I have a hard time falling asleep

Addison doesn't have the same problem. We have found her asleep:


In the bike trailer

In the hallway

In the bath

Saying her prayers

and sitting up in bed watching t.v.

If only it were so easy for me! At night we now tell her it is bed time. She runs into her room and gets ready to say her prayers. After she says her prayers (which always include "bless grandma and grandpa and Auri and Andrew") she climbs into bed and snuggles down. We don't hear a peep from her. Most mornings she wakes up and starts playing with her dollhouse. She is such a happy girl....most of the time!

girl friend vs. "girl" friend

Yesterday as I was getting dinner on the table the boys were discussing the difference between a friend that is a girl and a kissing girl friend. Camden said he was not old enough to makeout with a girl. (Where did he learn that term?) He said he needed to wait until he was 15 to makeout. What? I quickly informed him he had to wait until he was married.

Ode to three

The number 3. A good number. Not the best number...but good. Cute Addison is 3. She goes to preschool 3 days a week. I am the youngest of 3. So its a pretty good number. It can also be a yucky number. Remember three's a crowd? Also 3:33 was the time I looked at the clock this morning because I couldn't sleep. I was making lists in my head...and of course planning what I would type in this blog post.

Baptism

Camden has been anxiously awaiting his baptism since he turned 7. Every prayer he has given in the past year has included some reference to his baptism. After a bit of a mix up with dates we had a great baptism day. Family and friends came to support Camden. He looked so cute in his little black suit. Last Sunday he got up and shared his testimony at church. He is a great kid with a great testimony. What a great example for his brother and sisters!




Funny story: Neil put on his blue suit coat with tan pants...they were so big on him...he has lost a bunch of weight in the last year. He went and got out a suit that he hasn't worn for years! Of course this is the night before the baptism and we don't have time to have it cleaned. It is a little dusty from sitting in the closet for so long. What does he do? Not what I would have done. I would have brushed it off and tried a lint brush. Neil comes walking in with a dusted suit and says "wow...the air compressor did a great job" He used a tool in the garage to clean his suit! What a guy thing to do!




(Yes Addison wouldn't look at the camera for any of the pictures!)

I go to school!

Addie thought for sure she got to go with the boys to school. She insisted on packing a lunch like the big kids on the first day. She carried that little tinkerbell lunch box the entire way to school. When Easton set his backpack down in line, she put hers right next to his. She cried the entire walk home because I wouldn't let her walk into the room with him. Yesterday was her first day of preschool....she is much happier now. Here are the pictures of the her on the first day of school for the boys, because he wanted her "first" day of school pictures taken too. All morning she said to me "I go to school" Dang this girl is cute!

Too much praying?

We often find Addie sleeping in odd places. When she decides she is tired she falls asleep...wherever she is. One night I walked past here room...she had been playing with her doll house....and found her like this.

I suppose she was saying her prayers before she went to sleep?!

1st Grade

Easton is a first grader....how can that be. He is a little ticked that I insisted on walking him on the first day. He loves that he can walk the two blocks with the rest of the neighborhood kids. At the end of the first day I asked how it went. His reply "my friends gave me a headache". He has had a little trouble adjusting to being gone all day. Easton is a homebody. He loves to snuggle up and read books with me and Addie. I think he misses his leisurely mornings. Now he has to be up and out where before he could lay around until he was fully awake...and boy does this kid take a long time to be fully awake!

Eastons friend Travis is in his class. He actually had quite a few kids in his class. In the mornings there are only like 15 kids in there (I think 4 more join them in the afternoon) I am loving his teacher and small class size!

2nd Grade!

On the same day....one month ago....Camden started 2nd grade. He is very excited. I must say his teacher is already hooked...she has fallen for Cam. She has told me already how cute he is and how she and a few other teachers were discussing how beautiful he is. I couldn't agree more!

Camden got got glasses this summer. They are only for reading and screen time. He has taken really good care of them so far...and only called me 3 times because he has forgotten them! I finally told him no more, since all 3 times were within 1 week!

first day of 6th grade!

A month ago the kids started school. Thought it was probably time for me to blog about their first day.

Brooke is now in the 6th grade. She now attends the intermediate school. (here we have 4 grade levels...k-5(elem)6-7(intermediate), 8-9 (middle), 10-12 (high). She has to be out the door at 7:20. This has been our biggest challenge...we are night owls at our house.

We have set up a car pool with a few friends. Here are Brooke and Bri ready for the first day!

(You would think after all this time I would know how to flip my pictures...I just can't get it done!)
Addie was sad to see Brooke go....she loves having Brooke around. Brooke does a great job entertaining her. When I picked up Brooke from school I asked about her day. That one question lead to her chatting about school the entire way home. She loved it. She was a little nervous to change classrooms, but found it to be very easy. She loves most of her teachers (yuck for p.e., yeah for math, science and language arts). I am still in shock that I am only 22 years old and have a kid in 6th grade... how did that happen:)

Physical Therapy required?

