Mike Becky Sam Will & Molly

This Just Makes Me Smile!

2011-12-05T23:56:00.001-08:00

Randomness

2011-12-05T23:50:00.000-08:00

The boys had lots of fun halloween art from school this year. They know they get to put all their stuff on the wall for everyone to enjoy...and then I get to recycle it. :)

Molly fell asleep on the floor. Under Sam's feet. Between the stool and the bar. I guess she was pretty tired!

I have no idea how Will (4 years old) managed to get this on...it's a 3 month snow suit!

Molly figured out how to climb in and out of the crib...so she ended up on the floor a few times. After she managed to completely trash her room. I got pretty tired of putting her toys and clips away every day! So glad she's in a princess bed now!

Our little family!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-05T23:18:00.000-08:00

The only thing I took pictures of on Thanksgiving was people holding Jake. And only two at that. We had dinner with the Foutzes, and then we visited the Claytons since we had cousins here from out of town. But no pictures, so just imagine how much fun we had. :)

Clearly, Melissa enjoyed this much more than Jake did. :)

Elizabeth thought it was fun to hold him for about 5 seconds. Which is actually pretty good for a 2 year old!

First Bath!

2011-12-05T23:09:00.000-08:00

Jake had his first big boy bath at 3 weeks. Because it took 3 loooong weeks for his cord stump to fall off. I think Molly asked me 10 times a day what was in his belly button. She also used to ask me 10 times a day, "Mommy, what are lion names?" Meaning what are the names of the lion cubs in the Lion King book that I love.

He didn't cry, but he didn't love it much.

Love this little boy!

Jake's Other Mom

2011-12-05T23:01:00.000-08:00

Baby Jakie is so lucky to have two moms! Molly loves to hold him and give him his binky. I love the progression.

She was holding his binky in (notice how serious this is...she actually took her own binky out to concentrate on Jake!).

She was enjoying herself...don't think Jake was!

Success! Binky in and no crying. What a good mommy!

Finishing Halloween...

2011-12-05T22:52:00.000-08:00

4 kids is busy, to say the least. Besides all the usual kid stuff, I decided to completely redo the boys' old room for Molly. With a one week old baby. Sane? Probably not. Every surface was repainted...SO many times. Between the previous owners and our boys, the walls were pretty trashed (mostly from the previous owners, honestly). I think I filled hundreds of tiny holes. Who staples stuff to the wall, seriously?! We were so eager to move in initially that we just never got around to painting it for Sam. Oops. Anyway, today I worked on recaulking and painting base boards in the bathroom, and next I'll be redoing a dresser I just bought for Molly. Masochist. That's the word to describe me! So...here's the rest of Halloween. I'll post pictures of Molly's new room soon, it turned out cute!

Sam's school parade!! That was seriously a whole lot of effort to get there with a 2 week old baby and a 2 year old...just to see Sam for 3 seconds. Don't get me wrong, it was worth it, look at that smile!

We always have to trick or treat on the lane, and we got to see our fun Anderson cousins! Will, Josh Anderson and Sam. Cute boys!

Aunt Chris (Josh's grandma) and Grandma Tigger were so cute with the kids!

And it's just not Halloween without our annual visit with LaRae Rasmussen! We love LaRae, she's amazing!

The kids went trick or treating with our buddies the Nielsens. We're so lucky to have such great friends right next door! Mike said that Corbin called Molly his butterfly. :) I stayed home to pass out candy, so no pics of all the kids. Mike and I enjoyed the 12 pounds of candy the kids got this year. No wonder I stopped losing baby weight!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-10T19:02:00.000-08:00

Spiderman, Caterpillar, Fairy Princess & War Machine!

Sam totally kills me. Jakie is 13 days old in this picture! We had so much fun at my sister's office party, I love that she invites us every year. This is at least the 4th year we've gone, and the pictures are definitely my favorite part!

Sweet Baby Jake!

2011-11-10T18:13:00.000-08:00

Our sweet baby Jake is here! It's been so fun having this new little angel baby in our family, we love him so much! We started his birth day celebrations with a birthday celebration for Grandma Grace. Jake's birthday is 2 days after Grace's, which is funny because Sam's is 2 days after Lon's. The kids had so much fun playing with Osie and Jane!

Grace was on call for us the morning of the 15th. When I called the hospital at 6:00 am to see if they had room for me to be induced, they told me to call back in a couple of hours. Then they called me back and told us to be there at 8:00. I was so happy! I panicked at the thought of not eating all day while I waited around for them to have room for me.

As soon as Jake was born they put him on a warm towel on my chest. It looks a little gross, but it was actually really neat.

Our healthy baby boy! 6 lbs 10 oz, 19 inches, born at 1:14 pm.

So, not to be outdone by his siblings, Jake's delivery was far from the relaxing, fun, easy deliveries that I always hear about. Here's how it all went down.

Mike and I got to the hospital at 8:15 am on Oct. 15th. I chatted with my nurse, got changed, gave her information, and settled into my bed for my IV and epidural. After a failed attempt in my left arm, and a failed attempt in my right arm, my nurse grabbed someone else to give me an IV in my left hand. I got started on a bag of fluid and antibiotics, and at about 9:20 they started my pitocin. I started having contractions right away, and after about an hour or so I told them I wanted my epidural. With my history of fast deliveries I didn't want to risk not getting it. :) And since I was dilated to a 4 when we got there, I knew there wouldn't be much time! (Interesting...the nurse told me that a 4 is considered active labor. Since I was dilated to a 3 just a few days before, Jake was probably coming that weekend either way)

Mike and I were watching the U v Pitt game when the doctor came in to administer my epidural.

Lesson: If your doctor is a U fan, turn off the tv.

As soon as the medicine started flowing, my right leg went numb. My left leg never went numb, so I told my nurse. She put me on my left side and said that should help. When my left side still wasn't numb she told me that as long as I couldn't feel my contractions then I'd be fine. I had a sinking feeling that she was wrong, but I really hoped she wasn't.

Lesson: Sometimes you really, really want to be wrong.

After a while I started feeling a lot of pressure. After a few more minutes it started to get really uncomfortable. Then I started feeling A LOT of pressure and it was getting really painful. Just from the hips down, mind you. Mike called the nurse in to check me, and I was full on ready to deliver a baby! She called my doctor in, and after a few minutes of pushing, Jake was born! Sunny side up. Amazingly, I just tore a little off to the side, and it probably only took 5 stitches to put me back together. (My other posterior babies did some pretty extensive damage). Pushing him out was more painful than not having an epidural at all (I would know since I didn't have an epidural with Will). When Will was born the doctor made me wait to push for a few minutes so he could numb me a little. Well, since I had an epidural, why would he numb me? Ring of fire? Now I know what that means.

Lesson: You can push a baby out really fast when you're not numb! And then the urge to kill the doctor that messed up your epidural but will still charge full price...that urge will begin to subside.

We were both feeling much better at this point!

I fell in love pretty quick. One look at that face and I melt!

Will was so excited to hold his brother. Except that it's hard to concentrate on babies when cartoons are on tv! Will was so funny, the first thing he said when he walked in and saw Jake was, "Hey, he has spiky hair! Like me!"

Aunt Jane with her newest nephew.

Still hard to believe...we are a family of SIX!

Our beautiful babies!

Jake's delivery was kind of a whirlwind...intense & not quite what I expected, but we're so happy he's here! He's an amazing baby...calm, sweet, beautiful, and so fun to hold!

Bear Lake--Clayton Week

2011-09-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

Clayton Week was pretty small this year, but we still had lots of fun!! We made it up in time for the demolition derby in Lake Town. Sam was an only child the last time we did this (we had tons of fun!), but I'm not gonna lie. One kid is so much easier. The action was pretty slow in between rounds and the kids got really bored so we ended up leaving early. But still, there's nothing quite like a demolition derby! I still had fun, even if the kids weren't into it!

Molly and Jane are buddies. Molly was trying to blend in with the locals (notice the adorable cowgirl boots).

We had some cousin time with Osie and Claire on the beach! Jake was having a nap, and Steve & Beth's boys hadn't come yet. There are so many Clayton cousins, but this wasn't the year to see them all. We were about 75 family members short!

We also played in the pool lots. Will decided to become a fish! He has loved swimming since his lessons earlier in the summer.

All 5 & 2/3 of us! I couldn't get in the hot tub with everyone else, but sticking my legs in was about all the heat I could handle anyway. Mike tells me all the time that I just radiate heat. Thank goodness this has been a mild summer...perfect for pregnancy!

The kids LOVED playing tennis with Nelson and Seth. And I loved sitting on the bench and watching all the fun. :)

Molly got into my liquid lipstick, which only comes off with eye makeup remover. Luckily Jane had some! I kind of love her Gene Simmons look.

We had so much fun playing with the Vances and Steve & Beth's family! It's always so great to see our cousins, even if they were few in number this year! We always have fun at Bear Lake!

First Day of School!

2011-09-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

Sam started FIRST GRADE this year! He is totally loving school and his teacher Mrs. DiPietro. He's easy to wake up in the morning and is always excited to go. It's so great! He heads to the bus at 8:30 and gets home at 3:50 every day. School has been wonderful for both of us! :)

Will started his second year of preschool with Miss Chris! He LOVES preschool and even gets to go with three of his buddies from the neighborhood.

We are lucky to carpool with such great friends! Lexi, Payton, Gemma & Will. :)

Pioneer Day Parade

2011-09-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

On July 16th our Stake got to participate in the Days of '47 youth parade downtown. We drove down with our buddies the Nielsens. Our ward was pretty hard to miss in our bright lime green shirts!

We waited forever. And ever.

Will's first balloon popped, so he was VERY careful with his second one! He sat in the stroller to wait the rest of the time.

The closest I could get to lime green for Molly was her binky and hair clip. Good enough.

It was hot so I brought a spray bottle to cool off with. The idea was to mist the water, but Sam drank some too!

We walked about 4 blocks, and we even made it on the news that night and the next week, and we graced the cover of the LDS Church News! We were also in this online article about the parade.

