Wordful Wednesday Fishing

Parson had a little bit of money saved up and decided he wanted to buy a fishing pole. I am so not into fishing. Matt grew up fishing with his grandpa and was kind of excited about the whole thing. They bought what they needed and headed out on a fishing expedition. Parson caught his first fish within about a minute of his first cast!! He was so excited! He caught two more that day.

Any guesses about what he ate for dinner that night??
He has been talking a lot about it and can't wait to go fishing again!

Easter Weekend

We had a very busy and exciting Easter weekend.

Friday night, we colored a bunch of eggs with the kids. They loved it and had a great time. Sadly, I didn't think to take any pictures. The kids did a great job and we only cracked a few of the eggs.

Parson, my oldest baby, was baptized on Saturday. It was wonderful. He is such a good boy and I am so very proud of him.


After, we had a big family dinner.

After that, we had a huge egg hunt. We usually do it outside, but the weather here hasn't been that great, so we did it inside. It turned out really well. The kids loved it!


It was funny to watch my girls. Abbie caught on right away to the whole "hunt" idea and was picking things up right and left. She was getting so upset that the eggs were falling out of her bucket because it was too full.


Ellie, on the other hand, wanted to open each and every egg that she picked up. It took some coaxing to get her to keep going.


And as soon as it was over, she plopped herself down right in the middle of the floor and enjoyed the contents of many eggs.


We had a wonderful day on Easter sunday, as well. The Easter bunny came and brought the kids some great stuff. Everyone was happy.:)

Hope yours was great as well!

Photo Story Friday--Birthday!!

It's hard to believe that my kids are growing up. Hard to believe that my first little baby is eight!! My sweet, shy, heart of liquid gold, Parson turned eight on Saturday.

We celebrated with his friends and had a Star Wars party. It was a lot of fun! We played a few Star Wars games. I think the highlight of the party was making lightsabers for all of the kids. With the help of my friend Google, I found this awesome, easy, and even cheap way to make personalized lightsabers for each of the kids.


I made him a Star Wars cake. I know I am no professional (by any stretch of the word!) but I have to say, it turned out SO much better than last year's cake. And he thought it was cool, so that's what matters.


Later we celebrated with family. We had a pizza party. For this party cake, I decided to make a trifle. It was my first ever attempt, and it was awesome. It was easy, and everyone LOVED it! I think I will definitely be making it again. Especially for feeding a large group. I found it on my Betty Crocker ipod app. I just made it in my punch bowl and it was perfect.


All in all, we had an AWESOME day! Thanks everyone!

Happy Birthday Parson, I love you!!

Night Out With The Boys

Yesterday, I was able to go to the Jazz game with all my boys. Matt got us tickets just a few days prior for our family. We were so excited! Especially Parson and Josh. My sister thought we would be crazy to take the girls and even offered to babysit them for us. We decided that was definitely a good idea (Thanks Joy!!) Since we had two extra tickets, we invited Matt's mom to come and we invited one of Parson's friends to come. We went to dinner first and then to the game. It was so much fun! The boys loved it! And it was a great game on top of that! Go Jazz!! They had an exciting win over the Pacers, and I had a fun night out with my boys. Joshua even got "knux" from Thurl Bailey in the hallway, which darn near scared him to death! And Matt got to shake his hand. Unfortunately the camera missed it.

Don't you just love Joshua's cheeser smile? And Parson's missing half of his teeth!!

I love my boys and this activity makes me want to spend more one on one time with them. The girls demand a lot of my attention right now. It was really great to go do something fun with just the boys.

Oh, the things I have learned...

I had a very eventful day on Friday. Ok...lets cut eventful and just say BAD! (Someone needs to teach me how to do that strike through word thingy).

Anyway, through it all, I learned a few things. I have decided to share with you what I learned.

I learned that if you get a message in your inbox on Facebook from a friend and you open it, it might really be a blast of viruses waiting to devour your computer.
I also learned that it is awesome to have a husband who knows enough about computers to remove more than 30 viruses and have my laptop up and running again by Saturday night. (Thanks babe!)

I learned that it is possible to flood your entire kitchen floor using only the water dispenser on the fridge and a small plastic cup.

I learned that 2 eggs can actually make quite a HUGE mess on the kitchen floor. And although it was only two eggs, I thank my lucky stars there weren't more to be found.

I learned that a very small tube of sunscreen found in the diaper bag can make quite a mess as well.

I learned that all of these previously mentioned messes can be made in a very short amount of time. I think you can move especially fast when you have an accomplice.

I learned that it is possible to close the van door on your pinky finger and have it completely smashed flat, without actually breaking the bone. I also learned that the doctor will put a splint on it for weeks anyway. (That was Parson, if you're wondering.)

