ON TOP OF THE HILLS

Sun Bowl 2011

2011-12-27T20:20:00.001-07:00

Tonight's dinner at the ranch was so fun. We weren't expecting much. In fact Jay wasn't too excited about it at all. But we were greeted by the "six guns and the shady ladies". Alayna was not sure about getting a picture with the boys. Her face tells all. We went for a hay ride and saw some really old dwellings and where they filmed a movie. Dinner was as good as they said it would be with giant fantastic steaks. They ended the night with dancing and surprisingly everyone got into it. Jacob even got the line dance down thanks to Ashley. And the finale, fireworks. A great benefit to having our anniversary during the bowl is we get a GREAT steak dinner, dancing AND fireworks for free. Love you Jay!

Sun Bowl 2011

2011-12-27T16:43:00.001-07:00

So it's a little harder to get my posts published than I thought. I'm too cheap to pay for the wifi in the hotel and I can't publish without it. BUT the bus has free wifi and we are on it long enough and often enough that I get the backed up ones published. In fact we are on the bus right now on our way to a ranch.

This morning we went to the Lucchese boots store to shop. Pronounced lew kay zee they said they are from France but the inside says made in Brasil? I don't usually get too excited to shop but I decided boots would be a fun souvenir to remember this bowl. AND Jay said to buy a pair for our anniversary since he didn't get anything. 14 years... If I remember I will add a picture of them when we get back to the hotel.

Sun bowl 2011

2011-12-27T16:23:00.001-07:00

We landed! No major meltdowns or issues on the plane. Phew.
The team is always greeted by the bowl when we land (when we went to the Liberty Bowl the bowl committee were all dressed like Elvis) This time we were greeted with a mariachi band and dancers. Alayna asked "are you sure we landed in Texas cuz it sounds like we're in Mexico?"
We boarded the buses and headed around the block to the hotel.

Sun Bowl 2011

2011-12-27T16:21:00.001-07:00

All 5 busses being escorted by police to and from new Mexico for dinner.
Dinner was an authentic Texas BBQ in NM {hee hee}
The best part was the talent competition. GT had some decent dancers (see pic of the large dancer, hilarious) but our dancer, singer, rapper, and finale for sure beat GT by a long shot. Ashtyn kept saying "I love our team!". And it is so fun to be around these players.

Bowl Chronicles

2011-12-26T08:15:00.001-07:00

In years past, we go to the bowl, I take some pictures, get home and post a mile long post. This year I'm going to try to post as we go. We shall see how it goes....

We got up early this morning and met the team at the facility. Boarded the buses (Jacobs favorite) and headed to the airport.
In years past we charter out of Millionaire but this year we fly out of SL Intl airport
It's so fun to hear the kids ooh and ah over the buses and plane.

Fall Piano Recital

2011-11-22T20:54:00.003-07:00

We changed piano teachers this past summer. Janet was in our student ward years ago and I learned that she taught lessons when we started preschool at her neighbors house and saw a sign. The girls were so nervous to change but loved her from the first lesson.

Alayna was nervous to perform, this being her first recital. She was in tears as she practiced before we left. She did great. She told me after that she made a mistake, I let her know I couldn't even tell, you probably won't either. (I was holding Allie and finally decided to pass her off to Ashtyn, but the beginning is bouncy)

I love that Ashtyn will sit down outside of practice time and play. Thanks to a mom who played us all to sleep every night, I love having a house filled with piano music.

Next to my own children, THE BEST part of the recital were the gang of boys doing the wave after their buddies or buddy's sister performed. Who says recitals are boring?!?

Jacob's Room

2011-11-21T05:43:00.000-07:00

Mom came to stay with us last week and Jacob wanted to show her his room. But unfortunately my house has too many stairs so we made a video and Jacob gave her a tour.

One of my favorite things growing up was decorating and redecorating our rooms. Mom was so creative and I loved how she would let us be a part of the process.

How I wish I had pictures of each time we decorated our room.

The best is when Mom gave me creative control in high school

and I painted the glass globe light?

That is probably why I love making my house a home and enjoy design so much.

I also LOVE home shows/tours/open houses. Free snoop time.

Alayna was given this gene as well

as she asks for a tour at just about

every house we visit, friend or not?

So why not open my house up for a tour?

We will start with Jacob's room

A sports theme of course....

I found his bed on ksl classifieds/craigslist. It started out like this (pic @ end of the post) I painted it a barn red and added football pulls.

His light was a clearance item I found at Emily's Lowes for $35.

Night light is a planet shape from Ikea

I don't love valences, but in Jacob's room, he would be swinging from drapes so the valence is from his nursery bedding set.

The hanging airplanes are from the free build n grow clinic at Lowes. We painted them to match his nursery bedding.

Last winter, I was so sick and pregnant but felt so bad for Jacob being cooped up all day I decided to put a swing in his room. I originally planned to hang it from the ceiling but didn't have enough room, so on the bed it went. It is perfect for a leisure swing.

(Which I read that swinging aids in brain development)

His bedding is the softest, warmest corduroy set from Walmart. And it has washed so well so many times......

The item that took the longest to find/figure out was what to put over the bed. I thought of so many options. But it is where he sleeps and put his legs up on that wall so I had to keep that in mind. I finally came to the conclusion that I wanted to do a football field. It took a year and a million searches, failed attempts until I found this rug. When I found it, the heavens opened and angels sang, at least I felt like they did, I was so excited. The perfect size and Univ of Utah.

The chair is from a set that we moved to the basement and the most comfortable one in the entire house. I put it in there to encourage even more story/snuggle time for Jacob.

The bookshelf I made when Ashtyn was 2 or 3 as a knock off from Pottery Barn.

The letters are paper mache from JoAnns. I saved my 40% off coupon and bought one each month til I had his whole name. Each one mimics a sports ball with paint, fabric (they have basketball feel fabric) or stitching. Probably my favorite part of his room. I love how he spells his name every time he looks at it.

I will admit that his room is not always this clean.

BUT it usually can be in 10 minutes or less.

If I want my kids to keep their rooms clean it has to be easy.

Kids like to stuff and shove so why not let them.

So I keep it pretty simple but I also spend time cleaning their rooms with them every few months.

Toys have 3 options, the train box, car box or toy box.

I keep a few things separate so they are easy to find, usually the smaller, most played with items. So for Jacob he has a box for trains and the 2 yellow boxes on his bookshelf for cars.

This way he doesn't dump out the entire toy box looking for Thomas or the green matchbox car. He had the sort figured out right away and knows where to put his cars or trains so they don't get lost. He is not perfect but when I help him clean his room and we sort through all the boxes he is able to get everything in order.

This also gives him a opportunity to sort an important skill for kindergarten.

But it also helps when at a store and he says he wants another toy and I tell him that his boxes are full and there is no more room.

The rest of his toys get dumped in the toy box which makes cleanup so quick and easy.

One of the other things I find important in a kids room is easy taking care of clothes. Jacob has been putting away his clothes since he was 2. I sort them into pants, shirts, jammies and roos then he puts them away in the drawers. I put hooks in my kids closets for easy hanging. 4 year olds don't do hangers but can put jackets, hats and bags on hooks.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-02T15:00:00.001-06:00

I made the mistake of telling the girls to look on the internet for costume ideas. They came to me with requests for a snow globe and "Max"ine head room (a modernized version of the catch the wave coke guy from the 80's)
Next year I will be smarter.

Anything is possible...

2011-10-22T00:07:00.003-06:00

It was a long drive to Black Island Farm. Here's a snippet of the conversation along the way.

Ashtyn: I've been thinking, remember how Alex Smith didn't go undefeated his first year but by his senior year he was the QB that took us 12-0 and to the fiesta bowl. And then there was Brian Johnson who was the same. You know not so well known and then he was the QB who led us 12-0 and to the Sugar Bowl. Well what if Jordan Wynn is like the others and is just warming up, getting ready to take us 12-0 next year and we go to another BCS bowl?

Mom: that would be pretty great huh? I guess anything is possible..

Alayna: HUH?!? ANYTHING is possible? So When we get to the pumpkin patch I could sprout wings and flap my way high into the sky? Then I could look down and see you guys looking like little ants.

The kids had so much fun. 3 + hours of slides, swings, animals, a corn maze, train ride, tire graveyard, hayride to the pumpkin patch, pig races and so much more.

Unfortunately, Alayna did not sprout wings. But I do hope Ashtyn is right and Jordan Wynn will help the Utes to another BCS game next year.

Fairies

2011-10-19T05:48:00.002-06:00

Alayna has a very special relationship with the tooth fairy.

She leaves the T.F. notes, playgrounds, houses and of course, teeth.

She tells me that the T.F. uses those teeth. They are ground down to make their bread.

But then she read Junie B. First Grader; toothless wonder.

And according to Junie when you lose a tooth it goes to a baby who grows a new one.

The best part about this very special relationship is

it is so real to her.