This was the picture on the Church News cover, only they cropped it so we're a lot more visible. :) I'm on the right side pushing the red stroller.

I'm blocked by a balloon in this one, but you can see Sam, my stroller, Ava, & Jami. Fun!

Will and Molly stayed in the stroller for the entire walk. It made my life so much easier!

When we got to the carnival at the end of the parade, I lost all of the kids at least once. The boys I lost 2 or 3 times each. It was really stressful, but fortunately we didn't stay long!

We hung out with the Nielsens and Risers during the carnival (aka Where's My Kid? Fest). We're lucky to have such great friends! (Those are the Sanders girls in the pic, but we really spent our time with the others. Pictures are minimal since I spent so much time looking for kids!)

The parade was a little crazy, but it was fun to participate and remember our pioneer ancestors!

Sam's Awesome Ninja Birthday!!

2011-09-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

Sam turned 7 this year!! I still can't believe he's that old. He's been asking for weeks to have a ninja party, so we had a ninja party! It was so fun, I was glad he thought of it!

This had to be easy since I'm 33 weeks pregnant. So I bought some fortune cookies, some Panda cookies (found in the dollar section at Target), and I made the cutest sushi ever! I cut a rice krispie treat in half (from the box I bought on coupon at Costco), put a swedish fish on it, and wrapped it in a fruit by the foot. The whole thing took about 3 minutes. Love.

For our little Thank You boxes to send home with Sam's friends, I put in some random Chinese candy, a Chinese drum, and a little Chinese notebook. I realize that ninjas have more of a Japanese theme, but guess what? These kids didn't know and I didn't tell them.

I made a ninja face cake (super easy, and I actually think it turned out really cute!!), and I found foam swords in the dollar section at Target. I made the headbands out of a free t-shirt, all I had to do was personalize them with a little embroidery (that I finished 5 minutes before the kids showed up).

We played "Protect the Magical Orb" (keeping a balloon in the air using their ninja swords). They loved it.

When the kids first arrived I had them draw a bad guy on a piece of paper. I taped all the bad guys to a lifted cooler lid, and put them in our obstacle course. They totally loved hitting the bad guys with their swords!

When we came in from the obstacle course I couldn't find my plate of sushi anywhere. One of the kids found Molly behind a chair in the living room frantically eating all the swedish fish off the rice krispie treats. She was furious when I took the plate away! They were fine after I stuck some new fish on, and then I trained my ninjas how to eat with chopsticks.

After a rousing game of "Sensei Says" we moved on to the really important part of the afternoon...

Ninja cake and ice cream! I didn't realize that I bought sparkler candles, which actually double as trick candles. It took a few tries, but we finally got them blown out!

I seriously think this is really cute. And it was really yummy too. :) I just used my Nothing Bundt Cake recipe, some canned frosting, a little bit of homemade fondant, and a couple of big chocolate chips. Bam! Ninja cake! It's not like the design is complicated, or even original, but I came up with it myself (as in I didn't copy it from something I found online), so I totally felt like a hero. Or a ninja. :)

We finished off the afternoon with presents from Sam's awesome friends! He really has great friends, we're pretty lucky to have such a wonderful neighborhood!

Sam is so fun, he's such an important part of our family! He pays close attention to detail, and is always sure to let us know when something isn't right. He's still an avid reader, and he loves to tell us about the books he's reading. He loves the Hardy Boys, Encyclopedia Brown, Cam Jansen, The Magic Treehouse, and Droon. He just started first grade two weeks ago, and he absolutely loves it! His favorite thing is recess, but he loves school so much that he's actually waking up BY HIMSELF before school! That was the hardest thing about Kindergarten...getting him out of bed. We love first grade, and Mrs. DiPietro seems like a great teacher!
Sam can be very stubborn, but we can't imagine life without him! He's a great big brother, and he really watches out for Will and Molly. We're so happy he's in our family, we love him so much! Happy birthday to our favorite 7 year old!!

Best Vacation!! Warning: Tons of Pics

2011-08-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing trip to Huntington Beach this year. The kids are all finally at an age where it's not so hard it isn't even fun...we all had a blast!! We had to stop in Vegas for a night because Mike had a tradeshow for work, so we made the most of it. We picked a good hotel for kids...we went swimming, saw a movie, ate snacks, watched tv. It was great!

We got to Huntington late Monday night. We were glad we were there in time for the street fair. They do it every Tuesday, and it's just fun to walk around and people watch. And buy a bag of kettle corn! We sat by the pier to eat it and watch the ocean. :)

We drove to Laguna to see the tide pools, but it wasn't quite what we expected. Parking was ridiculous, and then the tide was so high that tide pool access was closed. We decided to just hang out on the beach since we were already there, but even that made me nervous because the waves were bigger than the kids were used to, and it got deep really fast. It was a beautiful beach, but we're happy with Huntington!

This is Molly pulling her monkey move. If she doesn't want to be put down she'll wrap her legs around yours and make it impossible! She always takes a few minutes to get used to the idea of touching sand. And she refuses to walk on it if she's wearing shoes...she hates getting it in her flip flops!

Mike and the boys ran in the waves...Molly sat in the sand. She would sweep her foot across the sand and say, "Mommy, a rainbow!" Love this girl!

Every day we would go to the beach, then stop by the pool to shower off and swim. When the kids were thoroughly exhausted we would go home, throw them in the tub, feed them, and put them to bed. It was so great!

The kids loved playing with the boogie board in the pool. Will towed Molly all over, she was in heaven!

Papa started teaching Molly how to float on her back. She actually did it! Well, not without help, but that's still pretty good!

Mike took me out to dinner and a movie, and it was so fun! We had reservation at Houston's, one of our favorite places to eat. It's a lot fancier than our normal night out, which is why we do it once or twice a year. The food is amazing, the atmosphere is really cool, and being in a restaurant where you have to have reservations (or wait at least an hour...any day of the week) makes you feel much more important than you really are. :) We saw Captain America afterwards...it was such a great night!

Uncle Nick was in town on business, it was really fun to see him. Sam and Uncle Nick are buds, it's really fun to listen to their conversations.

The kids dug a lot of holes on the beach. It kept them entertained for hours! Except for the time when Sam buried his flip flops and it took forever to find them, this was such a great activity. :)

The boys wanted to be strong like Mike and pull the beach wagon. I think they moved it about three inches.

Molly's favorite pool activity is to knock Mike's hat off. She was in the process right here...she thinks it's hilarious.

Love this.

We always go for surf week (US Open of Surfing), and one reason we love it is because they also do this skateboard competition and a bmx competition. The bmx is my favorite (it was awesome last year), but they did it the day we left, so we missed it.

We had so much fun, we're so grateful that Lon and Grace let us come visit them at "Papa's Beach House!" We had such a great time, we loved every minute of it!

Cute Kids

2011-08-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

Molly and Corbin are buds. It was so cute to watch them drive the little one-seater car together!

Will tried really hard to drink the chocolate cake glaze. It wasn't very successful.

He had much more success smashing Sam's piggy bank...with his bare foot! I couldn't believe that all he got was a little scrape on his ankle, that could have been a pretty serious injury! Sam told Will that he wanted to buy him a Transformer, so Will was just trying to speed the process along.

The problem with not immediately putting the hairspray away as you're unpacking from a trip is that Molly might find it. And empty the rest of the bottle onto her head. We had to wash it three times and then comb out the rest of the residue. There was a lot. Awesome!

Bear Lake: Fourth of July

2011-08-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

We went up to Bear Lake for the Fourth, and when we got there someone was doing fireworks at the lake. The kids thought the fireworks were just for them and sat down to watch with their blankies! It was really late when we got there, and my blurry picture isn't very good. :)

Molly and Will thought they were hilarious hiding in our bed.

Jane came with us, and Daniel (Charles Hope's brother) and 5 of his college friends came over for some foosball and Aw Heck. Jane and Mike are a pretty mean foosball team!

French braid! She had enough hair to braid, I was so excited!! She has since had three haircuts (two being self-inflicted), so her hair is shorter now. Maybe I can put it in double braids...

I was really on this trip! I'm the picture taker, so I don't make it into most shots. But I really liked my glitter toes! Almost as much as my flip flop tan. :)

The lake is super high this year. In some places it's only about 10 feet away from the road. It's nuts! Beaches are in pretty short supply. I took this off the pool deck at Bear Lake West. Look at all those trees just hanging out in the lake!

I was shopping with the kids when Molly saw this tutu swimsuit. She stood up in the cart, pointed at it, and started screaming, "PINK! PINK!" It was on sale. I didn't have much choice...I had to buy it!!

We hurried home to do fireworks with the Nielsens...I think this is the third year we've done it with them. Mike grew up doing the "Cul-de-sac of Fire" every year in his neighborhood, so he likes carrying on the tradition in Doug's cul-de-sac! We start just before dark to try and get the kids in bed a little earlier.

I forgot my camera (and my book) the day we went to the beach, so these are the pictures that Jane took. And while I was at it I stole her other pictures too! Doug and Jami were up there with a group of family and friends, so we met them at the beach. The kids had lots of fun. I sat on the beach...I was having a hormonal day, so that was about all I could do. :)

The boys helped me make oven s'mores. One of our favorite treats!

I'm 24 weeks pregnant here.

I just realized that we went up over the 24th too, and some of Jane's pictures were from that trip. So I'm actually 27 weeks pregnant in this picture. My pics from that trip will be in a separate post. :)

Bear Lake is one of our favorite places to go in the summer, we're so lucky to have Papa's cabin!

Little Miss Molly

2011-07-28T21:06:00.000-07:00

Molly is the youngest...so she's never really seen me hold babies. Or wrap them in blankets. Or put them to bed. I'm going to go ahead and say she's just got the mommy instinct. She loves her babies! She wraps them in blankets, pushes them in the doll stroller, & gives them naps. This baby even got its own bed! She does it with teddy bears, "Baby Horn" (a red rhino), and whatever else she can find. I love it.