Neil plays basketball on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. He goes at 5:30. One morning I heard Neil in the shower and when I looked at the clock it said 6. I figured not enough guys showed up. When he got out of the shower he said he was on his way to the ER He had "done something" to his finger. After an hour at the ER and $1000 bucks later we were told he would need physical therapy for his pinkie. What?! After a visit to an ortho. doc we were told no he doesn't really need physical therapy. Thank goodness we have great insurance and it didn't cost us a dime!

These pictures don't do justice. It looks like his finger is just moved to the side....but that is as close to his other fingers as it could go. He couldn't move it at all.

Let the festivies continue

Since we celebrated the kids birthday on Camdens actual day, we did cake on Addies birthday. She loved blowing out the candles, so we relit them about a billion times for her to do it again. Addie picked out a mickey and minnie cake...which worked out great for a double party...half boy and half girl! SO what makes these two so special? Camden is my little charmer. He can just about get anything out of me with his little grin and batting those long lashes. He seems to win over just about everyone. Camden is very excited about getting baptized and has been talking about it since he turned 7! He has a sweet little testimony and a strong desire to choose the right. He is so cute with Addie and can get along so well with Easton (on the days they choose not to fight!) Camden is also a great athlete. He loves to try any sports...but his specialty is soccer. Addie is our funny little angel. She is always saying the funniest things or giving the funniest looks. Sometimes she shakes her little bum and head while she is telling me things...like duh mom. She LOVES her big brothers and sister. She always wants to be with them. She likes to stand at the top of the stairs and yell down at the kids either to tell them to "shape up" or its "time to eat" Addie loves going to nursery and being with her friends. She is very good at entertaining herself and already has a great imagination. She is always making her polly pockets talk to one another. She also LOVES Grammy and Grandpa! I loves these two and can't believe how big they have gotten!

8 is great and 3 is...what rhymes tree, free, weee?

Camdens birthday was the 8th and Addison's the 11th. We opened presents together on Camdens birthday and then went to their favorite place: Pirate Island Pizza. It is basically a chuck-e-cheese, but with decent food. The kids were very excited and had a great birthday!

Cousins take 2

The weekend after Neils brother Bryce stopped by, Neils younger brother Owen and family stopped by on their way to Cali. The boys loved having them stop. They have two kids Alissa and Devin. Alissa is Camdens age and Devin is just between the boys. We had a fun time trying to get them all to smile. Take a look:




So 2 siblings down....only 6 more to go and we will have had them all stay this summer!

Playing catchup: Cousins part 1

Neil's 2nd oldest brother Bryce drove through St. George after their vacation to california. I convinced him to let his daughter Kelsey ( she is number 5 of 9!) stay for an extra week and fly home. Brooke and Kelsey are the same age and have so much fun together. These two girl were fantastic to the little kids. They planned a party for them...complete with cupcakes and games. They kept the kids so entertained. They also went babysitting 3 times together during the week. With all the cash they earned they went to the mall and spent it on matching outfits! We hope this weeklong visit becomes a tradition with Kelsey! She was so fun to have around I wish we could adopt her!

Careful while driving in St. George

Addison is on the lookout. Today while driving she said "hers picking her nose" as she points to the car next to us. "hers has boogers" In case you didn't know, windows are see through and Addison will catch you in the act!

Mommy The Garbage Can!

Addison yelled to me early this morning "mommy the garbage can" I look out the window and there is the garbage truck. Then she tells me "I don't want to get in there...it is yucky. The Mr. picks it up, the gwumpy (aka grumpy) Mr. picks up the garbage and it is yucky" I have no idea why we think the garbage man is grumpy, she hs never met him, but of course he is on a first name basis with Neil and we ran into him and his family while we hiked in Kanarraville with our friends on Saturday!

5 boxes of cereal

For 59 cents....Yep thats right....here is how it went

5 boxes for 1.88 each =9.40
(2) 1.50 off 1 box coupon=3.00
(3) 1.00 off 1 box coupon=3.00
3 double coupons at albertsons=3=00

So 9.40-9.00=.40 add tax and your total is .59! This my friends is why I coupon! Oh and they weren't just junk food cereal....raisin bran and special k and to throw in a little junk....frosted flakes (my favorite)!

the 4th as it should be

We spent the 4th as it should be...with our friends the McKellebs. We always watch the fireworks with the McKellebs....last year they were living in Massachusetts....so we watched with their cousins instead. This year they are living in Vegas, so things were back to normal. We watched the fireworks with our good friends!

Addie and Cord having fun together! (I realize the pictures are blurry...sorry Jalyn)

Addie and Cord were scaring the parents by climbing this fence. It was a big dropoff on the other side.


Cam and Addie enjoying the fireworks!

Brooke and Bri....they had a sleepover the night before and always have a great time together!

Camden, Mason and his cousin Ethan(?) We sure miss having this kids at the end of our street!

The whole crowd watching the fireworks! We have a great time parked on top of the blue bunny parking garage! Lets do it again next year!