We pulled off the freeway and there was a man with

a cardboard sign asking for money.

She asked, "why he doesn't just get a hammer and

knock out all his teeth and have the Tooth Fairy

bring him$32? Then he could buy some food."

BUT...She is not the only one in this family who believes in Fairies....

Maybe it's genetic, but Jay believes in Fairies

In the Sock Fairy

A lovely little fairy, that picks up his socks since he can't walk barefoot on the carpet before bed.

So every night he gets in bed, pulls his socks off and tosses them to the side and magically by the time he gets in bed the next night they are gone and he pulls his socks off again and tosses them to the side.

He also believes in the T.P. Fairy.

This fairy is a little more popular, You know the one that takes the used cardboard roll of toilet paper off the holder and replaces it with the one sitting on top.

As for me, I keep hoping the weeding fairy and the cleaning fairy visit me.....soon.

How long does it take to get to Finland?

2011-10-17T22:07:00.003-06:00

Alayna: Mom! can you believe it takes five and a half days to get to Finland?

Mom: Oh really?

Alayna: That is a really long time, I don't know if I want to go there now.

Mom: How do you know it takes five and a half days?

Alayna: Because on the map, it takes one thumb to get to Idaho and that is 4 hours, so I measured how many thumbs to Finland AhhhhND,

it was five and a half days.

I love my Alayna.

Last Tuesday Night

2011-10-14T11:50:00.000-06:00

8:00pm

Tell the monkeys to get their jammies on and come down for prayers.

8:15pm

Jacob says the family prayer which includes 2-3 ridiculously deep breaths to start, then "Henly Fodder" followed by a gulping swallow or two. "Fank you for this day, Bless us to be heathful" a few friend requests (not the facebook kind, playdates for the next day) "Please bless daddy to come home safe" all of this while his eyes roll aimlessly wandering the room and finishing with "Name Gees Christ Amen"

8:30pm

All monkeys in bed with a promise that Dad will check on them and tuck them in when he gets home, like he does every night.

8:40pm

Jacob is out of bed to pee and brush his teeth....again.

8:50pm

Jacob starts singing every song he knows

9:00pm

Per Jacob's request, I check on him and assure him Daddy will tuck him in when he gets home.

9:15pm

Another request to come in his room

"Mom, Mom, Maaawwwwm......Will you call the football players and tell them not to play the game tomorrow so daddy can stay home and play with me?"

9:16pm

Assure him again, dad will tuck him in and we will go see daddy tomorrow at his work.

9:20pm

Jay calls to tell me he is almost home and to keep kids awake so he can say goodnight to them.

9:23pm

Check on Jacob and tell him daddy will be home in 5 minutes to tuck him in. Jacob barely replies as he is drifting off to dream land, "Well.....he.....was taking too long.......So... I......just put.....my... blanket on.....myself.

9:30pm

Jay tucks in a lights out Jacob.

*Like I told Jay, it is a good thing Jacob wants to play with dad. By mid season with the girls they wanted nothing to do with the stranger they called dad. Up until they hit about 1st grade they both had a hard time with the transition from Dad home all summer to his disappearance come fall camp and the season. It is to Jay's credit for being such a good husband and father that he is missed so much.

It's All In The Family....

2011-10-13T22:21:00.006-06:00

My dad is one of 7 kids

There are 30+ grand kids, many of them married almost doubling that number.

Reunions are so 20th century, so I mostly get to know my extended family through the internet.

One of my favorite internet family members is Camille, a cousin in law.

She makes me laugh out loud in just about every blog or facebook post. Way funnier than my actual cousin, which makes me wonder how he got such a catch??

She makes me laugh, but I'm pretty sure I make her snicker every time she posts about North and South AND I tell her how much Jay and I love that series with Patrick Swayze AND she tells me AGAIN, She likes the Patrick Swayze one, but that is not the North and South she was referring to... Maybe she doesn't snicker, but just roll her eyes??

ANYWAY.... few months ago, she posted on facebook that she would take any little boy clothes from anyone who had some extras laying around.

Well fancy that, I had just been to kid to kid

And I swear!

that place has a limit

of $20 on clothes.

No matter how many items

they buy they always say

"Looks like we can buy these items for $17.25 unless you would like store credit {{Big Grin}} we can give you and additional 20 % making it $20.70.

Which I won't complain about,

since I can get a new pair

of tap or ballet shoes

with that $20.70

and I don't even have to

touch the debit card....

But back to Camille and her request, thanks to kid to kid I still had a couple totes of boy clothes just her sons size! And so happy to see the go to someone who would appreciate them......

I know cuz I have yet

to buy many clothes

for Allie

thanks to Emily

and baby Taylor.

So you can only imagine how thrilled I was to see these clothes put to good use....

In particular this outfit she recently blogged about....

Camille, little do you know I LOVE the sweatersuit, one piece outfits.

So much so,

when Emily brought her box of hand me down clothes, those were the first ones I picked and pretty much the only ones I put on Allie.

So much so,

I wonder why they even sell two piece set for children under 2.

So much so,

I was devastated when Ashtyn decided to be potty trained by 2. You see a 2 year old can't undo and redo the snaps to pee.

As soon as I saw cute little Jballz posing just like Po (the red teletubby) I had to pull out the photo book...ok, I lie, the shoe box of unorganized photos of Ashtyn and search for her wearing the same outfit...

(oh yeah, did I mention, some of those clothes may or may not be 8+ years old?)

So I found this one,

Just don't judge me for the fact that I can't focus a picture,

It was probably on purpose so you wouldn't be able to see what a messy house I was keeping.

Then I found this one, and nevermind the messy house,

how bout a bath and a comb for my kid?

Seriously?? I had one kid and 600 square feet of space??

At least now I have a real excuse, 4 kids gets you a free pass on a clean house and baths anyday

The Hardest Thing You Will Ever Do......

2011-10-05T08:33:00.002-06:00

Jay and I don't get much time to talk this time of year.

But He really is my best friend and I look forward to seeing him and talking with him every night.

Even though it usually last all of 5 minutes before we can't hold our eyelids or mouths open any longer.

Sometimes I unload in a verbal dump of my day.

Most of the time I just ask him to tell me something funny that happened that day.

He always has something that was funny or unbelievable.

I love it.

The other night I asked if he had read the email from CJ, his nephew on a mission.

I told him how he sounds like he is doing well, he has a companion from the States, He wrote how much He is loving his sector (area), his ward and how there are a bunch of really cute girls in this ward...Not that he is looking...just saying....but they are awesome!

We had a good laugh but I love Jay's perspective. He said how on your mission you have to have fun and not take EVERYTHING so serious. Otherwise you become someone who say a mission was the HARDEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE.

Jay loved his mission. He describes it as some of the best, most fun years of his life.

So I asked him what is the hardest thing you have ever done?

He thought for a minute.....

LOSING! Losing football games...

"Beat Bee Eye Yew"

2011-09-28T14:01:00.003-06:00

Jacob tried so hard to understand the rivalry this year.

I love when my kids start understanding football and the excitement around their Dad's job.

It is especially fun to watch them wrap their little melons around the 'rivalry'

Like when Ashtyn and Alayna got out of the car in Provo a few years back,

took in a deep breath and

looked at each other saying in unison,

BYU really does stink.

(they aren't allowed to say byu sucks, only byu stinks)

We also have been working on being Utah Fans, not byu haters ;)

First Jacob kept asking questions about colors of the teams.

Then he was very curious where byu was located.

In years past we have stayed with the team at the hotel in Provo.

This year we had soccer games all day saturday.

We left early so we would miss traffic.

And we did.

We arrived at the hotel in time to make posters and

watch the players board the buses.

Ashtyn thought of many ideas for her poster using play on words and ended up with this one.

She thought it was pretty cool to get a picture with Brian Blechen and Jordan Wynn and the poster.

Alayna was a little perplexed by the play on words....

She wanted to draw a tractor/bus/truck for Jacob and ended up with this poster.

When we walked into the stadium they had to approve all our posters and if not fully explained it could have read "Run over those 'bleep' byu cougars"

but the beep is Coach Jay Hill honking the horn ;)

Jacob's poster said Beat BYU!

Let me preface, Jacob is four

and other than a minor lisp he speaks very well.

BUT the poor guy tried and tried but could not get his lips wrapped around these words. Instead kept saying

"Beat Bee Eye Yew"

then a crooked look knowing something wasn't right

"Beat Bee Eye Yew"

Eventually after saying it wrong to about 50 players getting on the bus he started saying "Good Luck".

After the game he was in unbelief as he kept asking if we had "beat bee eye yew"

As we have listened to Sport Talk in the car he hears byu or provo and reminds me that we went to provo where byu is and and we beat them.