I learned that you cannot leave your dvd player going and your car lights on for 5-7 minutes while you run in the house without having a dead battery. I also learned that following the colors on the battery and jumper cables is not always the best choice when hooking them up. You might need to take a closer look than just the colors.

That was my Friday's events in chronological order.

I learned a few things about my girls as well. I learned that Abbie is the instigator. I learned that in the phrase "fight or flight," Abbie is definitely my fighter and Ellie is my flighter. When in trouble, Ellie wants to do what I tell her to and get the heck out of there. Abbie will just sit and glare at me very stubbornly, with a look that says, "So, what you gonna do about it?"

Both of my girls have the two year old tantrums mastered as well. Joy. I have yet to learn how to deal/react to those in a way that makes them stop. But I am still learning. One day at a time, right?

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone! Here are some of my favorite 2008 Halloween pictures thus far.

Giant candy corn in California Adventure

This is made out of legos! At Legoland, of course!

Ellie with vampire teeth

Scary me and my little butterflies

Ready for the party!

Train ride with the butterflies (they really were happy!)

Pirate Parson

Cowboy Josh

All the cousins at Grandmas big annual Halloween party, complete with carnival games, a train ride, awesome food, and of course, a Frankenstein pinata!!

We have been to some great places and parties this year and had some great fun!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Wordful Wednesday

I think I have mentioned before how I love to watch my husband play and interact with our kids. He is an excellent Father and our kids adore him. Here are a few pictures from our recent trip. We were at California Adventure and it was closing time on our last day there. They allowed just a few people on for one last ride.

I love the expressions on their faces! I love to capture moments like this!

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Brothers? Really?!

Isn't it amazing how people raised in the same family, in the same environment, with the same parents, rules, discipline, praise, etc. can be so completely different?!

Parson and Joshua are SO different!
Parson is my more reserved child. Very tenderhearted, very connected with Mom. He cried almost every day of kindergarten and 1st grade. His first grade teacher would literally peel him off of me every morning while he bawled his eyes out. She would call me daily and update me on how he was doing. His reasoning for all the tears was always "because I miss my mom." It took him a while to make friends. Not because he isn't a great kid, with a great personality, but because he was too busy missing me to let himself have any fun. Things have improved greatly now that he's in 2nd grade. He has lots of friends and he actually likes school. I still worry about him. Because he is so sweet, I think sometimes his friends take advantage of that and I have to remind him to stick up for himself and that he doesn't always have to do what they want to do. He is a money saver. In real life, on Webkinz...a saver. It doesn't take much to punish him--all I have to do is give him a certain look and he will burst into tears. He doesn't get away with much because he wears his guilt on his face.

Joshua, on the other hand, RAN to school from the very first day! He speaks very loudly and constantly and to everyone! He is in no way reserved and definitely likes to be in charge. He is a spender! He wants to buy everything! I have to give him the opposite speech that I give Parson and tell him that he doesn't always get to choose everything. And that if he wants to have friends, he needs to let them choose sometimes and not always get his way. He is always making jokes and tends to tell a lot of fibs. He also tends to sit in time out a lot and it doesn't really faze him all that much. He is equally loving. He has a stronger confidence about him. He is also very much a salesman. And a good one, at that.

These are a few of their differences. I recently read a post by Octamom talking about birth order. I was a little surprised how well my boys fit the profile for oldest and 2nd child.

They amaze me every day. I love their differences, I embrace them. We all have things we need to work on, of course. As different as they are, I love them so much-- differently, yet equally.

Photo Story Friday

I am on a fall kick this week, I guess. I have posted quite a few fall/Halloween pictures already, might as well post a few more, right? I do LOVE the fall, after all...

These pictures were taken in 2001, when Parson was only 7 months old. My friend invited me to go with her and her son to try and get some good fall photos. Here is a sample of some of the best ones:These have always been some of my very favorite pictures. Time goes so fast, I hardly remember my oldest baby looking like this! If only I'd had a better camera! Some of the colors don't look quite right to me and the picture quality isn't perfect...it was a really nice camera at the time.
It was an experience that inspired me to continually upgrade my camera and take more and more pictures of my kids.
Play along on
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Photo Story Friday

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Yesterday, I went with my sister to try to get some good fall pictures of her family and my kids. We drove out to where she had seen some awesome fall colors a few days previously.
We started our little photo shoot and were able to get some cute shots. The ones she took of her kids were absolutely gorgeous! My kids weren't cooperating so much. I had been on the run most of the day and had some very tired little girls!

Here are a few of the shots I took of my kids:Parson with a cheeser!

Joshua with a robot smile!

I actually got a few half-smiles out of Ellie!

Abbie wanted no part in any of this!