Molly went out back by herself, so I went to check on her. I found her under the cherry tree with her arms straight over her head and sort of grunting. I asked what she was doing and she told me, "Reaching cheerios!"

She was pretty mad that she couldn't reach any, so I helped her pick a few. That she wouldn't eat.

A Little bit of Old Fun

2011-07-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some old pictures and these made me smile. :)

Will in Huntington Beach last year. I just love that face!

Molly was such a beautiful baby! I just couldn't get enough of her!

Classic Will. Always into something.

I just couldn't get this to rotate, so just tip your head to the left. So amazing!!

Sam loves to make people laugh. He thought he was so funny!

Just look at that sweet little face! Ah, I miss headbands.

Um...Merry Christmas!

2011-07-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

I put these on my desktop months ago so I could blog about it. Oops. Pretend like I even took the time to edit them. Just like I do all my other pictures. (or not)

For Christmas Eve we got together with the Clayton clan for dinner and little play...Nativity style. Molly was a very cute little angel.

Sam was a wise man. That's "Aunt" Katie and Uncle Nels watching on the couch. We call her Aunt Katie, but she's actually Mike's first cousin once removed. It's just easier for the kids to call her Aunt, and she doesn't mind. She's so great, we're lucky that they live just up the street from us!!

Joseph (Luke) and Mary (Nicole) were very sweet with a sad baby Jesus (Jude).

And what's a wise men scene without a little Tallest Crook competition? Looks like Will beat Liam, but just barely. :)

Molly ran up to Uncle Russ and sat on his lap. It was picture worthy because Molly NEVER went to anyone she wasn't completely familiar and comfortable with. Uncle Russ and Aunt Chris are the temple president and matron at the Draper Temple. They are amazing people!

The Nativity Scene is always a little crazy, but it's always so fun! And...uh...Merry Christmas!

2011-07-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

Molly found my heels one Sunday after church and put them on as promptly as I took them off.

She walked out onto the deck, down some steps, across the yard, and to the favorite hole in the fence. This is where our kids meet up with the Nielsen kids to hang out when we're all outside. They're so funny, sometimes we have all six of them just hanging out right here chatting.

She waited and waited, but Corbin never came.

She walked all the way back to the house in the heels. Pretty impressive for a 2 year old!

Will's Field Trip

2011-07-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

I got to be a mom helper at Will's field trip to the fire station back in...um...May. Slowly but surely, right? The kids loved talking to the firefighters and checking out all the cool stuff. We started out with a video about fire safety.

Will asked a lot of questions and had a lot of things to tell the nice firemen that did our tour.

It was so funny to watch, he just couldn't stop his little mouth. Kind of like his brother!

They got to hold the sprayer. Which was super cool.

Will was very animated. He loved the full suit. If I had blogged about this in May, or even June, I could probably remember what he was saying here...probably something about superheroes, or what he would do in a fire. :)

Right at the end of our tour they were dispatched somewhere in the big fire engine. It was kind of fun for the kids to watch the truck drive away, and it was perfect timing!

We love Miss Chris, and we're so happy that we get to be in her class next year with 3 neighborhood friends!

Hee Haw Farms

2011-06-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

We went down to a little farm in Pleasant Grove with a group of neighborhood friends. It looked a little deserted when we got there, but it turned out to be really fun!

They rode the little animal train. Molly's favorite thing by far, she screamed every time I took her out.

The boys also loved the giant, dirty slide.

Some random horse tire swing.

Feeding the goats was an adventure. Or getting out of the goat pen without the goats was an adventure.

Molly loved the animals!

We started giving the kids pony rides ourselves until help from the farm came (we didn't know). I was standing too close to the pony and it bit my arm when I had my back turned! FYI, ponies bite hard.

The tractor ride was lots of fun too! The weather was perfect, the kids were good, and there were lots of fun activities. Pretty good for one of the only days this spring that it didn't rain!

Incognito

2011-06-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

Sam wanted to write a letter to Jessie Palmer and deliver it to her mailbox in a disguise so no one would know who put it there. I really love the look he came up with! (I also love that he put it in her mailbox, rang the doorbell, and then let me chat with Lisa after she answered the door. But Jessie never knew!)

Not to be outdone, Molly colored all over her face with black marker. At least it was washable!

Cookie Chaser

2011-06-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

Sam and I did a 2k fun run with Osie and Laura. We had 8 inches of snow when we woke up that morning, but there was less in Riverton, so we still did it! We got up early and bundled up, so I look super pretty.

Posing just before the start of the race. Sam is a ninja. Osie is a princess. Pretty sure they were born that way!

I love that they're buds!

Another unflattering picture of me, but it was cold! I wore my ugly green sweats...and no one looks good with a blue t-shirt over a brown coat. No one. Okay, so Sam isn't even wearing a coat, but he's impervious to cold like his father. I hope Sam and I can do lots of races together in the future...when I'm not pregnant...and it's not snowing...and I'm in better shape!

The "activities" touted on the website. They made it sound like a grandiose, amazing kid area. It was bean bag toss. Don't get me wrong, they loved it, but it was a pretty big letdown for the adults. We laughed about it for a while. I believe the website called it the "Kiddie Corral" for parents who were also running the 5k. Um...not so much.

I think the best part of the morning was our amazing realization. Girl Scouts=Cookies, right? This was a Girl Scout fundraiser. However, there were no girl scout cookies ANYWHERE!! So the organizers provided Costco cookies and fruit to the runners. Costco cookies! Laura asked one of the organizers if they were selling girl scout cookies and she said, "No, but that's a really good idea. I'll suggest that for next year." Um...okay. All in all, it was a fun morning with our cousin!

Jigglers!

2011-06-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

Sam really wanted to make jello jigglers (for some reason) so we tried it out! He actually ate it, which totally blew me away, but once the boys had their fill, they squished it into mush. Which would have been fine if it hadn't ended up all over their clothes. And the tablecloth. And their hair. And the wall (including where I can't reach). And the bathroom. And the carpet. And the balusters. And the kitchen. And pretty much anywhere jigglers just don't belong.

We may not try it again for a while, but they sure had fun!

Nakie Babies

2011-06-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

Will and Molly love to be naked. Especially Molly. She strips down to nothing on a regular, sometimes daily, basis. Sometimes she keeps her diaper on, which is always cause for celebration for me! We've had some amazingly disgusting experiences when she sheds her diaper too. :)

We found all the kids jumping in the play pen. Amazingly, it remained in one piece.

Molly was my good helper folding the laundry! Laundry. Bleh. I can't wait until I can make the kids do their own.

"Mommy, egg!"

Will is 4!!

2011-06-14T12:42:00.000-07:00

Will turned 4 on June 4th!! He had three different parties, it was a fun week!
I didn't get any pictures at our birthday/goodbye to Emily & Charles party, but our Clayton family parties are always so fun!

For our little family party we had presents (the favorite was, of course, Batman!), cake & ice cream, and a movie night! We watched Tangled, and the boys actually love it! We have a tradition of giving all the kids a present for each birthday, so this time around they all got fun new chairs. Sam calls his a "Hollywood chair." We call it a camp chair. :)

Molly loves her monkey chair! She loves anything with monkeys on it, and it definitely fits her personality.

We had a little water party with Will's neighborhood friends. 14 or 15 kids came, but I was so busy getting all the kids (and myself) fed (okay, and talking to the mom helpers who offered to stay) that I forgot to take any pictures until the very end. We have some awesome friends, I'm so glad they could all come!

The kids had fun, the moms had fun, and there was very little fighting over the birthday presents. All in all, I'd say it was a great success!

A little bit of randomness

2011-06-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

So many pictures to post, but lots of laundry to do (and I have to clean up before the babysitter comes tonight!), so just a few pics today. Mostly because if I have to look at that ugly easter bunny one more time, I'll gouge my eyes out!

Will's last day of preschool with Miss Chris! I just had to let him wear his Batman shirt on the last day...because our usual morning would consist of him putting it on and me telling him he had to take it off because he wasn't allowed to wear it to preschool. Ya, it's a 2T. He has other Batman shirts, but this one is his favorite!

We love our carpool group, we have awesome neighborhood friends! Will, Payton & Gemma (and hopefully Lexi!) will be in the same class next year too. Can't wait!

Molly is the ultimate girly girl. Today we were doing animal sounds, and for the last one I said, "What does Molly say?" She thought for one second, then said, "PINK!" I love my Molly! This was the day she put on as many headbands as she could fit on her head. This is about half of them...maybe. I think I have a little girl accessory addiction! At least she loves it. :)

Will and Molly decided to help me out by "doing the dishes." When I came into the kitchen they had just finished throwing several cups of water on the floor, 1/4 cup at a time (they were playing with my measuring cups). I told them they had to clean it up, so Will got out every clean dishtowel, threw them all on the floor, and left. Perfect.

Easterish Fun at Wheeler Farm

2011-05-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

We went to Wheeler Farm the day before Easter. We were going to meet a cousin there, but it ended up just being us. First thing was pictures with the scary looking Easter bunny. I put 4 pictures in because of how funny Molly is. She wasn't too sure, but I think when she decided that if her brothers were okay with creepy bunny, then she was too.

We looked at all the animals and Molly was adorable, making all the animal noises she's been practicing.

We stopped for a snack before checking out the "carnival." I made them do all the free stuff first.

I love this kid's face!

This was Mike's jacket when he was little!

I let the kids pick one inflatable. Molly didn't last long, but I think the boys got my money's worth!

Cute Babies

2011-05-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

Sam and Will were outside on one of the days that it actually wasn't raining or snowing, and Sam came in and started poking around the kitchen. Will came in a minute later and Sam rushed over to him saying, "Just go back outside, I'll bring it to you!" Apparently Will ordered a drink, so Sam got the Spiderman cups and a bottle of powerade, and they went back out to enjoy it together. :)

Molly brought a rock in from outside, named it Baby Rock, and pushed it all around the house in her doll stroller! She was so happy with herself! And the reason she's wearing a dress over her shirt is because she woke up from her nap and demanded "a dress, a dress!"