We all liked this guy

And just for the record,

The night before the game I told Jay

"Please, please make this one a blow out. I really want it to be 54-21"

Our weekend checklist

2011-09-26T21:13:00.005-06:00

Last year Josie and her daughter Emily participated in the Boise Women's Celebration 5K. They had so much fun that they invited us all to go this year. I have been looking forward to this race for months now. Mostly because it was a weekend with family where we all grew up and haven't been for years!

We left late Thursday night and combined cars (thanks to Chad for renting us one that would fit Mine and Emily's crew). We got to Josie's about 10:30 but of course stayed up laughing til much later than that.

When I got in Josie's car, I saw the list her daughter had made of everything she wanted to check off throughout the weekend. I kind of wish I would have stuck it in my purse to post.It was pretty sweet boxes for the check marks and everything.

I think we all had lists...We crammed in every minute with fun, friends and family.

Here are most of the things on our check list.....

Emily:

visit Erica and her new twins. CHECK!

Josie and I:

pick up her kids and drop the boys off at Blake's work. CHECK!

Sara:

take a HUGE sigh of relief, having just the girls with no wandering ball of endless energy bouncing around like a Tasmanian devil. CHECK!

Jacob:

have the time of his life hanging with Jack and Sam, watching the tractors at Blake's work, fixing the riding lawn mower (or combine as he calls it) and watching spider man cartoons. CHECK!

All Girls:

Pick up packets at the Women's show...Make sure to get food, freebies, feathers for the girl's hair, cupcakes, skin evaluations..... CHECK!

Cheesecake Factory for dinner, meet BFFs Sarah and Erica CHECK!

(Erica was brave and brought her almost 3 year old and 8 week old twins. Combine that with our crew and we were quite the circus. "Uh, table for 14"....9 children 3 of them infants. Our server was awesome and so patient while we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. It is awesome to be able to just pick up where we left off. It is NOT awesome to forget to take pictures of these friends and their beautiful children. {frown}

Go to mall to speed shop and take pics in the photo booth CHECK!

Go to hotel for swimming and a movie. CHECK!

Emily M. was so thrilled that the pool had a movie screen so you could watch a movie and swim at the same time BUT even better, last year she was in the play Charlotte's Web and that was the movie showing. So as a this year came around she is in the play Pinocchio and wouldn't that be great if the movie they were playing this year was Pinocchio. Well.....it was. I still think maybe Josie made a phone call??? What are the odds?

Shuttle cars last minute, to make a quick and smooth departure. CHECK!

Allie: wake up at 1:30am and 4:30am to eat making sure to smile lots and making the sweet coos and noises possible so mom doesn't even mind the 6:30am alarm. CHECK!

All Girls: Run/Walk the womens 5K. CHECK!

Josie took the big girls and ran in the purple wave. They did awesome setting goals of running from stop sign to stop sign or speed bumps and helping Kennedy keep up. Emily, Sarah G. and I had to walk our wheels....No running with strollers. Taylor and Allie got great naps in the perfect fall weather.

Get really homesick for Boise. Wish that one day we all some how end up back in the "Treasure Valley" CHECK!

Purchase donations for the Ronald McDonald House. CHECK!

Take Donations to Ronald McDonald House and take a tour. CHECK!

Consultation with the best esthetician (Sarah) and assisted shopping at Sephora. CHECK!

Visit with the WillowBrook crew. CHECK!

Enjoy and soak in every minute of a wonderful afternoon with family. CHECK!

Cry a few tears (or a lot of tears) CHECK!

Get piercings and tattoos.....uh just kidding, Emily M. gets her ears pierced. CHECK!

Book it back to Twin Falls pick up Jacob sleep a few hours and then home to make the primary program. CHECK!

Keeping Memories and Priorities

2011-09-17T05:17:00.000-06:00

I don't want to forget...

I don't want my kids to forget...

I want my grandchildren to know...

Some of the reasons I keep coming back to this blog and leaving snippets of life as a Hill.

We get busy.....crazy busy....

But I am learning, if I do NOT write it down there is ZERO chance of me remembering.

For example introducing some of the football players at the fireside. I was told their names 4-5 times and I still forgot one :(

If I write it down at least I know where I can go to find those memories.

So what makes our life crazy busy right now?

Ashtyn made Sr. Starlettes of Murray Community Dance (a very reasonable dance company. 2 hours a week, tap and ballet. great instruction for someone who wants to dance but has no desire to perform with ballet west.) Piano (I love their new teacher). West Jordan Youth Theater Production of Cinderella 3 times a week for 2-4 hours and Activity Days.

Alayna is on 2 soccer teams, one plays games on Tuesday and another one on Saturday. Throw in a 90 min practice for each team Wednesday and Friday....Piano lessons, Dance on Thursday and she is sufficiently over scheduled. BUT is learning to manage her time and doesn't have much time to find mischief. She absolutely loves to play soccer and with 3 hours of practice each week she is getting very good.

Jacob started preschool 2 days a week and is playing on a soccer team as well. His practice is only 60 mins once a week. Still a little crazy for 3-4 year olds. BUT at their most recent game they were all scoring left and right. I would have said absolutely not to signing him up, but Jacob really needs to be around BOYS and BOYS his age.

As for Allie (who is an angel), she has yet to have a nap that has NOT been either started in the car or ended short by being put into her car seat. She doesn't seem to mind too much

Me besides stopping to feed Allie every 3-4 hours, I am trying to keep up on laundry, mowing, weeding, cleaning, helping with homework, cooking dinner, and failing most days. I also started crossfit. Something I have been so excited to start since before getting pregnant with Allie. I love it.

We are in the thick of football season. We don't see Jay as much as we would like. It is crazy how much I miss him during the day. I love when he gets home and tells me about his day. He always has something funny that happened or an interesting story. I love the few minutes of conversation before we both crash from exhaustion.

I was getting pretty good at having my camera with me at all time for blogging purposes but my current stage is trying to remember diapers, wipes, binkies, shin guards, play script, water bottles.....Even if I do have my camera, it doesn't get pulled out as often. My hands are kind of full holding a baby, tying shoes, putting straws into capri suns, wiping noses and bums....

We made it to the cabin twice this summer and Grandma Kern kept telling that she did NOT feel sorry for me (Having to wake up to feed a baby, tending to 4 kids etc...) She instead said she was envious....

I know I am in a fantastic stage right now and I really want to enjoy it. And even more as the time flies I want to remember it.

Who did you thank today?

2011-09-14T05:58:00.000-06:00

Just in case you can't read through all the fold lines and 2nd grade writing....

Dear Cossing (crossing) lady,

Thank you for helping us cross the street.

(She erased some and didn't erase a few words so it gets a little confusing but what she says with the extra words omitted)

If you didn't we would get ran over.

How would we get home?

Why do you help us?

Why are you be nice to us?

Why do you talk to us?

I like you.

From Alayna.

I LOVE finding Alayna sweets!

Allie Evelyn and her cute little noises

2011-09-13T05:23:00.000-06:00

Heart Break

2011-09-11T22:15:00.002-06:00

The first game of the season, Montana State.

We won.

But one of our players, lost.

He lost his wife in an awful car crash.

We just had a BBQ with all the coach's and player wives.

I was late getting there and didn't get to properly meet everyone, including her.

Jamie told me she had linked to her blog.

What a beautiful person.

My heart aches for Ron who saw it happen in his rear view mirror.

1 month before her passing, she posted about her uncle's death and left this Irish proverb

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, Love leaves a memory no one can steal."

I pray for Ron's heart.

Jay and I count our blessings each day, hold each other a little closer, love on our babies a little longer. Life is precious and I pray that we can live each day to the fullest.

Her obituary can be found here

And The Winners Are.....

2011-08-14T11:03:00.004-06:00

The Team Winner of $50 to underarmour.com is.....

Excuse my disbelief in me saying that is 'crap'... BUT Ben had been bugging me about the drawing all weekend and told me about Bella drawing their name at the block party. So when his name was really pulled I couldn't believe it. I really am happy for him, but we may have to check to see if he paid Ashtyn to pick him??

And the winner of the $100 to underarmour.com for donating to TEAM CPK....

ValLynn Bauer!

Thanks to all the team members and donators, we had an awesome run and raised over $700!

Jacob sings Selena Gomez

2011-08-08T08:12:00.004-06:00

He is just like his Dad and Ashtyn, they can learn and remember the words to songs. I laugh at his winking and pointing. He is such a funny little 3 year old.

MS MUD RUN!

2011-07-18T13:06:00.003-06:00

This year I missed our annual MS walk. This is something I am very passionate about (you can read about it here and here) and knew I had to still support the National MS society. SOOOoooo I am participating in the Utah's first annual MS Society MUD RUN. This means I need team members and monetary support. If you are willing to join the team or support with a donation there are a few motivating giveaways.

So here is how the giveaway's are going to work.

Anyone and everyone who signs up to be part of the team will be entered into the drawing for

$50 to underarmour.com AND for the University of Utah Swag Bag

Anyone and everyone who donates to Team CPK will be entered into the drawing for

$100 to underarmour.com.