Can you tell I had very little cooperation? We had potential to get some really good ones, but nobody wanted to participate! That is usually the way it goes for me. I really need to learn to use good software so I can just combine the good faces to the good poses. Especially in the group/family pics. That would be very helpful!
Anyway, back to the story. After about 45 minutes or so of taking all kinds of pictures, my niece starts screaming. Not even 10 seconds later Joshua starts screaming. Only seconds later I see a bee on my sisters arm and realize we are under attack! Everyone starts running back towards the cars, swatting at bees as we go. In the minute it took us to get back by our cars, we had 8 stings! And a lot of hysterical kids! For my family the casualties were Joshua and Ellie. Joshua had been stung almost right between his eyebrows. Ellie had two, one on her eyebrow and one on the side of her face. It was crazy! They seriously came out of nowhere and just attacked us!
This morning Joshua got out of bed and his face was all swollen up and he was nauseous.

He came to me and said, "Mom, I am very sad." I asked him why and he told me, "because I just looked in the mirror and I don't look like me anymore."
I had no idea he was allergic to bees, or that a reaction would happen a day later. After a dose of benadryl and a trip to the doctor, I am now equipped with an epipen. And I hope with all my heart I never have to use it!

The Mind of My 7 Year Old

Me: Parson, hurry and put your crocs on, it's time to go to school.
Parson: Mom, I really don't think that's a good idea. I always get bark in my crocs (from the playground) and then when I empty them out, I lose my friends and I have to go find them.
Me: I see.

A few hours after school is over. He is going out to play.

Me: Parson, why don't you wear your crocs to play outside? (thinking we might be able to keep his new school shoes in good condition for a while)
Parson: No mom. I want to wear my sketchers. They have air technology. They send a puff of air to your toes with every step you take.
Me: Oh yeah?
Parson: Yes. The tv said that, and the tv KNOWS!

Fun Stories

I have noticed lately that Parson asks Joshua which girl is doing something. He'll say "Josh, which girl is that?" or "who is this one?" So I was asking them, "Parson, you can't tell who is who?" And he said he couldn't. So I asked Josh how he could tell them apart and he told me, (very matter of factly) "Because their faces don't look the same. They look different."
Here is a recent picture of them. What do you think?
I was thinking about another funny story today, so I thought I would share. It was probably a year ago. We were picking up my sister in our minivan to go somewhere with us. My boys sit in the back seat of the van on each side. My sister was going to have to squeeze in between them and sit in the middle. Joshua sits on the passenger side, the side that my sister was entering. It is a tight squeeze, as you can imagine, getting in. My sister starts backing herself into her seat.
Now imagine if you will Joshua sitting in his chair watching her backing herself past him. He says, "Whoa! You've got a big fat butt!!" And of course, my sister says, "Joshua that isn't very nice! You shouldn't say stuff like that. You really think I've got a big butt?" And Josh says, "yes." My sister replied in a quick, sassy voice, "Well, I think you're annoying sometimes."
Hehe, I still laugh when I think of this story. Maybe you have to actually hear my sister's response to find it funny?
Oh well...here's another pic, just for fun!:)

Holy Cow!

Parson told me the other day that he couldn't see the board very well at school. This surprised me a little since I just got him glasses 6 months ago. I called the school and had the nurse recheck his eyes. She called me back and said I needed to get him in to the doctor.
I took him to the doctor and this is where the Holy Cow comes in to place-his sight is 3 times worse than it was 6 months ago! They are 2 full points worse than they were! The doctor put his hand about 3 feet in front of Parson's face and said he wasn't seeing anything beyond his hand clearly.
The poor kid. He didn't get a single thing from me except his eyesight. Ain't that the way it goes...

Happy Birthday Parson!

Friday March 14 was Parson's birthday. I can't believe he is 7! He had a party that day after school. This was his first 'friend' party. We took him and Josh and 5 of his friends to see the new movie "Dr. Seuss Horton Hears a Who." The kids ranged in age from 3 to 7 and they all absolutely loved this movie. It was a great time. I even found myself laughing a few times. Then on Saturday he had a party with my family and everyone came over for pizza and fun. He got some great gifts and I think he had a great time! Thanks everyone!

Parson lost a tooth!

Last night as I was making dinner, Parson comes in and asks me if I will pull his tooth out. I began to tell him that it was not ready to come out yet-just as I had been telling him for weeks. He started wiggling it and it looked SO ready. It was barely hanging on! So I agreed to try and gave it a little twist and it fell right out. You would have thought I'd saved the world. He was ecstatic! He began jumping around the house! He tried to call his dad, his grandma, his grandpa, two of his aunts, two of his uncles and when not one of them answered, he called his neighbor friends! And then he went over to another neighbor to show them! It was so funny to me how excited he was about it. He was the last kid in his first grade class to lose a tooth and he was very excited to show his teacher in school today. What a funny kid.