I'M BACK!! well sort of....

SO, there is no way to update 4 months in one night. So, I'm just going to upload a few pictures a day until I get caught up. Better than nothing right? SO --- check back often.


First signs of summer (I am starting with the end of May 08 mind you -- catch up.)
Lemonade stand -- they begged every day for the last month -- that darn "Max & Ruby." :)



And Memorial Day buz cuts. It's a new tradition I thought I would start this year. The summer is too hot for long hair right???


Could they be any more handsome? I guess I'm glad I'm getting another one --- (fast forward to the present (4 months later), I'm having a boy on January 24th-- I'll get to that eventually, be patient!)

OSU Airport

Just a few pictures of a fun outing. My friend Joy is such a fun mom. Her little boy is really into airplanes so she scheduled a tour at the school airport? Who even thinks of fun things like that? The tour was a hit with the kids. We had a million of us there.

They took us to the look out tower where the boys saw a lot of planes landing and taking off.

They took us to the mechanic hanger where they fix all the broken planes..

They even let the kids sit in a real airplane cockpit!

To top off the tour they each got a "squishy airplane" from the tour guide. It was great and free if any of you want to go do it. On weekends, kids fly free too!! Thanks Joy for a fun thing to do with the little ones!!

Call Child Services!!

So my child was driving me crazy at the park today with his friend. They just kept fighting and wrestling the whole morning. I was trying to ignore the behavior, but it just kept getting worse and worse. At one point, I looked over at the playground to see Jake pulling on the legs of his friend who was climbing up a metal ladder/obstacle course up about 6 feet in the air.

Needless to say, I was just imagining the little boy loosing his grip and smashing his head on the metal structure when he fell all because Jake was holding on to his feet. I yelled frantically for Jacob to let go as I started running towards the two boys. I thought for sure once Jake saw me sprinting towards him he would immediately obey. But no -- just kept pulling!! I was pretty upset - first because of what he was doing, and second because he didn't listen to me when I was yelling stop!!

Luckily, his friend is very strong and was able to hold on until I got there -- but mad woman mother (me - in case you weren't sure) grabbed Jake and started "teaching him a lesson."
Mind you, this was a very busy day at the park and probably 10 women were watching me handle the situation.

Anyhow, I was yelling at Jake asking him how HE would feel if I did that to him and then put him abruptly up on the obstacle and started pulling his legs. Apparently, I'm stronger than Jake.... and easily pulled him off the structure. But, to top off my freaking out -- Jacob actually hit is head when he let go and started bleeding and screaming. I was so mortified. First, because it was in front of EVERYONE and secondly, because I just cut my child's head open on a metal bar!! Seriously, who does that?

Do any of you ever loose it with your kids?! Am I weird that I was mostly embarrassed of the other moms? I immediately explained to Jake that I didn't mean to hit his head and that I was sorry. Surprisingly, he wasn't mad at all, and when his friend came and ask what happened, Jake said, "my mom was showing me how you felt when I was doing that to you and I hit my head." I was happy that I was at least able to yell out why I was beating Jake in my psycho state and that he understood that part of it. But I still just knew that I lost it and knew the other moms were quite disgusted of me the rest of the time at the park.

Anyway, I'm appologizing publicly for "teaching" Jake during a spout of anger. He is such a sweet boy and he taught me a lesson in love and forgiveness today. I hope I can be more in control in the future!!

Mothers Day

Mother's day was Perfect! I woke up to my cute family bringing me breakfast in bed. They sat with me while I ate and took turns telling me why they loved me. I feel so blessed to be called mom by Jacob and Luke. I appreciate the challenge and the reward of being a mother. I LOVE those"joyous and shining moments" of motherhood!

I learn more and more about how wonderful my mother and mother-in-law are as I continually try to parent my children.

My MOM:

Some of the things I'm grateful for and have learned from my mom:
1- She is a hard worker
2- She can do a million things at once
3- She has a strong testimony of the gospel
4- She has filled her life with service to others
5- She is very considerate, creatiful, beautiful, and one of my best friends!

My Mother-In-Law:

Some of the things I am grateful for and have learned from my mom-in-law:

1- She can laugh when 7 sons tease her all at once.

2- She lives a life of service for the church and her family
3- She is a good listener

4- She has impeccable style and etiquette

5- She is very loving, thoughtful, beautiful, and some one I look up to a lot.

MY BIG BOY

I just love Jacob and feel so blessed he is apart of our family. Nothing is better than when he comes up and gives me a kiss and tells me he loves me out of the blue. He is such a great kid and is so attentive and tender. He has such an energetic spirit! Jacob We love YOU!

A few Pictures to see how he's grown over the years....

