4 Boys

It's funny when you hear of a family with 3 or 4 boys people always thing or say "wow, I bet that's crazy". But when you have 4 boys as part of a bigger family, they act like it aint no thing.  But it is...it IS chaos 75% of the time.  SOOOO much wrestling and competition!!!! 

But SOOOO much sweetness, and gentelmeness (yup, it's real). These boys make me feel so loved.  They are all 4 seriously, SO different from each other.  Completely different personalities and slowly getting different looks.  It's been SO much fun watching them grown and change and become the men (and little men) they are becoming. Jaden LOVES babies. He's a very neat kid.  As in, neat room, neat hair, neat drawers.  He keeps it tidy, and right now he has the crappiest zone of the house, the kitchen, and he never complains and gets it done nicely.

Boss is and always has been a people pleaser.  He's especially good at recognizing when someone is having a rough day and asking what he can do to make it better.  And he's very devoted to getting straight A's.  He always lets his teacher know that he wants to stay after if it'll get that last B up.

Pearcen is a bit more sensitive than the other boys. He has sweet feelings and he's crazy obedient.  He's very good at doing what he is asked the first time, and I LOVE that he loves to read about the different states and maps every night before bed.

Truman is a bit on the spoiled side at the moment.  He likes to crawl (sometimes take a few steps) to me and then whine until I hold him all day long!  But he loves to laugh, and make other people laugh.  and he likes to cuddle when he wears out. I love it!

Today I told them I wanted to take pictures of them on our way to grandma and grandpa's for dinner....I had about 20 pictures like this one....

 But then two cute ones like this....and I don't know what that Boston face is.  He has a hard time relaxing for the camera....but he's darn cute anyway.

Just 4 cool guys posing for a shot for their mom in front of the local hair salon.  That's all.

 I love you boys!!! I'm sure glad I've got every single one of you!!!

FASTEST YEAR EVER

Last Sunday we celebrated Tru's first birthday.  We had the Woodsides and Grandma and Grandpa over.   It was a lot of fun.   We went with Cookie Monster theme since I'm a bit addicted to cookies right now.  I made about 10 dozen to use in the jars, on the cake, in the bark, and in the ice cream...probably ate a dozen in between making all of those (hence the big belly)

First we let Tru do his smash cake, which I don't think he understood.  He was nervous to dig in.  Very delicate.  He didn't even notice it for a few minute when we sat him down because of all of the attention from everyone staring at him.

 But when he spotted it, he went straight for the cookies! Atta boy!

 We kind of had to shove his hand into the cake to let him know it was ok, then he had a good time.  But not eating it.....

 THROWING IT!  He loves throwing and flipping things right now.  Cracks us up!!!

 So we decided to go to the presents...which of course he had NO idea what to do with.

 And he remained expressionless the whole time.

 Until Vivian started helping!  He loves his siblings!!!!

 A quick shot of toothless for the books...

 The Cookie Monster ice cream was a HIT!

 But the hit of the night was the walking toy that Grandma and Grandpa gave him.  He LOVES walking with it, and within a couple of days of playing with it constantly has started taking a few steps on his own.  
It was funny to watch. Every time he would walk with it, we would all laugh and give him attention, and he would squish up his nose.

 It was a lot of fun looking at how Tru has changed month by months.  His looks have changed so much, especially in the last 4 or 5 months.

 Our family would be so incomplete without this little guy.  He makes us all happy EVERY...SINGLE...DAY!!!!  He's got the sweetest personality and loves to cuddle, take steps, dance, eat avocados, throw and flip things, loves grandma, even though grandpa is making his way back into his heart, being outside, splashing in the tub, opening cabinets in the kitchen and clapping.  He's the coolest baby!!! Love you baby Trubear!!!

Nuzzler

Truman gets SO MUCH LOVE!  Pearcen and Boston always want pictures with him. I couldn't resist on Sunday when Pearce and Tru were both in suspenders and bowties...

 And Jaden is always wanting to hold Tru...and now Tru likes to hold Jaden...

 The other day I was busy getting dinner ready and when I came to the computer to check a recipe I found this e bay search pulled up "a real brother". I think someone wasn't getting along.

 And lastly, I found this old shot in our hard drive.  It's from our trip to California in the spring. I love that little baby round head! (and I miss having my eyelashes, thanks to trying fake eyelashes for a few weeks, I'm now left with stubbies! I hope they grow back to this someday)

Journaling.

This last weeks question was about how my grandparents met.  And I don't know and my parents are gone, and I have a second to write, so I'm going to go to the next question:  What are the most special and valued friendships of your life.

