Happy Birthday Spencer!!

Sunday was Spencer's 11th birthday. I have been waiting to post because I wanted to add a baby photo. But I can't get my new scanner to work and I keep forgetting to ask Wes. I figured I should just get it done and add a photo later.

Happy Birthday Spencer!!

Here are eleven things I love about Spencer:
1-He is a hard worker. He is the first one done with his chores almost every week.
2-His hair that he got from his dad. It is kinda curly and stays where you comb it.
3-Watching him play baseball. It is stressful when he is pitching, but I still love it!
4-I love it when he comes home from school and tells me about his day. I usually get a detailed report about the games he played at recess or gym.
5-I love that he enjoys reading just like I do.
6-He is great with little kids. Justin's friends love him and think he is the coolest!
7-That he can sink a basketball with both his right and left hands.
8-He is a whiz at math and can help me when I need it. ;)
9-He appreciates my cooking (unless it has fresh tomatoes or peaches.)
10-He practices his piano without being reminded 10 times.
11-When he gets treats from school, he brings them home and shares them with me.

Spencer, you are an amazing, talented, and wonderful kid and I am soooo grateful that you are in our family. I love you!!

Nothing Says Summer Like a. . . Piano Recital?

Today was the last day of school, so summer has officially started. Woohoo! I am so excited to have the boys home and have our own schedule. No more filling out reading calendars, giving spelling tests, signing notes, and helping with homework. I'm free! The kids on the other hand, are not. I can't wait to put them to work in the yard. Let the slave labor begin!!

We just got back from the spring piano recital. It has been postponed a few times because their poor piano teacher has had a wedding and two funerals in her family in the last two months.

Brandon played "Mazurka in F":

Spencer played "Thumper":

Tyler played "Mice and Meese":
I don't want to mention any names, but lets just say that a few of my boys need to spend a little more time practicing. Guess it's time to break out the whip again. If that doesn't work, I might just have to super glue them to the piano bench!

Things are Winding Down

I am so looking forward to summer this year. I think I say that every year, but it is so true. I love having the boys home and being able to do things on our own schedule. Most of our extra curricular activities are ending and I am so glad because it has been a crazy spring!

Tyler just played his last soccer game on Wednesday. I took this picture right before he scored the very first point of the game:He was very excited. I have really enjoyed watching him play this year.

Justin had Preschool graduation last night.
You can tell that he thinks he is one cool kid! His teacher's husband is from Samoa, so they wore lava lavas (those skirt things. But don't let my boys hear you call them a skirt) They did a Samoan dance while he played the drums. It was a very cute program.

He is already asking me when kindergarten starts. It could make for a long summer if he asks me every single day. Let's hope that doesn't happen!

Tomorrow is the last day of school. Did I mention that I am ready for summer?!?

Memorial Day Fun

We had an exhausting but fabulous weekend! Saturday we (meaning the boys) worked in the yard and got the laundry done (meaning me). We also sold our trailer. Woohoo! KSL classifieds is awesome!

Sunday it rained. A lot.

Yesterday Wes and the boys worked in the yard while I cleaned house and cooked. And ran to the store. All in preparation of a potluck BBQ that we held at our house. At one point we thought we had 100 people coming. Holey moley!

When I got home from the store, my parents were here. They brought down some raspberries plants from their garden. They helped Wes transplant them while I did more cooking. Then they helped us with more yardwork and housecleaning. Thanks mom and dad! I felt bad because they left before the BBQ, so they just came, worked, and left. We definitely owe them!

The BBQ was a great success. We ended up having about 60 people I think. The weather was absolutely fabulous! We set up tables on our basketball court because it is in the shade during the evening. It worked perfectly and was so much fun. I can't wait to do it again!

And next time I will not be so busy gabbing that I forget to take a single picture.

5 year old understanding of the Deacon's Quorum

Brandon is home sick today. I just overheard the following conversation between him he him (whatever) and Justin:

Justin: Brandon, guess how many kids are in my church class?
Brandon: How many?
Justin: Three. Well, four with me.
Brandon: Guess how many are in my class?
Justin: The class where you hand out food and drinks, or the other one?


I love my boys! They bring a smile to my face every day.

I finally got it finished!

I am so excited! I finally finished my laundry room makeover. I never thought I would say this, but I LOVE MY LAUNDRY ROOM! I love the color of blue on the walls and I love all my new organizing space. I am having so much fun doing all the thrifty decor projects. I even figured out how to cut vinyl with my CraftRobo (thanks to my awesome friend Judy.) I love how the letters look on the wall, and it was actually easier than I thought it would be.

Here is a little sneak peek:You can check out all the details by clicking here. It is now my favorite room in the house. Is that crazy or what?

I love being a mom to my wonderful boys! ♥

Hope all of you moms out there had a great Mother's Day yesterday. I sure did. First of all, Wes and the boys got up early and made me a great breakfast in bed. French toast with strawberries, and scrambled eggs. It tasted sooo good! It is a tradition that I look forward to every year!