More Easteriness

2011-05-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

Sam was so excited about his new Spy Gear walkie talkies (that only work if they're in the same room) that we had to get a picture with one.

And then all of our other attempts at a picture were kind of...well, the kids were done.

I just love this!

Okay, I love this too! She was done with brother kisses before they were, so she let her elbow do the talking. She can hold definitely her own!

When we were leaving, Molly spotted some ducks and chased them through Uncle Russ & Aunt Chris's yard.

Some Fuzzy Easter Fun!

2011-04-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Since the only camera I have (that works) is my ipod, our Easter morning pictures are fuzzy. But at least I have them!

The kids woke up to a fun new toy in their basket, and a pillow pet! The boys love theirs. Molly hates hers. A lot.

Molly actually got a new pack of cute hair clips instead of a toy, but she was just as happy! She insisted on wearing these in her hair to look for eggs.

The kids found all the eggs really fast, and then ate their candy really fast. Which is why we made them eat breakfast first.

Molly relaxed on her pillow pet to enjoy some jelly beans. But she throws it out of her bed every night. Tonight as I was walking out of her room after putting her in bed, I heard her quietly say, "I hate it." I think she likes it as a toy, but just doesn't like to sleep on it. I can't quite figure it out, the boys love theirs!

My goofy Will! This kid is a character. And may possibly be the death of us. But we love him!!

Happy Easter!!

We went to church with Mike's parents because Papa Lon spoke. He gave a wonderful talk, most of which I actually got to listen to! Then we had a preliminary dinner with the Claytons before dinner with my family. Two Easter dinners, it doesn't get much better!

Moab Half Marathon!!!

2011-04-20T11:00:00.001-07:00

It was Emily's fault, really. She got Jane excited about running the Moab Half. Then she got me excited about running it. Then I told my sisters they should run it. Then BAM, we had our team! We were Running Scared! (That was our team name) I was kind of nervous about it since the most I had ever run in my life was 5 miles. Once. And it was awful. A little girl passed me, I mean seriously! So I actually trained for this race...and it was AWESOME!!! My goal was to run 10 minutes miles, which I did! (ok, it was just over 10 minute miles, but we had a strong headwind for most of the race, so I'm counting it!). I finished in 2 hours 16 minutes! Which sounds like forever. And it kind of is. But for my first half marathon, plus hauling around the bun in my oven, I'm so proud of myself! Running for two is definitely different than running for one.

And since I somehow managed to lose my camera the day before (so sad), I had to steal these pictures off Emily's blog. Thanks Em!

Jane, Megan (Em's runner friend), Emily, Melissa, me, Jennifer. It was so fun to run with my sisters!! And I include Emily and Jane when I say that. Emily and Jennifer ran the 5 miler because they were recovering from injuries, and the rest of us ran the half! We had such a fun weekend! We stuffed ourselves with carbs at Pasta Jay's, explored downtown Moab, got ice cream, ate Subway, and stayed at a much cheaper motel in a town called Green River. Anywhere in Moab was charging double and requiring a two night stay. In retrospect, I would recommend staying another night. Maybe next year!

After the run we went to Jennifer's brother-in-law's friend's house to shower and relax for a minute, then we headed off on an ETERNAL drive to a really cool place called Island in the Sky. It was a mile in, mile out, which was probably really good for our legs after running 13.1 miles! My knees were screaming at me (not used to running downhill...murder on the joints!), but other than that I felt great.

The only word that came to mind when we got there was VAST. It was incredible. Pictures never quite do reality justice. Behind us is a crazy drop-off (we were on the "island in the sky") and beyond that was just...expanse. As far as you could see. It was really cool.

After our little hike (and LONG drive) we headed home. We stopped in Price for dinner around 8:00, which was our first real meal of the day. Not a good idea. For the pregnant girl anyway. I felt okay on the ride home, but probably because I was so stressed out because of the weather. Melissa was taking a turn driving, and while we were in some super long canyon it turned to snow, which turned to driving snow, which was nearly impossible to see through in the dark on the slick road with oncoming traffic. It was awful! She was concentrating so hard on staying in our lane, that my job was to tell her when to turn her brights on and off. I've never been so glad to get to Provo! When Melissa got home she was sore in her shoulders from being so tense from driving, not sore from the race. It was crazy!

It was such a great weekend, we had so much fun! Can't wait to do it again!

Last One...Promise!

2011-04-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

What vacation is complete without a trip to Disneyland? Actually, based on past experience, a very good one! Kids throwing up, being pregnant (every time), kids with hand-foot-mouth disease, kids who refuse to eat meals and think crackers are good enough...we've had some interesting experiences! They love it though, and we always let them talk us into it!

We got there before the park opened. The lines were unbelievable! We went on a Wednesday (Tuesday?) with forecasted rain, not a holiday week. It was packed! Luckily the weather held out, but it was crazy to see how many people were there in the middle of winter on such a random day.

Pretend it's not sideways. The kids were actually pretty good waiting in line. Mostly.

Papa was nice enough to stay with the kiddos while Mike and I rode the Tower of Terror! And then even take a picture of us when we were done. Disneyland with three kids isn't possible (or at least any fun) without at least three adults. Thanks Papa!

She snuck upstairs into Grandma's room. She climbed something. She emerged victorious! All of Grandma's bracelets and a necklace. She loves her pretties!!

She even decorated herself instead of her sticker book. This girl kills me!

This just makes me smile!

HB Valentines

2011-04-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

When Sam found out we'd be leaving for California a few days before his school Valentine party, he asked if we could leave a few days later...so as not to miss the party. I felt really bad he was going to miss it, so we had our own little party at Papa's beach house (because I didn't feel bad enough to postpone the trip). We went to dinner (as a whole family!) at IHOP. Literally the only restaurant where all 5 of us will eat at least one thing on the menu. Needless to say, we almost NEVER take our kids out to eat. It's just too hard! Pay for misery? No thanks.

So...we had our Valentine party when we got home, hence the dark pictures.

We made Valentine envelopes, which I then filled with Valentines from their friends from home. (Big thanks to all the moms who accommodated my early valentine request!)

My babies!

We also decorated special cookies (graham crackers) with frosting and valentine sprinkles!

Fortunately they loved it, and didn't realize that it was a copout for a lazy mom who didn't want to make sugar cookies on vacation.

I think their envelopes turned out so cute! Pretty easy to tell who they belong to (Sam is obsessed with drawing robots, and Will is obsessed with Batman).

Sam wrote a very sweet valentine for Grandma and Papa:

"Thank you for all the nice things you've done.

You are great people, we're glad you exist.

And you're nice."

More HB Fun

2011-04-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

We spent a lot of time at the hot tub (not quite warm enough for the pool), and the kids loved every second of it! I forgot my swimsuit, so Mike and I had to make an emergency stop at TJ Maxx. Because I also forgot a jacket. I forgot more things on this trip than all other trips in my lifetime. Combined. Anyway, my swimsuit is really cute, but you'll never know since I was the one taking pictures. :)

Love this!

It's always amazing to go from a climate where everything is either dead or looks dead to amazing planters with beautiful blooming flowers! I couldn't get enough of it.

Maybe it was coached, so what?? Still adorable! These boys love their little sister!

She totally had the whole relaxing-by-the-hot-tub thing down!

I just love all the greenery in SoCal! Being so closely tied to the gardening business, it's hard to imagine a year-round growing season since ours is so much more limited. Seems nice though. :)

Looking at all these pictures again really makes me want to go back. Thank goodness Spring is finally starting to emerge around here!

Huntington Beach Feb 2011

2011-04-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

We like to take a winter trip to Huntington Beach every year, which is always rejuvenating in so many ways. It's nice to get away, it's nice to have warmer weather, and most of all, it's nice to see green plants!!! February tends to be a dreary month in Utah. The inversion is ugly. The plants are ugly. The weather is just plain cold and ugly. It's so nice to get away to our little slice of heaven!

This is a total classic Will face. He's our little goofball!

I love these brothers!

Cuteness by the fountain.

I love my little buddies!

Caution: Extreme Cuteness

2011-04-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

I may be a little obsessive about it after having two boys, but I love all the girly, cutesie stuff that I get to do with Molly! I love headbands and curlers and flowers...the whole shebang. And I love that she loves it! Today she told me her favorite color is pink. Pink! Ah, so girly. So great.
(I wouldn't care if she loved blue and bugs...but I've done that, twice. It's so fun to have a change!)

Winter Cluster

2011-04-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

Every year we have a "winter cluster" birthday party in the Clayton family. Because it's when all the cool people have birthdays! Within a month, all of us get to celebrate! This picture does not include Thomas or Jeff, whose birthdays are in the cluster within the cluster (Thomas: Jan 25, Mike & Jeff: Jan 26, Molly: Jan 27), or Alta. Also, one person in the picture is officially out of the cluster. But he wasn't technically part of the family anyway...

Daddy and his little Princess! I can't help but just love her little piggies. They're so cute on her!!

The boys thought it was hilarious to pretend to be Papa and wear his reading glasses.
(Sorry Jane, he was in a lot of my pictures!)
(Sorry Nelson, I know you wish you could be part of a real cluster too. Maybe some day we'll have enough Spring birthdays to form one officially.)

California Girls...

2011-04-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

Ain't got nothin' on this Utah girl! (Don't you hate it when you get really dumb songs stuck in your head? Thanks Katy Perry.)

I got some great pictures from our February trip to Huntington Beach (which I still need to blog), but this one is my fave! These boys love their sister! Molly is hilarious, she can definitely hold her own against them! They're really cute with her though. Even when she's bugging them, they seem to have extra patience with her that they just don't have for each other. Baby steps, right?

Good Times

2011-04-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

It's always fun to see what kids come up with when they dress up...

Little Miss Accessories. This kid always has something on her head, wrist or ankle. Often all three. And she loves to wear "goggles" which could mean actual swimming goggles or sunglasses. As long as she can wear it, she doesn't care!

I was out in the garage for a minute, and when I came back in I discovered Molly dancing in a puddle of chocolate milk on the counter. 2 is such a fun age!