Easy!
My Mom
My Sisters
Cara
Jana
Melissa
Danica and Kayla

BAM!  Now why?

My Mom is amazing!  I think that more and more each day as I do the mom thing.   She made it seem so easy and she did SO much!  I remember she volunteered or everything.  She was on all the mom committees, plus she worked, plus she was grandmaing since I was 8 and doing great at that.  She did think I was an odd kid (she was right) but I always knew she loved me and I always trusted her.  Even now she's not one that would ever let an opportunity to serve pass her by.  She does so much for me and she's put up with me for 37 years now!  I call her probably once a week to ask her how to cook something, or what to do with a certain cut of meat that I bought  without a plan, or what a good price is for artichokes.  She's like a domestic encyclopedia. ( kids, if you don't know what an encyclopedia is, google it...it was google when I was a kid)She's a pretty cool mom.

My sisters.   When I was a kid, my sisters were literally the "cool older sisters".  They were 8, 12, 15 and 18 years older than me, so they were doing ALL of the cool stuff, and I was just a kid. Luckily, they took me most everywhere with them, games, Holbrook, parties, everywhere! (probably means I was the cool baby sister, just saying). And now, now it feels like we're all the same age.  Just last night I got a text from one of my older sisters that started "I've got an important question, and it stays between you and me". I LOVE sister conversations that start like that!  haha.  And I love that I can throw those same questions at them and get what I need to out o them.  They're all geniuses and have great parenting advice and have made amazing offspring to be great examples to my kids and great friends to me.  Anytime my sisters invite me to do something...I NEVER say no! (except to move back to the valley...I just can't).  They're so much fun!  I have a super fun dinner date with them in Payson this Thursday and a cruise with all of them in a month.  I"M SOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!

Cara cracks me up!  We've been friends since we were toddlers, best friends since Jr. High, Roomates, Mom's together, and always had each others backs.  Our fights in HS were hilarious!  We'd draw mean pictures of each other, and exaggerate each other's big features.  She'd make me with big ole bug eyes and I'd make her all lips with tiny eyes.  We were in each other's wedding lines, we had our baby girls just months apart, and then a few of our boys together, including our Ruston and Pearcen who look like brothers and are known as our calm kids. Cara's great!

Jana and I are celebrating our 20 year anniversary this year.  We met freshmen year of college when we became roommates.  We hit it off instantly.  She was an amazing domestic goddess, I was a ridiculously crazy girl that dodged school as much as I could.  Together we learned SO much from each other, and not a thing has changed.  We still talk every week.  We help each other with teenage boy issues, with bread recipes, with "be a good mom valentines parties", and earlier this month we took our girls to a play together, which we learned to never do again.  haha!  Jana's the one that pulls me out of rough spots in life. She speaks my love language and hopefully I speak hers. We both know each other's darkest secrets.  She knows me as well as Jase knows me.  She's amazing!

Melissa is my Texas best friend. We knew each other for a year or so but when she became my visiting teacher, we were forced to speak, and it took a few times of talking, and then me taking her and her hubby's pictures before we realized, we're the same.  We need each other. She's my friend that sends me funny things every month or so to crack me up, and she's my girls trip buddy, my "we like to dress our kids nice even if other friends think it's dumb" buddy.  We have very similar taste in house crap, she's the calm to my crazy and I'm the less educated to her smartie pants.  She even dated my 2nd cousin years before we met at BYU...we were destined to be besties!

I remember babysitting danica when I was 8 or 9 years old.  It was my favorite thing ever!  For years I loved seeing danica and her sisters.  I was the cool aunt.  Even when I as in college, I'd come visit and be the cool aunt.  For a few years, when she was in HS, I was just "the aunt", but again when she got married and we had a couple of babies at the same time, we became best friends rather than aunt and niece.  We spent most every day together for a few years when we lived by each other, and now that I've moved, we still text and get together when we can, and our boys are still best friends, and now our little girls are becoming best friends.  Its makes my heart happy to know that they have family for best friends like I do.  Danica also speaks my love language well. She 's so great at giving me the cutest gifts that make me feel cool and hip.  Anything she gives me is 10x cooler than it really is because she gave it to me.  In my eyes, she's the coolest person I know.....along with her sister Kayla who has now made her way back into my life!  I wish I could spend EVERY SINGLE DAY with these two!  Raising our kids together, cooking together, crafting together, working out together.  They're just awesome, hilarious, genuine and talented! IL OVE  THEM!