Spencer, Tyler, and Justin all made me homemade gifts this year. Tyler and Spencer wrote the cutest books, and Justin drew me a picture. Brandon says he wrote me a really nice note, but he can't find it. Hopefully it will turn up. ;) I have the best sons in the world!

After church, I had Wes take some pictures of me and the boys. We didn't get any that were great, but this one was the best:
Then we all went up to my parent's house. My dad, brothers, and Wes made dinner while my mom and I visited. She is my best friend and I love spending time with her. She always makes me feel better.

I was actually exhausted, so I snuck in a little nap while dinner was cooking. Gotta love that! Dinner was fabulous, and it is always nice relaxing and spending time with family.

I am so glad that I get to be a mom. I need to appreciate my boys and my great hubbie more often.

Hope of America

Just uploaded some photos from Spencer's program on Tuesday night. It really is an amazing production. I think they said this is the 14th year they have done it. Over 7,000 5th graders participated this year from schools all across Utah. The students practice all of the songs for like 4 months. Spencer has been singing them at our house on a regular basis. Several of the songs are written just for Hope of America. It was a touching and entertaining evening that we thouroughly enjoyed!

Here is a photo of all the students:Isn't it cool how they make a flag?

Do you see Spencer? He's on the top white row, 6th one from the left.
This is a picture I took during the very last song, "We Can Be a Light". They turn off all the lights in the stadium, and the kids shine flashlights during the chorus. It is spectacular! They were waving their flashlights in this shot: I know that our country isn't perfect, and we have some hard times ahead, but I sure am PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!

Justin's very favorite craft project

I am a really mean mom and I don't let my kids eat sugared cereals for breakfast. I know. It's inhumane of me. We only buy them for special occasions. Like the first camping trip of the year. We had some leftover from said camping trip, but I have not been letting the boys eat them. I had other plans.

Yesterday I finally had the time to use them for the purpose I intended. Fruit Loop necklaces. Justin loves making these. A lot. When I asked if he wanted to make one he did a little happy dance right in the kitchen. And told me I was the nicest mom ever. We should make them more often. :)

He was very meticulous about how he strung his Fruit Loops:Don't ya just love the look of concentration on his cute little face?

He was very proud of his finished necklace:But I don't even think it lasted 5 minutes!Oh, and in case you were wondering, my older boys will make a necklace if they know it is the only way I will let them eat Fruit Loops. It's true, sugar really does have a way of making people do crazy things, doesn't it. I know I love me some sugar. I just prefer mine in the form of chocolate. Or cheesecake. A girl does need to choose her calories wisely. ;)

Musical Rooms

You know how sometimes a really good idea just pops into your head and you have no idea where it came from. That just happened to me. We have been trying to get our boys to spend more time encouraging & supporting each other and less time competing with each other. In the middle of the night, I got the idea to switch around the sleeping arrangements. I thought if we put each of the older boys with one of the younger, they could act kind of like a mentor. I talked it over with Wes and he thought it was a great idea.

We shared the idea with the boys and they didn't object, so we decided to give it a try. Spencer moved upstairs with Justin and Tyler moved downstairs with Brandon. I talked to Brandon and Spencer alone. I asked them if they could really try and make a difference in the younger brother's life over the next three months. I think that actually made them more excited about the plan. It has only been a couple of days, but so far it is going really well. Justin loves it that Spencer reads him stories before bed, and Tyler thinks it's cool that he gets to sleep in the basement with Brandon. Hopefully it is just the change we needed!

The more things change, the more things. . .make me crazy!

We were going to have Justin's birthday party on Saturday, but one of his best friends is at Disneyland, so we decided to postpone it.

We were going to have a garage sale and work in our yard, which is quickly being over-run by weeds. It rained, so we couldn't do either.

We were going to go up to my parent's house because they got Brandon a ticket to see the play "Treasure Island" with them. Then Spencer woke up with horrible stomach flu. He couldn't keep anything down and was tossing his cookies about every 30-60 minutes, even though he was only sipping clear liquids. He laid in our "sick chair" and slept in between puking episodes. Totally lethargic.

We decided maybe I should just drive Brandon up and everyone else should just stay home.

At about 1:45, Spencer woke up and said, "Mom, I'm starving. What can I eat?" I told him he couldn't eat anything until he kept liquids down. He finished off his can of Sprite. Kept it down for 30 minutes. So I let him eat a few bites of bottled pears. He kept them down. Asked for more food. I gave him some crackers. He ate them all and kept them down. His color came back and he said he felt better.

We decided it would be alright to take everyone to my parent's house after all.

Justin, Tyler, and Brandon slept the whole way there. Spencer talked the entire time. Ahh, we knew he was better. Once we got there, he ate the whole time, like he was trying to make up for all the food he didn't get to eat earlier. I've heard of the 24 hour flu, but apparently he caught the 12 hour flu. So far no one else is sick. I'm crossing my fingers!

We did some shopping while we were there. I have been looking for a mirror for our entry way and I found one at Hobby Lobby that I loved. It was 50% off, so that made me love it even more. I am hoping we can hang it tonight.

Oh, and by the way, did you see our new adoption button over there on the right? I finally got it finished and working. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I will be insanely happy if it helps us find our baby girl!