Just a Little Behind...

2011-04-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

And now I can't even remember exactly when we took the kids hiking. This one was probably September, and it was a lot of fun! We've taken them on this hike before and they love it. It's up Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Molly was patting the back of his neck and saying, "Mama." Haha, Mike didn't love the whole "mama" thing!

Close up of where Mike took the boys while Molly and I waited at the bottom.

The boys are a tiny dot up in the left corner, just below the trees.

My awesome little hikers! They lead the way and set a good pace for the rest of us!

This video was when Molly and I were waiting for the boys to come back for their steep excursion. I think it's hilarious, but Mike isn't amused. He's glad she calls him the correct name now!

Dear Emily,

2011-03-07T22:38:00.000-08:00

It was so nice of you to let me run to Costco while you stayed at my house with my kids. And it was so nice of you to warn me that everything Sam colored on with blue sharpie was washable. And it was so nice of you to encourage me to enjoy my alone time running errands. You are wonderful!

Be sure to notice the "watches" as Sam gave one to each of them, and was very proud of them!

And if it makes you feel any better...this is what we usually do with markers!

At least this was blue magic marker. Which doesn't actually wash off as easily as you might think. Well, when it's on that thick. :)

This was the day after your blue sharpie incident...I found Will sitting on my bed coloring on himself and Molly. Amazingly, blue sharpie didn't get on anything but skin!

Thanks for being so great!

Much Love,

Becky

P.S. Jane, I am gathering courage to start catching up on pictures since...oh, probably October. I'll do it, I swear! :)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T08:02:00.001-08:00

This was as big as I could make it, so click on it to read about us!

Still Catching up on Pics!

2010-12-23T20:51:00.000-08:00

We just had our last week of playgroup this week. This is from the summer, I'm just slow. We were having a snack and all the kids (Ava, Sophie, Will, Owen, & Ammon) went and sat on the couch together to eat! It was so cute. We're going to miss our buddies, Will loves his pg friends!

A little Sunday afternoon snack on the garage steps!

Nothing Beats Waking Up Naked...

2010-12-23T20:43:00.000-08:00

And sometimes a little soggy! She's going through a crazy naked stage right now. She's ALWAYS taking her clothes off. Diaper included. It makes me crazy!! We have to pin her jammies so she can't unzip them, and she has to wear onesies just to keep her diaper on. Days like today, when all the onesies are in the laundry, are super fun. Because she hates to wear a diaper after she's used it...so I find her running around the house naked with wet and dirty diapers in her wake! But it's worse when she takes her diaper off and THEN decides to relieve herself. On the carpet. In my room. On my pillow. Ugh. So much extra laundry!

But look at that sleepy good morning smile. Almost makes the nakey stage okay. :)

From Super Sweet...

2010-12-23T20:19:00.000-08:00

To Seriously Sassy!

I miss the days of easy, go with the flow Molly. But she's so fun that we'll keep her anyway! At least on the days she naps. Which, come to think of it, wasn't today. She played the harmonica in her crib instead of sleeping! Silly girl.

I just Love my little family!

2010-12-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

Random Pics that need to get off my Desktop

2010-12-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

Every Halloween we go to my sister's office Halloween party for lots of fun, and lots of trick or treating! They always do such cute pictures! Will is STILL wearing that Batman costume. As in, right now. This very moment. Every time I think I can put it away for the year, he begs for it. He's so obsessed with all things Batman...which made Christmas shopping for him easy!

I love these cute faces!

All of the Clayton cousins! This only happens once or twice a year, it's so fun when we can get all the families together!!

Chicago!! The End

2010-11-21T15:08:00.000-08:00

Had to get a picture with the Columbia girl. I bet she felt so dumb! Ha ha. It's a cool coat though.

Just to show how uninformed I am, I had no idea that the subway emerged to become the "el" train as well. We rode it out to the airport.

These are high-rise apartments...the lower part is a parking garage! There are some cool buildings in Chicago! (This is where I'd want to live. Parking is a nightmare, and horrendously expensive when you can find it.)

It's kind of cool to be in a downtown where you look around and all you see is buildings. I'm sure it gets old, but it's fun for Tourist Becky!

Navy Pier was right off the Magnificent Mile. Not much to see in November, but it was fun to get a one minute history lesson off the sign we read.

The view from the pier looking back to the city was so cool. This isn't the main part of downtown...that would be off to the right.

I love that they have lighthouses on Lake Michigan!

Things we saw in Chicago that you just don't see in Salt Lake:

Mulitple 7-11's with revolving doors
Parking that will cost you $25 for two measly hours
The Subway and "El" train
A jungle of high-rise buildings
Lots of babies, but no toddlers or kids. Just babies.
Express and Local streets. They're the same street, but if you accidentally get on the express, you can't get off until there's an exit. Which is inconvenient when you're already late for church. :)
People smoking everywhere. Sick.

On Sunday we slept in and went to church with Mike's cousins that live in Chicago. Wes and Megan had us over for dinner as well, and it was so much fun to hang out with them for a few hours. They've lived out there since I married Mike, and they have three kids about the same ages as ours. Megan's parents were visiting too, and it was really fun to get to know them a little bit. Oh, and Wes got us a parking pass to Notre Dame, so he was totally the hero of our trip! I didn't have my camera so, sadly, we have no pictures with our fun Clayton cousins.

Wes & Megan gave us a few restaurant recommendations, and we loved every place we ate!

Blackie's (a dive bar with a sign over the door that read, "Better food than most hospitals." I loved the food before I tasted it. How could you not?? They had awesome burgers, and they were cheap! Probably our cheapest meal there, plus it was a long walk, so we burned off the calories before we even ate them.)
Bandera (on the Magnificent Mile, with an amazing view of the street. We shared soup and a cheeseburger. Oh, and they freshly grind their own beef. Yeah. Best burger I've ever had.)
Pizzeria Due (because Uno's had a longer wait. Famous Chicago style deep dish pizza. I will be replicating their food this week. I also want to try Giarodono's and Gino's East. Just not enough time!)
The Corner Bakery and Cafe (mini bundt cakes. need I say more?)
Buona (A Cafe Rio style restaurant that had italian/american food. Fresh and delicious! And next to our hotel.)

We each gained about 5 pounds in 5 days. But it was so good!

Chicago!! continued

2010-11-21T14:21:00.000-08:00

The main reason for our trip to Chicago was to catch the U vs ND game in South Bend, Indiana. We met up with Doug & Jami (and Doug's parents) for the day, and we had a total blast hanging out at Notre Dame! The people there were incredible, everyone was so welcoming and friendly. They were expecting to lose the game, and they were still sooo nice to us. It was so fun. And since we were expecting it to be freezing cold, I crocheted a few U scarves. So, of course, it was unseasonably warm. Oh, and rainy. I didn't have time to make four...sorry Dougie! (Please pretend that I'm wearing my hat. We had to wake up around 5:00 to drive there, so I braided my hair to wear under a hat. Then it was so warm I didn't think to put it on before we left the car.)

The campus was so beautiful! It was too bad we couldn't have been there two weeks earlier, the trees would have been so amazing!

Me, Jami & Jerri. We didn't stay for the traditional follow-the-band-thing that they do. I'm sure it was very cool.

Mike and Doug on the other side of the stadium. We opted out of the expensive U tailgating that we had been planning on, and instead ate at Chipotle and spent the money we saved (by not tailgating) at the bookstore. I love the pants and shirt I got!

Our seats were on the 11th row! It was amazing, and if the U had even come close to scoring a touchdown, we would have been RIGHT there. Saddest game ever. The Notre Dame fans were expecting to lose, and they totally beat the pants off us! (See? Much better with the hat!)

We both looked like U fans until it started raining. With all my blue rain jacket and bright yellow banana pants on, I looked like a Notre Dame usher. Much better than being wet though!

This was my attempt at a self-portrait, but instead got a nice shot of the back of Gonzo's head. Gonzo and Jim (right behind me) were our best friends by the time the game was over. They were hilarious, and so much fun to sit behind! Gonzo shared his delicious, warm nachos with us, and Jim gave us his card and told us to facebook him. They even invited us to tailgate with them after the game! They probably felt really bad for us after the beating the U took from a team that wasn't very good. :) We would have gone too, but we still had to drive two hours to our hotel. :(

Someone saw us trying to take our own picture, so he offered to do it for us. The Notre Dame fans were seriously so nice. At least the ones we were by. We heard some fun stories from people on the plane about sitting in a war zone between U and ND fans. Our seats were awesome! Only two things could have made it better...no rain, and a win. But not necessarily in that order.

You can see the Utah area up at the top. The rain was on and off, but mostly on.

Look! The U almost scored a touchdown!

The Notre Dame marching band is HUGE and AMAZING! At the end of the game they come out again (like they do at the beginning) and play. It was so cool! Mike got some video of them coming out on the field before the game started. Not the we cheered for them, but Notre Dame does football right. We had so much fun!!

Chicago!! Part I

2010-11-17T19:22:00.000-08:00

Mike and I took a second honeymoon to Chicago (in conjunction with the pitiful Utah v. Notre Dame game), and it was completely amazing! Our first night we stayed in a swanky, spendy hotel (thanks Hotwire!), and went to the Chicago Institute of Art. Hooray for free thursdays at the museum! Since this will be a lot of pictures (really, a lot), I'm breaking it up into parts. Part I is our first day in Chicago.

The Intercontinental was beautiful and fancy, and we were definitely not their average customer. Thanks to Hotwire we got a great price on a room...because we would never spend $300 on one night in a hotel! Plus none of the amenities are included. $12 to work out? No way.

You can't really tell, but the pool was so amazing. And plenty of stadium seating to go around. Which was only a little weird.

The view from our room was incredible at night.

I think this is the Chicago Tribune building. It was intricate and detailed and so beautiful!

We were on the 21st floor, and the street below is the Magnificent Mile. The pictures really don't do it justice. It was amazing!!

The cool, weird architectural art at Millennium Park.

Even the stairs are artsy at the museum!