Troll Menu

This week we got ready for the big T man's birthday party.  Vivian helped me make about 10 dozen cookies.  It actually happened that she spilled sugar all over my newly moped floor (thanks Kam) and I got SO frustrated...then seconds later, Pearcen came in a spilled milk over it as well.  I walked away, realized that's my life right now then came back and finished the cookies...then cuteness happened....

 Jaden loves Truman almost as much as I do.  He's constantly saying how cute he is and getting hugs and kisses from him.  And of course, Tru loves Jado.

 Boston used the tripod to make a cute little sheet wigwam for Tru...sadly, Tru didn't like to stay in it.

 But he did like eating a Larabar in the middle of the kitchen floor like Cookie Monster.  Honestly at least half of the bar was all over the floor when he crawled away from the scene.

 Valentines night I played the fun mom for once and made a mystery dinner.  The kids had to chose 3 things from the menu and they had to eat what came.   Vivian got frustrated because she ordered a drink, pasta, potatoes and no fork or spoon or knife.  Didn't seem to bother Boston much.  Jaden got a huge plate of dessert to start with.  The menu was Troll code since the kids LOVE that movie right now.

 Jase and I helped the kids make their dream valentine boxes...which took a couple of days and were trashed the day of the party.  But here's Pearce with his bat mobile...

 And Boss with his lego batman.

Joseph City Elementary

The question for this weeks journaling is about elementary school.  I LOOOOVED elementary school! I actually loved all school.  But I remember walking to elementary school down 3rd street everyday holding hands with Celeste McGee for the first few years.  Even after that I still walked or rode my bike everyday to and from school.  My teachers were:
Kindergarten: Mrs. Mary Law (she's pretty much everyone's kinder teacher...all of my sisters and my dad's)
1st: Mrs. Judy Bray, whom Kit and I stole stickers from in a very sneaky, naughty way.
2nd: Mrs. Una Bradshaw, aka Mrs. Bratty Bra...she had a big behave hair and a strict face, but I remember liking her class.
3rd. Mr. Neils Larsen, he was SO much fun, a very laxed teacher. I remember around Christmas time, the kid behind me, Michael Van Hemert stabbed the back of his throat with a candy cane and threw up all over his desk....but a couple of years later, he saw me throw up at The Judds concert in Flagstaff.  ugh!
4th: Mr. Ross Hansen.  Coolest guy around.  I think he was one of my top 5 favorite teachers of all time!   He always walked around the playground with a long twig of wheat in his mouth.
5th: Mrs. Shari Balda...um, coolest ever! We were her first class and she made it so much fun!  She had a money system and a president system.  It was so much fun. I remember going on fun field trips, but I don't remember where to, haha!  I was also in gifted this year, so Mrs. Peters was also my teacher.
6th: Mr. Darrell Moiser.  We were also his first class, and  I remember Randa was on her mission, and I would always put pictures of her on my desk when I'd go to recess hoping he would see them and want to meet her.  haha. He was a great teacher and letting us be creative. I remember winning the writing contests a lot.  He did them every week and the winner got a can of pop.   One story he loved so much he asked me to enter it into the fair...and it won the blue ribbon.  It was about Michael Jordan, as told by the basketball hoop.   It was pretty funny. I'll have to find it someday and put it on here.
My Jr. High Teachers were the same as my High school teachers.  Some of my favorite were Mr. Joseph Richards, who was my Spanish teacher.  He sent me to the principal a lot, then finally just put an old chalkboard up in the back of the class room which made a cage for me, which I LOVED! I got to chew gum and read my Seventeen magazines back there without anyone seeing.  haha!  Ms. Gina Sepp was my all time favorite. I wanted to be her when I grew up.   She has this awesome red hair, she was hilarious, and most all of the kids loved her.  She was my art teacher and she came up with the most fun projects in this cold cement room with lockers.  WE did paper mache', pointillism, drawing, painting, everything!  I remember at the slave auction, her and another teacher, Mrs. Roden, bought ME!  That means they get to make me do whatever they want for a week and they just made me smile all week. I guess I wasn't much of a smiler...kind of like now.  I'm not unhappy, I just don't smile much.  So she made me smile all week and then gave me a cute book called "smiles" that she wrote in at the end of the week.