(Fine print: Only 1 prize per person, if a person is drawn for more than 1 prize they will be given the first prize drawn and forfeit the rest and another person will be drawn.)

To join the team you can click here

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Thanks for the support!

2011-07-11T20:44:00.004-06:00

It has been a while, and it may be a while before I am posting regularly.....

Allie Evelyn arrived 5-31-11. She is now 6 weeks old and I have been watching her grow right before my eyes.

5-31-11

7lbs 2oz

6-1-11

6-2-11

6-6-11

7-10-11

7-11-11

She is chunking up nicely.

Such a happy sweet baby.

Lucky us, we get to hang out together while the rest of the crazy monkey crew in living it up in Lake Powell. I love my kids (Jay included) and I love Lake Powell, but so grateful to have (and LOVING) a quiet house. Just Allie and I, this will probably not happen again for a very long time, if ever?

I even vacuumed 3 days ago and the vacuum lines are STILL there :)

Pocket Friends

2011-05-26T11:14:00.000-06:00

Me: Jacob you still have chocolate on your face...

Jacob: It's o.k. cuz the friend in my pocket said I need to have choc-wet (chocolate) on my face so in the night he can wick (lick) it off.

Our Family....?

2011-05-17T05:44:00.000-06:00

Last year for mother's day, Jay picked out some beautiful artwork.

One of the Temple where we were married

and the other a picture of Christ with some children.

As I was looking at the one with Christ, He very proudly said do you see why I picked this one?

I looked again and asked why?

He replied "it is Christ with our children, Ashtyn, Alayna and Jacob."

I then asked well then who is this?

He about fell off his chair.

And the look on his face said it all...

He tells me often that he knew from day one that this baby was going to be a girl?

I love this picture even more now.

Recent Requests

2011-05-16T10:36:00.003-06:00

36 weeks...

2011-05-12T13:25:00.001-06:00

And dilated to a one...

(taken 5/8/11)

Man I am getting enormous...no wonder I hurt so bad...

I think I have officially hit blimp status.

only 18 days to induction day...or til I pop!

Swim Lessons

2011-05-11T22:41:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year again...

Ashtyn has completed all the levels up to the Pre-Competition group, but is sure she does not want to get into competing.

Alayna has come miles and miles from her first lessons.

Here she is at 3 (the same as Jacob right now) refusing to participate.

She was very lucky to have this teacher. She was SO good to her and had some sort of magic...

Alayna can be stubborn, but this teacher was special and got her in and even...

had her SMILING and loving to go.

She now loves swimming and is so determined.

She is learning the dolphin kick to go with the breast stroke. She was so fiercely doing the move to the best of her ability but going absolutely no where. Once they showed her the arms she started to move a little but definitely not for lack of effort.

This little girl can hold her breath....to the point that I was getting worried and kept wondering if I should jump in. Like I said she has some determination. Hopefully we can keep it channeled for good.

Jacob on the other hand was thrilled to start swim lessons.

From the start he was running, bouncing, slipping, jumping like popcorn with anticipation to get in the water. I did all I could to keep him contained but he was so excited.

The first thing they were asked to do was to get their faces wet. He does not like his face wet or splashed (at first...) The instructor tried to get a bob out of him and he would just put his chin in.

With in minutes he was popping around again, slipped and went all the way under. He popped out of the water, rapidly squeegeeing his face with his hands. And unlike the girls who would be bawling at this point, he screamed "Teacher! I did it, I got my eyes wet!" while jumping up and down.

He has also figured out the one on one time with the instructor is his opportunity...

He likes his teacher...a lot. And if he is not giving her a bear hug has his arms around her in some way.

Even if they are supposed to be in the water...

He can be quite the charmer...

1st Grade Hat Parade

2011-05-11T22:22:00.000-06:00

I would write something, but I think the pictures say it all.

Mother's Day...Dreaded or Beloved?

2011-05-11T05:36:00.000-06:00

For me being pregnant on Mother's Day makes the celebration more palatable. Thanks to Jay and so many around me, I really enjoyed this Mother's Day.

Although I traded Jay places mid sacrament

so as to not have any children next to me.

This was awesomely made known to the rest of the

congregation as Jacob was crying, saying I want to sit

by mom and it was obvious we weren't letting him.

I just couldn't take the acrobatics going on inside

of my belly along with elbows and knees from Jacob on

the outside. And after the 10th time of him

stepping on my sunburned feet, I had to move....

Friday morning I read this and particularly #5 stood out to me.

I have to take care of myself. And not in the mani-pedi ridiculous way we are told to. That never lasts long…I can snap right back in that bad mood no matter how long that spa treatment lasts. I mean the way that requires self-awareness and self-evaluation: Knowing myself, and my limits. Really it’s about little things…knowing how to schedule a day that will make it smooth vs. stressful, knowing when to say no and not feeling guilty about it, knowing what makes me be a good, present, consistent, cheerful mom. Stressed out, rushing, impatient, crabby-I have to pay attention to myself when I feel this way, and ask what I can do different the next time around. For me, it’s about running around as little as possible. It’s about maintaining a sense of order in my household, staying home with my younger ones, and bringing a sense of accomplishment to my day and theirs also. I have to accept my limitations, accept my differences, accept what I can handle day-to-day, vs. what it seems like every other mother seems to do gracefully.

This was read hastily as I was preparing to leave on a quick mother's day get away but I kept thinking about it...

At first I told Jay I was too pregnant to go. I wanted like to stay home for the good weather and work in the yard. He insisted that I go. And I then I realized that I probably wouldn't be much help in the yard. Oh, and this was planned in part by him and his friends to allow themselves to take their annual summer golf trip guilt free... He didn't even bat an eye when I told him he would have 4 hours of the girls dance rehearsals with Jacob?!?

When it was time to go I gave myself enough time to take Jacob into Jay at work but he was already waiting for me near the freeway. And he even let me take his car. No swagger wagon for me :)

We met in Park City at Massage Envy. And I had the echoes of the above excerpt going through my head...

No matter how long the spa treatment last, you can snap right back in that bad mood.

So I made sure I enjoyed every minute of relief on these poor bruised ribs, sore lower back, feet and achy skin. It felt so good. We made a quick stop next door to TJ Maxx then off to dinner and a movie.

It was late when we finally reached the house we were staying in but that didn't keep us from staying up into the wee hours of the morning laughing and talking. We have been friends pretty much by default for 15 years so reminiscing was fun. It was perfect that one of the others girls was pregnant, due just 2 weeks after me. We could understand each others pains... soon to be labor pains.

We didn't do much the next day but enjoy the sun and head back to SLC where we ended the short trip with a (too long) mani pedi. Again the echoes of what I had read was in my head and in all reality a manicure or pedicure doesn't last much longer than the dishes or yard work the next day.

BUT

What does last are the friendships strengthened, the feelings felt and the realization of 'I can do this'. I do have to take care of myself. And it is not always going to be done in a 28 hour trip away from the craze of life. But knowing myself and my limits. Taking a break when I am about to break. And knowing what makes me a good, present, consistent, cheerful mom.

Mother's SunDay came and it was wonderful.

On a side note, our ward has the tradition of the men

taking over all the callings so the women can enjoy a

short message, a wonderful spread of food and visit

through the last hour of church.

After seeing the primary room, hearing the kids' stories

and Jay's expression and exhaustion I have decided it would

be way more entertaining if they would just link a camera

into the Relief Society Room for all of us to watch.

Jay had the yard beautiful, a hanging basket of gorgeous geraniums, the necklace I had hinted at, the school made gifts from the kids and dinner. It was a perfect Mother's Day Weekend....

BUT! The story doesn't end here...

Sunday night Jay left to AZ for recruiting...

I was good, refreshed and ready for this week.

Monday came and man was I smacked right back into reality.

All this mumbo jumbo of taking care of myself and knowing my limits and myself was about to be tested.

I had prepped myself, planned and was ready for the marathon of dance recital day. Alayna's hair had been put in sponge curlers, I put Jacob down for a nap, I was ready as the girls got home from school....

It had rained all day so Alayna

was devastated her curls had melted

and then as she was putting on

her tights of course

she gets a hole...

with a run....

where everyone could see....

No big deal, I run to the dance store grab another pair and am back to get the melted curls back in place, makeup on and out the door...just a few minutes late.

We make it in and there are no seats so Jacob and I sit on the floor where we can barely see, but we had packed a bag of quiet toys for Jacob so he was well entertained.

As soon as the girls had danced I had 25 minutes to run out grab flowers and dinner and be back to save ourselves some seats.

We sat down to a quiet table away from the craziness and ate our McD's.

I was settling into severe exhaustion.

Pregnancy takes it all out of you,

I could have fallen asleep right there

on the table...

maybe that was part of the problem??