The museum was ENORMOUS! It would have taken us a week to really see everything, so we just kind of had to admire as we walked. I've always loved this picture (and I can't even remember the artist!), but when I was little Grandpa Orin explained to me the entire painting was done in dots. And I never knew until we saw the real thing that it is HUGE. Now I think it's even cooler.

The Van Goghs were absolutely incredible.

As were the Picassos. It was so amazing to see these paintings in real life!

This is one of Mike's favorites.

As we were almost done walking through the modern art wing, I told Mike that the only thing missing was a Jackson Pollock. Literally two steps later we happened upon...an amazing Jackson Pollock! I'm not huge into modern art, but I really love Jackson Pollock's stuff. It was so cool to see one!

We happened to see our friend Don that lives down the street from us (biggest U fan alive), so he took a picture for us in front of American Gothic.

There were miles of artifacts, paintings, and so many amazing things to see. This is a very small sampling of what we saw. We were exhausted by the time we left! It was so cool to go, it was incredible to see the actual paintings that I've seen in books all my life.

All You Need Is Love

2010-11-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

Will and Gemma are best buds! They play so well together that it's actually easier for me when she's at our house! I'm so happy that they'll be in the same grade, most of Will's buddies (like ALL of our playgroup friends) will be a grade younger. The disadvantage of a summer birthday, I guess.

Will and Gemma wanted to eat their lunch outside, and as they were sitting there, Will looked up at me and said, "Mom, can I marry Gemma?" I just about died, it was so cute! They hug when they see each other, and they'll hold hands for about the first five minutes they're together.

And if Sam marries Jessie, we'll have some adorable pictures for their wedding! I'm really not getting ahead of myself, but I do think it's cute!

Sam Turned 6!!

2010-10-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

I made the mistake yesterday of saying Sam was 5 years old. It's still hard for me to believe that he's six! He is quite the adventure, we're so happy he's in our family!!

We had a few of Sam's buddies over for cake and ice cream...before we headed out to Bouncin off the Walls! Same thing we did last year, but he wanted to do it again, so we did! Easiest party ever.

We made them eat outside...cupcakes and ice cream cones. No clean up. Did I mention...easiest party ever? My kind of party!

Sam's thoughtful and generous friends (or friends with generous parents, thanks everyone!) gave him some awesome gifts. Sam was so excited!

Max is a great friend!

The kids always love going to the bounce house, and they're exhausted when we leave. Perfect. And worth the money. (But it's really not very expensive).

Of course, Sam and Jessie had to go down the slide together! They are so cute!

Sam is an amazingly smart kid! He's read the first three Harry Potter books, and the only reason he hasn't read more is because we won't let him (I don't want him reading scary stuff). He just loves reading and learning. He's a whiz at math too! He gives great hugs, and he loves to compliment me, especially when he can tell I'm having a hard day and need to hear something nice. He's a total couch potato and would spend the entire days watching shows if he could! He's still a super picky eater (which is so hard for Mom!), but he's growing up more and more every day. We love our Sam!

PRESCHOOL!!!

2010-10-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

My big boy Will started preschool this year!! He has been dying to go to preschool ever since he figured out where Sam was going every other day last year. He goes to Miss Chris just like Sam did, and we are thrilled. She is amazing and we love her!

Always a picture by the front door!

We carpool with three friends in our neighborhood. We're lucky to have some great buddies!

I just love his little face. He's such a stud! The only problem is, he knows it.

Our buddy Payton!

Hooray for preschool! Will loves it, I love it...everybody wins!

For Janers

2010-10-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

My budding little photographer Will took this (and many, many more) right before Jane left for Italy. I miss Jane. I think I need to go to Italy to visit her! And eat pizza and gelato. A lot of pizza and gelato.

A Few Random Pics...

2010-10-31T18:05:00.000-07:00

Just a few random ones before I make dinner. Okay, it's mostly Molly.

We've had SO much fun at the U games this season! And it's easy to ask the person behind you to take a picture when it just happens to be a cousin! Steve Clayton and his boys were sitting in the seats exactly behind us during this game. I believe this was the blowout against San Jose...the U won by more than 50 points. Crazy! We also tailgate with our good friends the Nielsens and their crew before the games...it is a total blast! It's a good thing we park far away...there's always so much food, we need to get as much exercise as we can!

Corbin and Molly kissed at the park! It was so stinking cute.

Molly turns EVERYTHING into a purse. She is totally obsessed with accessories!

She put the helmet on herself so she could ride a scooter. This girl kills me!

These are her favorite glasses to wear! You can tell they're hers by the clean lenses.

Little Miss Molly

2010-10-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

Look! I'm back! I pretty much fell off the face of the earth this summer. Blogging will resume! I have to be fast...the kids are watching a show and Mike will be home soon, so here are a few Molly pics.

She did her own makeup. Or she sucked on markers.

She LOVES to eat chunks of almond bark. And I let her since she can use all the calories she gets. This is probably my favorite outfit. I LOVE these shoes! Cutest ever.

Molly is obsessed with brushing her teeth (as well as every accessory known to man, jewelry, shoes, carrying purses, and playing with my makeup). She steals any toothbrush she can get her hands on. I guess it's a good way to get her to brush! I love this silly girl!

Our sweet baby girl is growing up. Or at least growing attitude. She's a little spitfire now! Gone are the days of all sweet all the time. She's still sweet most of the time, but she loves to tell us no and give us dirty looks. It's hilarious!

First Day of School!

2010-09-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

Sam's First Day of Kindergarten!!

We always have to have the "in front of the door" picture on the first day!

He was SO excited to go! It was freezing too. His first day of school...in August...and it was jacket weather. Only in Utah.

With Haley and Dakota, waiting for the bus.

And since the bus took forever to come, I made Haley take a picture of us. :)

Sam started jumping up and down yelling, "The bus is coming, the bus is coming!!"

His bus driver made him wave to me. Ha ha.

My big 5 (so close to 6!) year old! The school is about a 2 minute (maybe 1?) drive from our house, and the bus stop is next door, so it's pretty ideal for us!

These are all kids from our ward in Sam's class. There were two more that I didn't get in the picture. Plus a couple more that were in the afternoon class. I'm so glad Sam had some buddies to start school with! Skyler, Paul, Max, Sam, Jessie, & Leah. We're lucky to have some great friends!

Look how cute they are!

I love this face, but I also really love that Jessie (Sam's girlfriend) is behind him making the same face!

Lining up waiting for everyone to get their name tag. I love all the shadows of moms taking pictures. Ha ha!

Sam and I absolutely LOVE kindergarten. We both get a needed break, I get more individual time with Will and Molly, and he just soaks the whole experience in. Sam loves to learn, and there's just no other place like Kindergarten!

It Really is a Deal!

2010-08-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

I just ordered my first deal through CityDeals, and I'm excited to go out to eat for 50% off! There are some great deals on their site, so if you've never ordered before, sign up using this link
http://www.citydeals.com/?ref=CDUMTIyMDk4.
I'll get credit for the referral, and then you can refer all your friends and get credit too!

I love this girl!

2010-08-21T23:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes indecision simply means a million pictures of Molly. Just because she's so cute!

This last one cracks me up! I love the static hair, but what I'm really excited for is when she actually has enough hair to support more than a little clip. I'm dying to braid it!

My Troublemakers!

2010-08-21T23:35:00.000-07:00

Molly is potty training!

Okay, not really. She's inherited Will's problem that I suffered through for at least a year. Or at least it seemed like a year, but I'm sure it wasn't. But now I'm suffering through it all over again. Pooping in the tub! You never know when it will happen, but all of a sudden there's madness...grabbing kids out of the tub, racing to the other bathroom to put them in the shower, finding gloves and a plastic bag. You get the idea. Not fun. Although...my tub stays very clean from all the bleaching I have to do!

This was one of the last times she did it (it's been a few weeks, maybe she's outgrowing it!). Mike caught her at the beginning so he grabbed her and put her on the toilet...and she finished going like a big girl! She thought it was great...maybe I should start potty training her!

In case there's any confusion, Will broke an egg on my bedroom carpet. Why?

Because it's Will.

Lisa's Shower

2010-08-21T00:39:00.000-07:00

I threw together a little baby shower for my good friend Lisa (who just gave birth less than 24 hours ago!!) She and her cute family just moved in at the end of April, and we have absolutely loved getting to know them. Jessie, who is Sam's age, is also apparently the love of his life. It kills me how cute they are together. We do have a no-kissing rule, so they hug, hold hands, and talk about getting married...and being boyfriend & girlfriend. I LOVE IT. Sam has never been in love before (ha ha) and it is the CUTEST thing I've ever seen. He is also fiercely loyal to Jessie. It's a little strange, he's never ever acted like this with any girl before, but I guess he knows what he wants!

Jessie and Sam on their first date...a day out with Thomas!

Payton, Will, Sam & Jessie with the trains.

I had to grab my camera quick to get this shot of them running through the parking lot together.

Their first ice cream together! (I realize there must be something wrong with me to be enjoying this so much. But it is just so cute!)

I made Will and Molly share.

None of this is staged...or even encouraged (for the camera). They love to be together. I love to watch.

BUT, since this post is about Lisa's baby shower, I'll put up some pictures from our fun luncheon!

Isn't she such a cute pregnant lady?

Everyone brought their kids for some slip & sliding. Perfect distraction for ogling baby clothes.

Ryan came running and crying and we thought he had a huge, bleeding gash in his forehead. But it was just his popsicle.

We got to hear some fun birth stories while Lisa opened her fun gifts. She's never had an epidural. She has three kids (now)! Crazy.

I just think she's the cutest baby ever.

Me and my preggies! I think they're so cute! Lisa, me, & Katie. I love these girls!

Cousins!

2010-08-21T00:02:00.000-07:00

These are a few of the cousin pictures we took last week. These girls are so adorable! Okay, it's mostly Molly, but I still think they're fun!

Molly, Alta, Osie, & Ksenia

Ben, Osie, & Sam. Best buds! They had so much fun playing together and then having a sleepover at Grandma's house!