Back to elementary school...we had cat tracks and we would have drawings on Friday with all of the cat tracks, so we always tried to earn a lot. You got them for academic achievements, for being kind to others, for helping teachers, for being obedient.  Anyway, I remember that being a big deal, and I remember winning a lot of things with that.  Also there was the pickle award...big big deal, and if you won that, you got a big pickle on Friday.
The cool things on the playground were the wheel barrow, that was a big wooden hamster wheel thing that was begging for a lawsuit, but it was so much fun.  We had a big twisty slide that we always waxed and you'd fly off, there was a rocket slide that SO many kids fell off of and broke arms, so they removed it finally.  I played on the bars and swings a lot.  Celeste and I learned some pretty sweet tricks on the bars.  We were very gymnasticy.   I remember my mom would bring me a brown bag a lot of days for lunch at the office and it was a bean burrito, a soda and a bag of chips.  I liked the middles of the burrito, but not the fried ends, so I'd always give them to my friends Kit and celeste.
That's all I really remember. I loved being a kid though.  Joseph City was the best!

Rubberbands on the cabinets.

Lately, Tru's been CRAZY!  He loves to crawl around getting into EVERYTHING.  All of our lower kitchen cabinets have rubber bands on them to keep them closed, and the wooden puzzles are usually spread out all over the living room, everyday.  And when I try to sit him on the couch or bed to sit still for a picture, he hates me!  So this is as good as it gets for 11.5 month old Truman.

2 weeks ago, I was DONE!  I know all moms of many kids get to this point often, but I was seriously, DONE!  So on Monday, I woke up, got myself some breakfast, and sat at the computer and looked on Pinterest, checked my e mail, photoshopped, read through my planner, and switched the laundry.  I was on strike!  I feel like I nag all day long.  I made cute chore charts, that USED to work...for YEARS, and since we've moved so much int he last year and a half, nothing works!  So I just quit.  By the end of the day...this was our house....

Sadly, everyone was starving and not a sole noticed how gross the house was....so I went for day 2.  And they finally realized it's gross...then they realized it sucks to play catch up with chores....we dedicated a whole afternoon/evening to catching up.  But here we are about 12 days later, and we're back to nagging.  If any of my 2 readers have a solution...SPILL!!!!

Ok, no to some cute mom sleeping kid stalker pictures.....his bum...oh my....his bum!!!

The dude walks along cabinets, chairs, couches...he actually found it's worth it to take ONE step...as long as it's to mom or grandma and they have a  pacifier or food.  But mostly he just walks along things or crawls REALLY fast around the house.

Boston LOVES for me to take pictures of anything he creates, so he asked me to take a picture of T with the dolls sunglasses on.

I was sitting on the couch playing video games with Jaden (a first) and Tru fell asleep in my arms!  It was THE BEST! sadly, I had to set him on the couch because I was going on a date with Jase.  But he stayed asleep....and just look at him!  Geez!  I want to eat him! I HATE HATE HATE that they grow up!!!!

Sad news of the week, kitty (who still doesn't have a name because we are all too stubborn to give into each other's names for her), got really sick, really fast.  She has some kind of disease and she gets vertigo and her back legs give out.  It's the saddest ever.  She's spending the weekend at the vet (the adoption center is paying for it....we're horrible pet owners, and don't pay for vets) and on Monday the doctor will tell us the news....it's SO sad.  We all grew to love her....even Gus!

Vivian and I watch TV a lot lately.  No big reason...I'm just tired.  I've been doing REALLY good at working out 1-2 hours a day, and I'm sleeping great, but this last week, I've been tired. I think it's because I've cut my calories big time because I just heard that all of my stinking sisters are losing weight...ALL of them...and the cruise is 6 weeks and 1 day away!

My very favorite thing about Vivian right now (there are lots) is that when it's "quiet time" or bedtime, she asks, "mom, can you cuddle me in?". I LOVE IT!  So I  throw her in bed, she loves being thrown, then we put 3 of her baby blankets on her, and sometimes her comforter, then we read a book, then I smash hug her and kiss her face all over!  She likes saying prayers with Kamryn, and then they usually read books to themselves till Kam turns the lights out. They're the best!

Jaden was mocking Jase the other day.  Killed me!  Look at Jaden's face!  TEENAGERS!!!!

Last weekend I got to go to Elissa's baby shower!  I've never been so excited for a shower in my life! She was seriously so glowy and gorgeous!  She's going to make an amazing mom!  She's one of the few people I trust my kids with for long periods of time.  They love Aunt Lissy!  I may have cried whens he opened her first gift...but in my defense...she was too!!!

That night we crashed at the Guttery's which is always a good time, but when the Merrills and Fish's are there....it's AMAZING!  Tru and Mattix just get a kick out of each other.  They make each other so happy. Tru is in a bit of grabby pokey stage, but they're going to be amazing friends in a year or so.

The bigger kids just payed on the slide in the front room....and....

the uncle bill/grandpa in the front room....

Us girls (and Tru) had a great time while Jase took the big boys to Monster Jam for the 5th year in a row!