It was almost too perfect. Jacob opened his chicken nuggets...CHICKEN NUGGETS and ate everyone with out me having to say a word or a threat, then finished all his apples. He got his toy. Just then an old friend from our student ward stopped to say hi. I had told her how I had seen her so many times at these dance things, but am always trying keep tabs on my monkeys so I never have said hi......

And that is when I see Jacob is gone....GONE. I look all around in the controlled, dancers corral for him. Back and forth he is gone. I go and check the lobby area, the auditorium, the hall then it has been too long. I know I need more eyes. I tell the director to make an announcement and she has me waiting in the auditorium. Nothing...I am panicking. It has been what seemed to have been an eternity. I can't just wait for someone to find him, that is when as I am walking out I see Wendy walking out. There was such a HUGE sense of relief, someone is helping me. She didn't see me or say anything, I just knew she was going to help and I knew that it was going to be ok. I went the opposite way and as soon as I was in the hall to see if maybe he had gone to find Ashtyn, Wendy called. She had him. He had gone outside and told Wendy he was going home...

Jay keeps reminding me that nothing happened but the whatifs are killing me...Bawling with every one.

I have been a mess ever since. If I can't keep track of 3 how in the WORLD am I going to do it with 4?!?

Jacob and I have had at least a dozen talks since then

about never leaving mommy and staying close,

holding my hand and asking to go.

BUT then he tells me he is going to ride his bike

to dance all by himself. Or ride his bike somewhere else all by himself.

We have another talk.

Then he runs out of his swimming lesson and

almost to the front door before I can even get 2 feet from the pool.

We have another talk.

O.K. mommy then runs to the car passing it

by 30 yards before realizing he has left me AGAIN.

That is when the serendipity of my mothers day weekend was annihilated...

Right now I don't know how I am going to do 4 kids? If I can do 4 kids....

BUT

I do know I have amazing people around me. Friends whose company lifts me up. Friends that know it is not a spa treatment that gets us through, but it is nice to get one every once in a while. Friends who find my kid. Friends who know what to say. Friends who remind me of the things I forget. Friends that support me.

I can't do this all by myself (a hard thing for me to admit). I have to accept my limitations and graciously accept what others can give. And one day make sure to return the favor

Spring Dance Recital 2011

2011-05-10T10:12:00.002-06:00

Alayna made a conscious decision to make sure she gave it her all this performance.

She would come home from practice so proud that Miss Lisa told her how she has the best smile.

And she does.

I could watch this performance a million times.

Jay went to observation night and the rehearsal day because I was out of town both times. It was so wonderful that his schedule allowed for that. Since I had not yet seen the dances I did not know where to sit to get a good shot of my girls for either performance. Next time I will make sure to get in a better spot.

Missing the observation night and rehearsal made me even more excited to see their performances. I knew Ashtyn was performing two of my favorite songs. Our 2010 summer theme song Waka Waka and one I played in orchestra, Aaron Copland's Hoedown.

You can tell she is having fun in both of these songs.

And then there is the Finale.

Where were you when...

2011-05-05T13:55:00.002-06:00

A few nights ago we were in bed. I was browsing facebook on Jay's Ipad, I read post after post that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. I told Jay to flip to the news. He was busy searching Netflix, but eventually clicked over and on the 10 o'clock news, the facebook statuses were confirmed.

I remember Jay calling me on 9-11 to turn on the tv.

We lived in south Salt Lake in our little grey house.

Ashtyn was still asleep and I was in complete shock.

In the following days watching the patriotism was surreal.

Enormous flags were painted on multiple cul de sacs near us.

Cars with american flags attached to the windows,

Trucks with full size flags in their beds.

I could not wait the few weeks for General Conference that Oct.

Which has changed my anticipation for General Conference ever since.

I still think twice whenever I hear a plane or helicopter over head.

I will never forget the first time hearing a plane after 9-11...

Ashtyn came to me while I was in Alaynas room and said, "Did you hear there was a really bad guy in Egypt or somewhere who was shot dead?" "He did lots of bad things." As I was about to say yes, Alayna jumped in with the brightest smile of unbelief and sheer joy saying "Satan is dead!?!"

It took me back for a second. I never had thought of satan ceasing to exist

and for one moment I caught her excitement of how wonderful that would be.

Ashtyn is old enough to understand and semi remember 9-11 but Alayna, not so much since she wasn't even born. BUT now she can remember 5-1-11 as the day 'satan died'. (At least one of his followers died)

Motherhood...

2011-04-30T05:56:00.001-06:00

I had one of those nights.

The kind that as you close the door to each child's room you know this is it. This is what life is all about.

Jacob happily cleaned up his enormous Monday mess, let me help him put on his jammies and picked out a story. One we have read at least 30 times but he read it with me as if each page and lift a flap was the first time he had experienced. Gasps and giggles with every opening. Then up to his bed and the count to turn on his light. As I closed the door he was so excited for his pillow "my pillow has dump trucks on it, oh I love this pillow!" as if this were his Christmas present. and laid his head down with the biggest grin.

Alayna caught me a little off guard earlier with some of her questions.

A:"So how does the baby grow?"

Me: "Just like you, a little at a time."

A:"No but how does the baby start...like do you just eat a lot of food?"

Me: "hmm, Well (going to my standard just give the basics) it takes a mommy and a daddy to make a baby..."

A: "You mean Daddy has a baby in his tummy?"

Me: "No..."
A: "Well then what part is Daddy doin?"

Me: (NOT prepared for this conversation right now?) Well....

I continued with the abridged version of 'the talk' and pull out my go to magazine 'As your baby grows' and got all her questions for tonight answered.

Ashtyn put herself to bed a little early so she could finish her book. She loves the Secret Series and has 1 left. She was so excited to tell me all about it. And as she was telling me all about the ending, I kept thinking this is where I am supposed to be. This is what I am supposed to be doing.

My ribs, belly, back and hips ache endlessly. I have been doing laundry for a week straight and there are still 2 loads to be done. Jay is recruiting so I have no adult support or conversation. BUT I wouldn't change it for the world. I can do this...No I want to do this and love doing this.

I needed that. It is amazing how get little confirmations when you need them the most.

For more mommy inspiration....click here, she seems to hit the nail on the head every time.

Jacob...

2011-04-29T05:50:00.004-06:00

Emily jokes I have a favorite child....

I could never pick a favorite child, I love them all equally....

BUT a favorite SON? Absolutely...

I mean a little boy who proudly washes windows....(don't mind that it is with muddy stuffed football)

He loves to help his dad. Fixing the faucet...

And mowing the lawn

And is so helpful in the kitchen. He decided he was going to do the dishes all on his own...

He even help to make our "Last Supper" Dinner the other night....(and he ate it)

This little guy has stolen my heart from the minute we met. He is always so happy! A trait he definitely got from his dad.

He can find anything to entertain him....

How could he not be my favorite SON....(he is my only son, but a pretty darn cute one)

I love finding him in his own little happy world.

I tried to be sneaky with this one, but he saw me and it took him a minute to start singing again. He had turned on his music and was swinging away...I don't want to ever forget how cute and sweet this stage is.

JSYK: This little guy can be a huge stinker too....but even when he is turkey he does it with a smile and when he is upset or gets in trouble (BIG troubles) he is so resilient and gets over it quickly.

I love you Jacob! To the moon and back!

POST EDIT: This was written before the incident last night where with 2 minutes before I was supposed to be at a meeting he knocked/flung a too full cup of orange soda all over the counter, cupboards and freshly mopped floor.....I was a frustrating 10 minutes late but the floor is no longer sticky. And as exasperated as I was at the time, seeing that little Tasmanian swinging and singing makes the sticky floor and being late (again) not really matter...

Spring Recruiting....

2011-04-28T05:39:00.000-06:00

The best part of Jay's job is that just when he is getting sick of one thing, (spring ball practice) it changes (to recruiting). I will never complain that his job changes, it is refreshing to have something different. I love anticipating the season and love when it is over. I love his time off in the summer and love when he gets to go back to work.....

But when he is gone (recruiting or road games etc...) I have such a hard time going to bed...

Why?

Is it going to an empty bed?

Is it no one to be accountable to?

I can be incredibly tired and barely functioning and still play 1 more game of sudoku, work on a crossword, read blogs, check facebook, eat a bowl of coco puffs, look at a magazine, check one more time if a word has been played on words with friends, check my favorite channels or dvrs?

Am I waiting for him to surprise me and come home?

No...

I DON'T like surprises, not even for birthdays or Christmas. OR surprises like the time I had planned the extended family reunion and knowing he wouldn't be coming bribed a babysitter to come with me to help with the monkeys. AND then Jay shows up...?

I did not like that.

I don't mind being on my own and having my own schedule when Jay is gone. In fact there are times I really look forward to it. This year though... I miss him (and my sleep) already and it is only the first trip... AND he has added AZ to his recruiting area so he will be gone more than last year...

So what am I waiting for? And why don't I like surprises??

33 weeks...

2011-04-27T05:46:00.001-06:00

This was taken 4/18...@ 6 weeks or 44 days to go. As of today....34 days.... I think I can, I think I can...