Busy Kids

2010-08-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

It started out simple enough...just making some bread. I was letting it rise on the oven, which was OBVIOUSLY a big mistake on my part. When will I learn? I'm somewhat disgusted by Will's fondness for eating dough. He loves it. EVERY time I make dough he begs for some. Gross.

And then there was the time I was cooking tortillas. I turned my back to get something and he grabbed the WHOLE stack and started going to town.

I had to wrestle it away from a very mad little boy.

In other news, Sam lost his first tooth in July! Probably around the 12th. He was very pleased, and so excited for the tooth fairy to visit! But the real question is...what do I do with the tooth? Throw it away? Keep it for 15 years and then throw it away? Bronze it and pass it down for generations?

I love it. Just kickin' it in the high chair!

Family Fun

2010-08-13T23:10:00.000-07:00

We had all the Clayton cousins together tonight for some pictures and lots of fun (screaming and running). Since the kids were all dressed up and clean, we got some shots of our family too (thanks Em!).

I really love Will's face in this picture.

We love our angel baby Molly Grace!

The luckiest guy I know.

But Daddy! I'm a princess and I must be carried at all times! Unless I want to walk. Please, just read my mind! (This was the beginning of Molly's crying segment, so offended at being put on the ground so we could take a couple of pictures. But isn't she cute!)

There are tons of cousin pictures to post, but that will have to wait. Oh, and the Huntington Beach trip...that will also wait. Sorry Janers!

Cutie Girl

2010-07-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

Sam never did this. Ever. But Will loved to eat standing in the high chair, and now Molly loves to do the same thing!

Look! A peanut butter sandwich. It still brings a tear to my eye. One of my children actually eating what I made for lunch.

She found her belly button! It was so cute watching her grab at it trying to catch it.

And then she was so proud, she had to show me!

Yup, still there.

Okay, all done.

Will, never to be outdone by baby sister, had to show me his button too!

Will's Birthday

2010-07-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

Will turned 3 on June 4th! We had neighborhood kids Will's age (and if they had a sibling Sam's age, they came too), and ended up just shy of 2 dozen kids! It was a little nuts, but we had fun celebrating our Monkey Boy's special day!

Molly wasn't sure what to make of it all.

Ryan, Sam, Jessie, Payton, & Lexie. Jessie is Sam's girlfriend, and I've never seen a more compatible pair of 5 year olds. They're both super smart, love to make up games together, and when Sam is sad Jessie will go up to him and give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. They talk all the time about getting married, and Sam is very concerned now about making friends with other girls because he doesn't want them (or Jessie) thinking he likes anyone but her! Lisa (Jessie's mom) and I think it's adorable. It would be so funny if they ended up getting married!

We had 3 sprinklers set up in the back yard, and the kids ran WILD.

We decorated cupcakes and had ice cream cones. The kids loved it, and clean up was a snap! My kind of party.

Will totally cleaned up on presents, he has the nicest friends! Thanks to everyone for making it such a special day for Will!!

Cute Babies!

2010-07-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

Molly and her lovie. She can't go more than 5 minutes without that blanket. When I go get her from bed, sometimes she's wearing it like hair. She's so funny!

I still haven't posted about Will's birthday, but this was his big day! We had 2 dozen kids over for sprinklers and cupcakes & ice cream cones. I seriously can't believe he's 3, he has been SUCH an adventure!

Sam did so great at his preschool program...um...last May! He's growing up so fast, it makes me kind of sad that the "little kid" stage is starting to end. He did such a great job with his part. He has an amazing talent for public speaking. He loves to give talks in Primary, and he had a cute reading part in the Father's Day program at church. People commented on how well he did for weeks. He just knows which words to emphasize, and his voice inflection is awesome. He's such a smart kid!

Thought

2010-07-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

I shared this yesterday as part of my Relief Society lesson on developing faith and trust in the Lord.

"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference." ~Elie Wiesel (Holocaust Survivor)

Typical Will

2010-07-05T06:41:00.000-07:00

Father's Day

2010-07-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

We had a very relaxed Father's Day this year. As you can see, Molly relaxed more than the rest of us and had the bed head to prove it!

I love all these cute faces!

Since we live 2.5 miles from the mouth of the Little Cottonwood Canyon, we drove for 5 minutes and found a great hike that we've done a couple of times. It's actually where Mike spent most of his senior year of high school...rock climbing!

Sam totally loved it. He lead us everywhere we went, and was so excited to "make camp!" He was an awesome hiker, which is probably inherited from Mike. But all the other good stuff comes from me. :)

Sam changed his clothes before we left, and he somehow managed to put one of Will's shirts on. I mentioned it and he said, "I don't care." So he hiked in a tiny shirt. Sam and Will are giving a thumbs up because they were loving the hiking so much. Oh, and I carried Molly the whole time. You should see my arms.

We showed the boys some granite that still has drilling marks from when it was quarried for the Salt Lake Temple. How cool is that? An amazing piece of history, just sitting there right next to the trail.

Mike is such an amazing father. The kids don't even know I exist when he's around (which isn't necessarily a bad thing...). I'm so grateful to be married to such an incredible person!!

Growing Up

2010-06-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

The two things Molly loves most...sitting by herself and suckers!

Park Day!

2010-06-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

In May we had a lot of time without Mike, who was averaging 12 hour days 6 days a week at work. When some of our cousins were in town we went to Grandma Grace's to hang out! There were more cousins than we were expecting (the Crains were there too!), we were so lucky to play with them all!

Kaitlin, Ksenia, and Will (with the much loved mask) riding in the wagon on our way to the park!

Molly loves to swing, and she even loved it when Will took a turn pushing her from the front...

and Cory took a turn pushing her from behind. He also gave her a couple of impressive underdogs. She was laughing and smiling the whole time!

Will also enjoyed pushing cute Kaity on the swings.

Will and Cory are both the #2 brothers in their families. They are also both busy and mischievous, which is probably why they get along so well!

Ben, Cory, Sam, & Will. For being the sons of twins, they don't look too much alike!

On the way home we (Grandma Grace and I) were faced with quite a dilemma. How do we keep eight ACTIVE kids from running all over the road and neighborhood, and staying together for the walk home? In my desperation, I made up the Freeze Game. I would yell, "GO!" and let the kids run for a second. Then I would yell, "FREEZE!" and they would have to freeze. Complex, I know. Effective though. I especially love Will in this picture!

It evolved into NINJA FREEZE! The other kids weren't sure how to be ninjas, so Sam showed them what to do. They loved it!

It evolved again into SUPERHERO FREEZE! I'm not sure what superhero Kaitlin is, but I really love her pose!

It was absolutely hilarious, the kids were all totally into it...even the girls! It was such a fun trip to the park with cousins, and it was a fantastic walk home...no one got lost! A success on all counts!

Sweet!

2010-06-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

I have this terrible habit of not keeping a hawk-eye on Will 24/7. I left the kitchen for a second while we were making cookies and he got into the sugar...

which didn't take long for Molly to find.

And, as you can see, she loved it!!

I don't know what to do with Will, he's such a monkey!

Catching Up!

2010-06-25T14:33:00.000-07:00

I am so behind on blogging it makes me want to cry. Some day I'll catch up...but until then, here are a few pics from last month!

My brother and his family moved out to Washington DC earlier this year (he's Secret Service at the White House! How cool is that?). They came out for a visit, and Molly got to play with Gavin! They mostly just looked at each other and smiled, but it was so cute! Gavin has a lot of Foutz in him...but a lot of Keddington too. He's a good lookin' kid!

I love this sweet little face!

Will gives really good hugs, and he was sharing the love with Nana.

So...Will went through a marker phase. One morning he woke up with black hands, black sheets, black pillow...black everything. It took several days before all the marker finally came off his hands! FYI, if you have enough washable marker on something...it will not all wash out. By the end of their bath, the water was a nice DARK blue!

Mike and I celebrated our EIGHTH anniversary on May 15th! We went to Iron Man 2, and when we got home I made him take a picture of us. He is so great, I think I'm pretty lucky to have such an amazing husband! I could go on and on and make this a REALLY long blog post about how great he is, but for now I'll just say that life is wonderful and I'm very blessed!!

First Taste of Ice Cream

2010-05-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when...

2010-05-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

you try to put the baby down for a nap TWICE and she won't go to sleep. I couldn't hold her because I had to make dinner, so I put on a baby einstein. It was probably about three seconds before she zonked out.
She looks so sweet sleeping with her favorite blankie!

The Three Amigos

2010-05-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

Play group. It sounds fun. And when you see the three amigos you'd think that they were playing and having a great time, sans pants. Well, that's all true...

until I realized that they completely destroyed the garden. Jumping in mud puddles is fun!

This is the saddest thing I've ever seen. And now we have to completely start over. Goodbye tomatoes and peppers. I miss you.

After the friends left, Will kidnapped that poor baby and made it watch while he played with the water in the orange cups.

How To Train Your Children

2010-04-26T23:54:00.000-07:00

We'd never taken the kids to a real movie (ie still in the regular theater...we've done dollar flicks a couple of times), so on a gross, rainy day (ie Mike was able to take part of the day off) we took them to How To Train Your Dragon in IMAX 3D. It was pretty intense, especially for Will, but they loved it! That's the longest all three kids have EVER sat still.

I love her little crinkle nose!

She is ALWAYS putting stuff over her head and onto her neck. Glasses, pants, hats, toys, random stuff on the floor. I think it's cute!

Unfortunately for Molly, she didn't get glasses. They probably would have given her some if they'd seen how stinking cute she is in them!

Sam was completely focused. The previews hadn't even started yet! The anticipation was almost tangible. It was hilarious. He didn't move a muscle for...minutes. A new record!

Maybe if we tell them church is like a movie...only less intense...then they'll be that good on Sundays!

Goofy Children

2010-04-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

Sam decided he wanted a bedtime video game, so (while we were in the other room) he got Mike's laptop out of the computer bag, set it up, turned it on, and found some games. He's still in preschool. I think we're in trouble!