Two Days Old:

1 Year Old

2 Years Old:

3 Years Old:

4 Years Old:

THE BIG DAY

The day started with his favorite breakfast -- Pancakes and eggs. My attempt at creativity -- a "J" and a "4" shaped pancake

Since his party was not for a few days, we decided to celebrate as a family on the actually B-Day. We went to Chuch E. Cheese and the boys were in heaven. I have to admit -- this place is a child's heaven.

Everyone enjoyed themselves -- even Daddy!

The Bug Birthday Party

The Invitations:

Jake and I spent one day during "quiet time" and made all the invites -- and made a list of who was coming. He has a lot of friends!!

A funny story -- there was one little boy from preschool that Jake didn't want to invite -- I asked him why and he told me it was because this boy would try to play with Morgan. I told him that there would be lots of kids to play with and he could play with some one else if this boy was playing with Morgan. Jake refutted that if he was playing with other kids and saw this boy with Morgan, he would want to play with her too. Oh, the trials of a 4 year old crush -- he still got an invite but not without much persuasion from mom.

We stole the bug idea from my sister -- once again, she saves me from being creative on my own!! The invite is supposed to look like a jar of bugs. The writing was on velom that layed on top (I don't know if you can tell that from the picture).

The Cake:

The Party (my first attempt at uploading video):




We played all sorts of bug games:

Bug Bug Spider (duck duck goose)

Spider Walk

Grasshopper hop

Caterpiller meta-morphis (we all started out as catepillars and acted out each step of the meta-morphis and flew around the yard as butterflies)


And most fun-- was the Bug hunt. I bought all the kids a bug-catcher from the dollar store and hid a whole bunch of plastice bugs around the yard. They all got to find bugs, catch them, and take them home in the catcher.







Let's not forget Presents and eating Cake:

Monthly Thankful Thoughts

1 - I am thankful for one of my BEST friends, Nina. She is moving this next month, and I'm trying not to think about it. She is such a neat person with so much energy. She is a great mom (with 2 boys around the same age and just as crazy as my 2 boys), and she is a great example of a home-maker (if only my house could be half as organized as her's). She is a great listener, and gives great advise. She is very Christlike, and in so many ways I wish I could be just like her. She's been a faithful running partner for years (and can always whip me in sprints no matter how hard I train). I'm so sad she is leaving, but know we are friend forever and will always stay close. Thanks for being such a great friend NINA -- I can tell you how much you'll be missed.

2 - My yard -- We are getting new shutters and a new screen door this week and then I'll post before and after pictures of the house and yard with full effects. Taylor and I have spent many many many hours trying to fix it up. Taylor thinks I'm such a slave driver (and I have to admit, I am). Or is it normal to spend 16 hours on a saturday in the yard?? Week after Week, Year after Year. We've torn out bushes, cut down trees, raised and levelled our back yard by 2 inches. Planted flowers -- transplanted many shrubs/flowers and many hours of fertilizing, watering and mowing!! I think it's finally where we can just sit back and enjoy -- I can't believe it -- THanks Taylor for allowing me to be so obsesive and just working hard to please me! I love you.

3 - Swiming -- a new found love! Since my race I've been swiming 2 times a week and I absolutely love it. I have a friend who is a great swimmer and she has been trying to teach Nina and me a little technique. Nina Carolee and I try to get one night in together while our boys take swim lessons. Even Taylor's been going lately with us. It's so fun and so painless. I'm sure Megan will remember our swimming days at BYU and for your information -- I still have to wear a cap, goggles and the lovely NOSE PLUG everytime. It's pretty attractive. For anyone that is burnt out from running try swimming -- it's a GREAT workout and so fun!!

FHE fun in the great weather..

We've really been having spring here in Columbus and it's been great! It was much needed after our freezing winter. It's been so nice to go and spend family time at all the local parks.

Jake has been begging to fly Kites lately. Luckily, tis the season for kite flying and I found some cheap 1 dollar kites at the grocery store the other day and decided to make a family night out of it.

The boys LOVED it. The wind wasn't even blowing, but we just made their kite strings short enough that when they ran -- it would fly the kite. I can't imagine how excited they are going to be when they figure out how real kite flying should be! But it was great exercise for them and it tired them right out before bed -- good thinking mom and dad!

Butterflies and Boys

My friend Anne had a free pass to go to the Franklin Park Conservatory. It's a local conservatory with a beautiful arboretum. It was a very fun outing with the boys.



The conservatory has a butterfly exibit that lasts all summer. They release 200 butterflies a day and will have over 200,000 over the summer. It was so fun-- they were flying everywhere. This is a picture of them gettting release -- the butterflies' first day of flying.


One butterfly really liked Annes black and white flowered shirt -- the boys thought that was pretty neat.


Of course the boys thought feeding the fish was pretty great too.