Alayna's Party

2011-04-26T05:58:00.001-06:00

We had a week long celebration for this 7 year old. I guess that is to make up for last year?? Which is ok since the lesson was learned and her behavior and attitude reflected it. She would check in regularly with me to make sure she was on track to have a friend party this year.

Started on Monday, Jay wanted to take her out for her Birthday Dinner since he would be gone the following night, her actual birthday to a football banquet. He offered a bunch of suggestions and She picked IHOP. (Jacob kept requesting Tepen-honkeys)

On her actual day I picked her up from school and took her to lunch with Jay.

Jay begged me to keep her up and wait to do cake and presents when he got home from the banquet at 9:45.

(They didn't get to bed til after 10:30)

This was a tough one since that is way past their 8:00 bedtime. Mostly because I am so done at that time. So I let them watch a movie and we waited and waited. It almost killed Alayna waiting so long to open her gifts.

Finally! The presents. I don't know whose anticipation was more Jacob's or Alayna's??

Earlier I asked what she had done in her class for her birthday and She had told her class her birthday list; a doll (check) and a microscope(first I had heard of this one) and a golden retriever(again first time hearing about this one, not that it would have mattered)....?? 1 out of three is pretty good isn't. She didn't seem to be disappointed.

A sweet neighbor had mentioned to me that Alayna comes to visit her and has the sweetest conversations. She had most recently told her how pretty she is and gave her a big hug. I was a little surprised, but told this neighbor that She must be very special because Alayna is very genuine. She doesn't just pass out compliments or kindness with abundance. When she thinks or says something it is real and genuine. (And not always positive)

This cute neighbor brought over a sweet gift for her birthday.

I love moments like these, little reminders of Alayna's a sweet and special spirit.

Finally Saturday and her friend party had arrived.

(Insert an Alayna squeal, a sound similar to a pterodactyl)

She had idea after idea of what theme she wanted for her birthday most of them I could not get myself motivated to execute. When I came across the Living Planet Aquarium website. Their birthday party packages include a party host and claims they do all the work you just show up. Perfect for my self pity pregnant state.

Jay was even able to come and help me keep track of the one dozen kids. The party was a hit and the kids loved it. Another successful party down...

Next birthday??

The one in my belly...can't wait!

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T10:01:00.004-06:00

Saturday's prep for Sunday's hunt.

The effort for this next picture was ridiculous.

Before I could get out of the car and up the stairs to our room, Jay was already out of his suit and tie with shorts, tee and putting on his slides. I pleaded for him to change back into his clothes with his reply "You never said anything about pictures" I retort, "didn't have a chance to even open my mouth before you went running to the closet." He dutifully(as a 12 year old boy would, including huffs and puffs) put his clothes back on and came out for pictures.

(I really have 4 kids Ashtyn, Alayna, Jacob and JAY with the 5th on the way.)

Waiting for the gunshot (and the other girls) to start the hunt.

And they're off....

A few years ago, we had a similar picture with a few more cousins.

This year I was having a bit of a pity pregnant party assuming we would have no extended family with us to celebrate Easter. UNTIL Emily called earlier in the week and said "So what's the plan for Sunday? We are planning on coming to your house."

I am so glad she called and that Mom and Dad were able to come as well. We had a wonderful Easter dinner and enjoyable family conversation. And although some may think it a little ridiculous for my parents to drive 3.5 hours each way for dinner, I have always loved the fact that they know if you don't do it now you will miss out forever.

Early in our dating, My family was in Utah during the winter holidays. We decided to meet up with Jay to ski. With all the holiday reunions and activities we were super late meeting him on the hill. We got out our skis and realized we only had time for 2 runs before a family get together. We bought single run lift tickets (yep you can buy those) and then had to leave. Jay was left flabbergasted. Who goes skiing for 2 runs? We do....and we enjoyed those 2 runs. Unfortunately Jay had bought an all day pass and spent most of the day skiing by himself...

Another example of do it or lose it, was when I was in High School. My Senior year we had an opportunity to visit family in Europe. It conveniently became my Senior trip. We only had a short window of time over presidents day to take the 6 day trip which to some after travel etc, only leaves you with a few days, but I will never forget those few days. We were able to see and experience more than expected. I loved every minute.

From these short trips (and many many others) I have learned that a vacation/trip doesn't have to be weeks long hitting every attraction along the way. In fact I think it is better to leave wanting more and wanting to return. Our first vacation as a married couple was to Puerto Rico for almost 3 WEEKS. I swore I would never go back. 10 days in both Jay and I were ready to reschedule our flights and come home, but couldn't. 13 years later I might consider going back for a few days...

I know it is not convenient for Mom and Dad to travel. And I know it is not an easy environment for Mom, but I love to hear Jacob squeal "grandma and grandpa are here". I love to hear the girls visit with both grandma and grandpa, telling them of their books and showing them their lives in their home.

I am glad to have been taught to make the effort. The effects are far greater than the short frustration of making it work.

Speaking of Cuts....

2011-04-22T06:15:00.000-06:00

One morning before school, Ashtyn was yelling for me to come upstairs.

I have a pretty strict mom policy of not responding to kids yelling through the house. If you want to talk to me you find me and talk without yelling.

Well...this was one of those exceptions...I realized that this was more than just a where is my other sock holler....

She had opened her closet door with the cute knobs from Hobby Lobby and the ceramic knob split right off deeply cutting two of her fingers.

I was a little nervous when I got to the bathroom... I don't do blood but the adrenaline was there and poor Ashtyn was white as a ghost with blood everywhere. Trying to calm her down and get color back into her I told her it would be fine. We bandaged her up and I told her to just go to school and see how it felt.

On the way I decided to take her up to her dad and have the trainers look at it. Mostly because I didn't do a whole lot of cleaning it out, checking to make sure any pieces of the ceramic was still in there or look at it very closely. Once we got to the facility, the adrenaline had wore off and I didn't want to see any more flapping skin or blood. I was the one turning white... The trainer cleaned it and put some fabric stitches over the cuts which made Ashtyn breath a sigh of relief. She was very worried to get stitches. Although looking back She could have used 2 or 3 because of the position and depth of the cut I think her scar could easily reopen. She was tough and learned that you can still do a lot with hurt fingers.

She had been working on not biting her nails and we had planned to get her a manicure, but with her sore fingers that had to be put off until just last week. We finally came through and she got a lovely bright green manicure. No pics though, she is has done amazing at overcoming her biting habit but keeping polish on for more than 1 or 2 days is still a work in progress...Next time I will have to be quicker with the camera and get pics while getting the manicure.

The Cutter Monster and other terrors

2011-04-21T06:37:00.001-06:00

A while ago Jacob came into our bedroom in the middle of the night in sheer terror. He was so upset that he was past tears. Franticly telling me the "gutter monster" was going to get him. Over and over I heard the 'gutter monster' mom, he is going to get me. I repeated 'gutter?' over and over asking what this 'gutter monster' was going to do? He replied now with some tears, "He is going to cut me and I don't want him to cut you mommy" That is when Jay giggled a little in his sleep at my lack of understanding. The whole time he was telling me of the CUTTER Monster. I wondered why after 15 times of me repeating gutter, Jay didn't just correct me and say cutter Sara, he is saying cutter....?

So we calmed him down, snuggled him and got him back to bed.

For the next weeks he would tell me about the cutter monster and how scary he was. I would ask what he looked like but he was unable to articulate a description until he saw this cookie tin.

"Mom there is the Cutter Monster. See he spins like this..." motioning a table saw like motion.

A few days later we were at the Wood Connection and after finding a clerk to tell her he has lost his mom, (bonus mom points) he found this unfinished leaf and with a terrified excitement yelled "the Cutter Monster!"

Again he showed me how he spins to cut and scare. Feeling a little weird and not sure why, I proceeded to buy it. Why did I want a reminder of something so frightening to him?

Once it made it's way into our house Alayna got a hold of it and gave it a cheery personality. And Jacob has not since had any "Cutter Monster" dreams....

He HAS since had other nightmares or night terrors.

Screaming (with his eyes open) of bees everywhere in his blankets

Blue things in his bed

and another nightmare that he couldn't quite explain.

He tells any listening ears that he had a bad dream...

JSYK (just so you know) I never even started the St Patricks Day Wood decoration I bought while at the Wood Connection....I guess there will always be next year eh?

Happy Birthday Alayna!

2011-04-19T05:57:00.001-06:00

Today Alayna turns 7.

Almost everyday she tells me that when she is X years old, Ashtyn will be X years older. Which is always followed with the exasperation of

"I will NEVER be older than Ashtyn...."

The home teachers came over the other day and she always has an arsenal of questions for them. One of them was "How old will I be when I am resurrected?"

Although there is no definite answer on that her hope for being older than Ashtyn is more than just a glimmer....There is a good chance that she will be older than me....She has quite the spirit.