Our cousin Ksenia came over the other day, and Will was so funny. He kept saying, "I want you to hold my hand!" They held hands and just walked all over the house together. It was so funny. Especially since Will would just as soon spit on you as look at you. He's such a monkey, but he has his shining moments!

I was vacuuming the other day (okay, I vacuum pretty much every day, but this particular day) I looked down and Molly was sucking on the bottle attached to the baby doll. She was going to town on it, and it was so cute! This outfit is sized 3-6 months but I think it was labeled wrong. Molly might be small, but she's not that small!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

We had a good, quiet Easter at home. Since it was Conference we just relaxed and enjoyed a leisurely morning listening to some amazing talks. It was great!

The boys loved stuffing their faces full of candy.

Molly didn't really care very much about it, but probably because I didn't give her any candy.

Daddy...I mean the Easter Bunny...hid eggs in some very tricky places.

The most exciting part of the morning for Molly.

We went to Grandma Grace's house for dinner. Molly was not a fan of pictures on the couch!

I love these little faces!

Cute Babies!

2010-04-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

My brother and his family were visiting from Idaho, and we got to see baby Elizabeth! She's about 7 months younger than Molly and they're about the same size. Molly is smaller than pretty much everyone. But look how cute they are!

My Babies in Blue

2010-04-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

My father-in-law has some pretty great one-liners. One of my favorites is, "Just because I'm biased doesn't mean I'm wrong." I realized I may be biased because they're my children, but I'm not wrong when I say they are SO CUTE!

Our collection of children has grown substantially since we began five years ago, and I realize that soon we'll have to stop. I've been relishing the sweet baby moments with Molly because she won't be a baby much longer. And there won't be too many siblings to follow, so I have to enjoy it while I have it! She's getting close to walking, and even though we joke that she needs to hurry up and do it, I really just want to keep her a baby forever. She has been the sweetest, greatest, most perfect baby. I wish I could just freeze time until I've had my fill. I wish I could always have that moment where she snuggles into my shoulder to let me know it's time for her nap. Or the huge grin she rewards me with simply for getting her out of her crib. Or the way she nearly shakes her high chair apart because she's so excited for her bottle. And yes, I'm crying.

More of Will's Shenanigans

2010-04-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

Will just really loves exploring his world. Cause and effect is fascinating. Like, what happens if you dump a box of baking soda on the floor? Nothing. Until Mom finds the mess and sends you to the corner.

Or what about this one? What if you throw Mom's cell phone in a sink full of water? Nothing. Until Mom finds it and sends you to the corner.

Or what about this one? What if you throw the CO detector in the same sink full of water? Still nothing. Why is it so boring? Better throw more stuff in the sink to see if anything exciting will happen! Until you get sent to the naughty corner, of course. And for future reference, magnets and toys just plop in the water and fall to the bottom. The fun part is to see how many you can throw in before Mom catches you!

Let me tell you, being a stay at home Mom is anything but boring! Most days I actually wish that by some miracle I had nothing to do so I could do something I want to do. Ha!

Soccer Time!

2010-04-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

Sam started Soccer a few weeks ago, and it's been so much fun! He's on the same team as his buddy Ryan, and yes, Sam is on the correct team according to grade. And yes, he's a head taller than all the other kids. That's what happens when you're HUGE for your age and you miss the kindergarten cutoff by ONE DAY. Yup.

Mike got to come, which was awesome, because Spring=Crazy at our house, and Mike will be working insane hours from here on out. Well, until June anyway.
The kids had lots of fun, I'm so glad Sam is playing soccer! I think the hardest part is keeping Will off the field because he's dying to play with all the boys. Sam loves it though, so we're all happy! And look how cute they are in their little uniforms! Jerseys? Outfits? Whatever. They're cute.

Oh...wow!

2010-04-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

Mike let me sleep in. So Will ate breakfast with a shovel. It was clean and unused...and now it's lost. I'd say a win on all counts!

Can You Tell...

2010-04-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

which one is older? They are exactly three months apart.

It's Molly!

Corbin is three months younger, but he's HUGE! It's funny how babies are so different, even in the same family. We have tons of babies in our neighborhood, it's so fun to have so many little buddies!

Molly!

2010-04-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

I got Molly's pictures done a couple of weeks ago, and she was so stinking cute I had to get a few pics before I changed her clothes. She is the sweetest baby, we love our beautiful Molly Grace!

Typical

2010-04-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

Just another day in paradise. Will style.

Peek-a-Boo!

2010-04-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I'll EVER have a normal picture of Will wearing normal clothes. But at least he's dressed in this one!

Aquarium!

2010-04-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

We finally broke down and got passes to the aquarium. There was a new exhibit since we went last, so the boys had tons of fun exploring all the new stuff! I think the electric eel was my favorite. There are some crazy animals in this world!

I just love the goofy face. Sam kills me.

We almost got a cute picture of all the kids...

Taking a "ride" on the boat...
while Sam "drove." This is his favorite thing to do at the aquarium. I don't really get it, but he loves it.

Oh, My!

2010-04-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

Will just came in from the backyard. Naked as the day he was born. But this time was special, because he removed his poopy diaper himself, leaving it in the yard, and came in for clean up. And 8 wipes later, we're off to look for his clothes!

Will's Busy Day

2010-04-09T20:32:00.000-07:00

I just checked on Will. When we put him in bed he was wearing jammies. Now he's wearing the bottom part of Sam's shin guards, Sam's snow boots, Sam's soccer shirt, goggles, and a hat...and his jammies. He's been a monkey today!!

A quick run down of our day (all of this, just today):

~We had playgroup at our house this morning...which is always a little chaotic.

10 kids+1 me=CRAZY!

~I'm holding Molly, talking to Mike on the phone. I look out the back door to check on Will and he is STARK NAKED running around the yard. I got him inside told him to put his clothes back on. He donned his shoes and hat and ran back out. I managed to get his diaper back on to put him in the car to take Sam to preschool.

~Will climbed into bed with Molly. Half way through her nap.

~The boys stayed at Grandma's house for a couple of hours while I visited my mom in the hospital (she finally got the plate put in her head, yay!!). I was gathering stuff up getting ready to go when I realized Will wasn't around anymore. I searched the house and he wasn't anywhere. We started to panic (there's a creek next to the house and a stream one house over), so I ran outside looking for him. He wasn't in the yard, so I started running toward the park where he'd gone earlier with Mike's brother. I found him about a block away standing in the middle of the road looking really worried. If he'd gone just a little farther he would have found the park.

~After dinner I was getting the jammies out so Will took off his clothes. He then proceeded to the kitchen sink where I had a pot of water soaking. He threw in Sam's socks. And some scissors. And the cookie cutters. And the ShamWow. And some toys. And some kitchen utensils. And I'm sure some other stuff too that I'm probably blocking from my memory because it's just too painful.

~After I took the top picture, Will came out of his room wearing only the soccer shirt and shin guards. He said, "Mom, I'm naked." Finally, after putting him in jammies and back to bed again, he went to sleep. At 10:00. Two hours after the first attempt.

Will is definitely going through a challenging stage! Add into the mix hitting and spitting, and it's a pretty average day!

Ksenia's Birthday Fun!

2010-03-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

Our cute cousin Ksenia had her birthday party at a bounce house called Jumpin' Jack's. The boys LOVED it. If you have never taken your kids to a bounce place...DO! They run and play hard the whole time. And then they go to bed early, like a dream. It's pure genius.

Nothin' like a little (okay, a lot!) of sugar for some quick energy!

Sam makes a new best friend everywhere he goes, and it's almost always a girl! I love seeing who he picks to hang out with. (And yes, the girls are always really cute. He has a good eye!) He doesn't ever bother learning their names, but eventually I'll break him of that habit. Hopefully by the time he's dating!

Molly loved to bounce too! I had to hold her for two straight hours (the drawback of Daddy working retail--not around on Saturdays), but we had so much fun!

Helmet Love

2010-03-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

Will loves his accessories. Always has. He especially loves his helmet, and for a couple of weeks wore it all the time, everywhere we went (which actually came in handy a few times!). We finally had to just take it and hide it, which resulted in Will passing out at the top of the stairs. He fell towards the wall instead of the stairs, but that gave a us a HUGE scare. (When Will passes out it's because he can't start breathing again when he starts crying really hard. It's not something he can do on purpose, so we just have to deal with it when it happens. Since he doesn't pass out right away, he can walk until he finally faints. We never know when it will happen, so that's how Will got to be by the stairs as he was passing out. He was following Mike with the helmet, and I didn't realize he was passing out until just before it happened. I couldn't run quite fast enough to catch him. Sad.) We haven't given his helmet back since.

Buddies

2010-03-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

My sister sent me an email with a link to some page that sprouted flowers every time you clicked the mouse. The boys loved it. Sam was having his turn, and the next time I turned around I saw this. Sharing a chair with their arms around each other, making flowers appear. I love these boys!

Silly Kids

2010-03-16T08:07:00.000-07:00

I just like this picture, they all look so goofy!

The Evolution of a Bucket of Cookies

2010-03-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

We got home late one night, and I set Molly down on the kitchen floor to go in another room to get jammies or something. When I came back into the kitchen, Will had grabbed the cookies and they were both sitting on the floor like this.

Ha ha, very funny. But no time to end the feast, must continue on with bedtime preparation.

The next time I come in the kitchen I found three little monkeys stuffing their faces.

I took Molly to put her pj's on and when I came back Will had dumped all the cookies and was stomping on some of them.

And this, my friends, is why I vacuum every day. Every single day. What would we do without Will? :)

Sad Little Baby

2010-03-15T23:23:00.000-07:00

Will loves this play-doh that I made (using kool-aid, so it smelled pretty too). He took the whole ball, held it in his arms, and told me, "This is my baby!" Then he ran into the room where Mike was, threw it on the ground, and started stomping on it. He'd pick it up, smash it back together, and then throw and stomp. He repeated several times, all the while thinking it was hilarious to play with his baby. What are we going to do with him?!