even a hint of the activity slowing down. Our hotel was a couple blocks from Times Square, so when we got there we started exploring and found a fun place to eat. Before going into the restaurant we had been awestruck by the busy nature of the New York streets, but when we left the restaurant the street had lit up and the excitement had increased - something I did not think was possible. We were like kids in a candy shop going from store to store just to look at their displays. We especially enjoyed Toys R Us, the M&M store, and the Hershey store. I kept thinking of how my kids would love to see the stores, but how I'd have an anxiety attack trying to keep track of them on the busy streets. Anyway, we had a wonderful time going to the top of the Empire State Building, visiting Ground Zero, taking a harbor tour that circled the Statue of Liberty at night, seeing Lion King (amazing), walking through Central Park, taking a bus tour around the city, seeing the LDS temple in the middle of the craziness(very neat), and of course shopping both in stores and at street fairs. My sister-in-laws are quite the bargainers. All-in-all it was a great trip that went way too fast. I am grateful to great friends and a wonderful husband who were willing to take care of my little ones while I got a break.

Labor Day Fun!

We had fun with friends over Labor Day weekend. It's nice having friends to hang with when our family is so far away. We spent one night camping with friends on their parent's property. It was nice because we had the experience of camping, but could use real bathrooms when needed. We did have to drive to them at times since the walk up to the house was a long one for kids. The next morning we had fun boating on their little lake. It was great.

Our extra child

Our friends went on a trip the end of August, so we got to enjoy having an extra child at our house. My girls were really excited because for a few days we had three boys and three girls. They thought that was cool. On saturday, when the girls weren't in school, we spent a fun morning at the zoo and the carosel.

School day, School days!

School always starts so early here. It actually makes me sad this year to have them go. We had a fun summer. It's hard to believe I have three in school. Emily is officially a kindergarten! The kids were actually pretty excited to start this year. We didn't have any trouble with them being really sad to start school. The only hard thing was it rained the first day, making it hard to take pictures. :)

Final Vacation Lap!

We ended our vacation at the annual Blair family reunion in Lava Hot Spring, ID! It was a blast as usual. This year Jeff's mom was in charge, so of course she went all out spoiling the kids and adults with all sorts of fun things and treats. We enjoyed going down the river, swimming at the city pool, and just hanging out with family. I was impressed with the kids this year. Taylor went off the platform at the pool, and jumped off the high and low diving boards more times than I could count. Ashley and Emily both got the courage to go down the slides, and did so over and over again. All of the kids except Carter went down the river on the tubes, and I think I was the only one who was nervous. Taylor had one scary flip off his tube on the river this year, causing him to scrape up his legs, but he survived and was tough. Finally, we ended the time with a fun carnival, complete with popcorn, churros, games and prizes. Thanks Grandma for making it so fun. It was a great way to end our vacation and tire out the kids before the long ride home.




More fun with the family. It was nice having all of Jeff's family together again. It had been awhile.

Vacation Take Three

After being with the Blairs for a few days, we went to Orem to spend a few days with the Kollers. My brother and his kids were able to be there too, so the kids got to spend more time with their cousins. We also got to celebrate my dad's birthday, which he wanted to celebrate at Chuck-E-Cheeses. He's pretty nice to take all of the kids to that crazy place for his birthday. All of the kids (the adult ones included)had a lot of fun.


They also took us to the new aquarium in Utah. It was pretty neat. The kids especially enjoyed being able to touch the stingrays and other sea creatures.