As for today, she is SEVEN!

She is wishing she was turning eight with the opportunity to be baptized, but I am glad she gets to be seven. She is learning so much so fast. She is an amazing little girl.

One of both Jay and I's very favorite thing Alayna does is laugh. She has the most genuine kid laugh and uses it according to when things are funny.

She does not force a laugh, if it is not funny to her she doesn't make it up.

She was reading Magic Treehouse Mummies in the Mornings and was understanding the silliness and jokes that were weaved into the story and asked "why do they make books funny"

Alayna LOVES knowledge and is very smart. She understands things on a level that is much more mature than her age. For a while she was my silent car rider. Now she rattles off question after question. It gets tough to keep up with the answers.

Alayna is very determined. She will work and work to get what she wants. And it goes the other way. If it is not her idea or not something she really wants, good luck getting her to do it.

I have learned to find ways (not always successful) of making her think it was her idea or something she wants.

If there every was a real life Ramona, it would be her. From the frosting disaster at IKEA to her impromptu Napolean Dynamite performances in the aisles of the grocery store, almost always including the moon/rain boots and booty shakes, She exudes the meaning of free spirit.

I am so glad she chose to be a part of our family. We LOVE her so much!

JSYK: I got a call while in San Diego with Jay Alayna called me to ask if I could sew some buttons on a shirt for button week. I told her sure. with only 2 days between CA trips, I sewed ALL 70 something buttons on that shirt. I think there must have been a near lethal mix of my project minded mind with a little guilt for leaving her for a week....

2011-04-18T10:50:00.005-06:00

Today is a rainy spring day.

This time of year I will take the rain over snow any day.

When we first moved into this house (3/05) we were pretty quick to get the front yard sprinklers and grass seed in and then it rained and rained and rained.

I really wanted to get outside and fill the flower beds, but instead went to the library and borrowed every landscaping book available.

I loved sitting by the fire dreaming of magical fairy landish gardens, while the rain poured.

6 years later I still love to dream of all the trees, shrubs and flowers I want to have in this tiny corner of the world.

But I enjoy the current state of exploding flowers on the trees and bouquets daffodils and tulips Alayna brings in...

I am still pregnant but grateful to still be cooking this kid...I have to remind myself (almost every minute) that I am blessed to be able to get pregnant, have healthy full term babies.

Unfortunately I still whine, moan and complain every minute as well...

(32 weeks)

My feet, ankles and legs are starting to swell but I have inches to gain there (Don't worry I will post some amazingly grotesque photos when they reach their glory)

Jay did remind me that I am not even close yet because my nose has not widened.

Yes, my nose widens (pretty much my whole face does but the nose thing is real)

I did hear my 3 trimester laugh bellow out the other day. That one always surprises me.

In my advanced years I have learned to embrace my cackle of a laugh, but when altered with an expanded yet cramped diaphragm and large amounts of excess mass, I startle myself.

About a month ago, maybe even 6 weeks or so I finally

made my first to do list since being pregnant.

I LOVE to do lists. I even crossed off a few of them..

In fact it is still laying around with a few more black lines.

I learned when pregnant with Jacob that projects can't exist when I am pregnant.

I just frustrates me when I just can't finish them.

I still have no expectations for projects but having a list makes me feel a little more normal and gives me some focus. I just have to remind myself not to put deadlines on them.

As of today I have 6 weeks and a day until I am induced.(7 days before my due date)

I keep wondering if I will go on my own this time.

I have been induced with all 3 kids.

Ashtyn on her due date.(4 hours from water breaking to delivery)

Alayna 6 days early.(45 minutes from water breaking to delivery)

Jacob13 days early.(30 minutes from water breaking to delivery)

Jay will be recruiting throughout May so if I do go on my own will he miss it?

If my water breaks at home will I make it to the Hospital?

43 days to go...

25.5 Weeks....

2011-03-02T05:25:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is with girl pregnancy but I definitely do not feel the pregnant glow that I felt with Jacob. With Jacob, I loved my belly and everything that came with it. I wondered when the orneriness was going to set in...

The girls, including this one, I hate everything and I am so ornery...I would like to shave my head and wear a wig. My skin drives me crazy, being too dry, too splotchy or a major break out. I don't feel like 'me'.

I am getting so excited to meet her. I have been a little worried to have FOUR kids, but I am starting to believe I/we will be able to handle it. I enjoyed every second of Jacobs infancy. I just hope I can do the same with this one.

FYI: She is a very wiggly little peanut.

Thank you Presidents!

2011-03-01T11:50:00.008-07:00

My nephew posted on FB a Thank You to the Presidents for giving him a long weekend. I too give a shout out to the Presidents for giving us a long weekend. We loved every minute!

First of all, 3 weeks ago...

I won tickets to the Monster Jam!

I NEVER win anything, so I was thrilled.

AND just a month ago, I tried to talk Jay into going when it was the Maverik Center but it didn't happen.

The girls were not too excited but once they heard the roar of the engines they couldn't help but think it was awesome.

It was loud and super cool to see trucks, like El Toro Loco and Gravedigger.

The intermission or half time(not sure what it is called) entertainment had snowmobiles on the dirt jumps. It was crazy how they could get the snowmachines so high and flip them.

The girls were sure Uncle Chad should have been there to see it.

Saturday was spent painting the rest of the stairwell and entire upstairs hall and playroom.

The kids played with each other and it was so funny to listen to them. Jacob was playing barbies and was making sure the girls were coming and sitting quietly in his barbie FHE.

Ashtyn was telling her sister 'in the game' how she wished she was more fashionable...but just 'in the game....'

Jay and I had some good laughs listening to them play as we painted.

I wanted a color that would warm up the walls a little but not be too far from the original, just in case we weren't able to get the ENTIRE house done. There really is no stopping point when the stairwell runs into the ceiling and all the walls down stairs. Eventually (meaning in the next 2 years?) we will probably paint the rest of the main floor.

JSYK, since we have moved in we have painted every room in this house minus the upstairs bathroom, kitchen, laundry and 2 of the living room walls.

Because the kids were so patient while we painted on Saturday we rewarded them with a fun-filled Monday.

We started with a matinée of

in 3D. (Don't love the 3D thing?) but it was a pretty cute movie.

Then for some long over due energy release at Kangaroo Zoo with the Emily and her family.

It was awesome to watch every one of the sprint from bounce house to bounce slide getting red in the face. By the end Jacob was wet head to toe from sweat. Jeans and a sweatshirt, not ideal.

But even after a couple hours they were all still running from bounce to bounce.

Not sure who the creeper kid is but she wanted to be in the picture...I missed her smile and pose but she had one.

Finished off the day with dinner at the Red Iguana -- Yum!

The best part of the weekend (and my secret goal) was to wear out the kids.

Mission accomplished.

Runts, Runts, Runts.....

2011-02-17T14:26:00.001-07:00

When I was pregnant with Jacob, I could not even look at sweets.

Unfortunately with the girls...sweets are what I reach for first.

Mostly fruity ones.

About 2 weeks ago I really wanted some runts and looked for them at the store I was at and no such luck.

The next day I looked again and no runts. So I made a special stop at Maverik.

NO RUNTS, FOR REAL.

Now I was on a mission.

JoAnns, nope.

Target, nope.

Lowes, nope. (they have a few candy bars at the checkout)

Hobby Lobby, nope

Back to Maverik and sent Jay searching, nope

Smiths, NO RUNTS.

I was having a serious hankering and knowing I couldn't have them was making it worse.

I was almost to the point of finding them online, cuz you can find anything online right?

Well last night I was picking up pictures from Wal-greens and as I have started doing at every store, looked AND found theater size boxes of runts.

Hallelujah!

I exercised great control and did not buy the entire stock of them and left with only 3 boxes.

I have already mowed through 1 box...

And just so you know, I really love the chewy runts as well. I was craving the regular runts more this time but would have taken the chewy one but in my search they are still MIA.

*Note* When I brought them home, he remembered he had found them and bought me some for V-day, but couldn't remember where he put them....I can't wait till they surface, it will be happy day.

V-day

2011-02-16T13:30:00.004-07:00

I love Valentine's Day.

I am starting to get used to the constant nausea and extreme fatigue of this pregnancy.

I have been wanting to do a few projects, so I was ready to make Valentines with the girls.

I had seen all of these on various web sites and pretty much copied each one. It was great to get a little crafty but not have to come up with the ideas.

I found Ashtyn's idea here, but instead of using the glass bottles of crush, we used cans. A little more kid friendly. She was so excited about them.

She was a little bummed they didn't get to make a box this year, she loved making last years box. But she came home with a cute envelope similar to this one.

Alayna has a thing for water bottle singles. You know, those little packets of sugar... So when I saw this valentine here, I knew it would be for her.

She was required to make a box and as we had left it to the last minute (the night before) I remembered this idea and knew it would be perfect (meaning fast). She painted it and other than cutting out the hole assembled it all her self. I thought is was adorable and was the perfect Alayna box. She has named it and is keeping it as a pet in her room.

And just like everything else, I found Jacob's valentine's idea online here. He loved making and giving Valentine's like his sisters. Although he kept asking if all his friends were going to share their cars with him.

We hung out as a family V-day night with a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and then frosted sugar cookies for some neighbors. I should have snapped a pic of Jay doing the frosting. He was the ace of cookies and here are some of the ones he did. In fact after watching how intense he was on making the 'cute', I let him do ALL the frosting. The girls added a few conversation hearts.

Jay and I celebrated Friday night with a couples massage and hooking up his bowl gift (a TV). Jacob calls it the flying tv, it is mounted pretty high. His v-day gift was a wifi blu ray for movies and netflix in our room. (That man loves movies)

He was very thoughtful in his V-day shopping as well, he surprised us at FHE with a bag of goodies. For the kids, rings and little decorations for their bathroom. For me a book and plaque/picture. He was very thoughtful and so unsuspecting....decorations for the girls bathroom...?go figure.

St George on a whim.

2011-02-08T09:05:00.004-07:00

After summer camp, the season, the holidays and recruiting, I get pretty excited for Jay to have February Fridays off. Both Jay and I think of enough stuff to do for 3 months of Fridays. So with bunches of options we finally decided Thurs night at 6pm to pack up and head south for some sunshine.

We stayed with Jay's parents and the kids had a blast. Ferrell took them to feed the cows on the little farm behind them.

Feeding the calf with a bottle was so cute.

I grabbed the camera on the way out and had the battery on the charger. I grabbed the battery but for some reason put it down (along with my running shoes) So we only got a few pictures with Jay's I-phone.

Friday Jay went golfing while the kids and I went to the Washington City rec center pool. Golfing and swimming, it was like summer.

When we pulled into St George Jay asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I wanted to find this place and I wanted to buy a Steelers sweatshirt for gameday.

(No such luck on the Steelers sweatshirt...that is probably why they lost, I wasn't wearing my black and yellow,black and yellow, black and yellow)

We asked everyone where this fun red rock playground was, I even had Jay text CJane's brother. But it was Jay's niece Caydee who was able to get us there.

Which made up for her spilling 40 ounces of her 44ounce pink lemonade in our car.

It was exactly what I had hoped for. Perfect for exploring and getting energy out. The kids loved finding holes, tunnels, arches and slots. Alayna said she thought she was going to not like the hike but it turned into the best hike EVER! It was beautiful and warm. The sun made my jeans hot and that made me happy.

Jay went golfing again in the afternoon and I took the girls to Brush Fire. They were so excited but unfortunately Brush Fire was in the middle of a move and said we could come back monday :( The girls were disappointed but had great attitudes about it. I took them to Michaels and we found some other projects for them to paint back at the house. They said it was better than the original plan. AND we didn't have to wait a week and figure a way to get our pottery to Salt Lake.

I could live in St George. We love the Parade of Homes down there, the houses are so fun and different from up north. Maybe we will go back in 2 weeks for that. I wouldn't mind a little more sun.

The belly bump - 19.5 weeks

2011-02-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

Love looking at other people's belly bumps...

I will be glad to have these later....maybe...

(this was taken Jan 13th, the day I found out she is a she. I am now 24 weeks, hmmm time for another one?)

Utah's Signing Day 2011

2011-02-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest deceptions people have of the coaching profession is, thinking that once the season is over you get the rest of the year off....Nope Jay has been up to his eyeballs in recruiting since December. He recruits all year but it gets pretty intense come Dec/Jan. Currently he recruits the state of Utah and Las Vegas, but that didn't stop him from going to TX, LA & CA. This year of the 19 signed recruits he was responsible for signing 9 of those athletes! You can read about them here and here.

We have made the effort to make sure we support Jay as much as possible. I think that no matter what job you have involving the family as much as possible shows both the employer how invested you are but also shows your kids why Dad (or mom) is gone and what they are doing while they are not with them.

Some of my earliest memories are going to work with my dad. Once he changed careers and was a teacher, I would go to his classroom after school was out and play in the chemistry labs, write on chalkboards. As we were older we helped correct papers. We as a family were invested in his and my mom's careers.

As our kids get older, they have learned to form real relationships with some of these players and have learned that the good things in life are earned with hard work.

They had 1000 fans at the signing party, which is a good start for jumping into the PAC 12 hopefully we can continue the support and get 10 times that to the spring game. They had a bounce house, sports court, football throw, merchandise, dinner and a program to introduce the new recruits.

This has been a stressful recruiting season for the staff. They were short 3 coaches, so many areas were not combed through as carefully as they should have been. Then add the pressure of the PAC 12. In the MWC you can battle against 1-2 PAC 10 schools and win the majority of the time, if you lose that recruit it doesn't really hurt. If you are up against 5-8 PAC 10 schools and you lose, well now you don't have that player and you will be playing against that player. In a profession where 1 season can determine if you have a job or not, getting those recruits is crucial.

I am looking forward to this season and the excitement it could hold.

(And the fact that I won't be pregnant anymore)

As far as Jay's schedule, we are looking forward to having fridays off in February and spring break in March. Jay is excited to get with the staff. Getting to know and learning from the new coaches Tim Davis and Norm Chow.

The first of many....

2011-02-04T05:37:00.000-07:00

Jacob threw his metal train and got her good....

this was a day or two after....

I told her we could match her other eye with purple eye shadow, but then people might think she had 2 black eyes...

On to round 2?

Ashtyn's Turns 11

2011-02-03T10:37:00.005-07:00

Last year Alayna (by her actions and attitude) chose not to have a friend party. The girls learned that friend parties were privileges and not an entitlement. Ashtyn on her own accord (back in April '10) decided that she didn't need a friend party every year and for her next birthday she would skip it.

January approached she tried to stick to her plan.

but Ashtyn loves a party as much as I do and

She wanted to celebrate with her friends....

I figure here in a year or so she will just

want the party money for clothes, right..?

So with the idea from Amy, we made last minute plans for a smash hit party at the Karaoke Cafe. It was the perfect solution for my current lazy condition. Parents drop off and pick up at the cafe, my house is not turned into a 10-12 year old wasteland and the girls partied like rock stars.

Parents could even watch the party live online...

You can rent out the cafe's party room but it does not have the awesome ambiance that this room has.

And all we had to do was order drinks and appetizers.

Below are all the girls singing 'Happy Birthday' and Ashtyn loving every minute.

We planned a 2.5 hour long party which was great for the girls, but it was a loud crazy 2.5 hours. (I don't know what I was thinking I usually have a 1.5 hour party rule)

Ashtyn's real birthday was on Monday and so we celebrated with dinner at Ashtyn's choice 'The Old Spaghetti Factory' and a few gifts at home. She was so excited for the Just Dance 2 wii game. She is still working on getting Jay to play it with her...(that just might be AFV moment)

I say it with every birthday, but they grow so fast. I have loved watching her grow up. She has such an easy personality. She can talk to anyone about anything. She comes home and tells me everything. I hope she will continue to confide and communicate through these next few years. She is so caring and concerned about everyone around her. She tries so hard to make everyone feel included. Her teachers have all just loved her and her happy attitude about everything. She looks for the positive in everything. Even when we were losing to BSU she was telling me of all the things the team had accomplished and what they should be proud of. She loves being a girl and loves fashion without being too high maintenance. She is such a big help to me and her siblings. She will make having this 4th child so much easier. I am so blessed to have her.

Random...

2011-01-27T22:02:00.004-07:00

Jay woke me up this morning for family prayers and told me he can tell when I sleep good because I smile while I sleep.

Jacob asked me if he could sit on my lap. That always makes my happy, he is so loving. Then he said when he gets bigger I can sit on his lap.

Jay called at 10 am and said his phone battery was already half gone from being on it since the moment he left.

He called a few minutes later to tell me he would be flying to New Orleans with Coach Whit on a private jet, so they could have their own time schedule and skip the airport hassles.

My cousin is having a girl. Out of 8 of us who are pregnant, 6 girls, 1 boy and 1 unknown...?

I am glad to have great friendships that have lasted through the years and have made my last few days.

I need to be a better friend.

Ashtyn's room is almost done.....

I might move into her room, I love it and so does she.

I am so annoyed that I hate being pregnant so much...seriously Sara, get over it you have 18 more weeks....

Alayna shared her fountain drink with me....It was a combination of orange soda and root beer.

I love being a mom.

(giving practice spelling tests, carpools, reading to Jacob a few of todays favorites.)

I hate that my backside looks as pregnant as the front....:(

I am so glad that Jay will get on the plane when he is done and be home tonight instead of having to wait for a flight tomorrow. Going to an empty bed gets old.

Signing day is less than a week away. Pray that we get the ones we want, the ones we need.

I wonder who this little girl in my belly is going to be?

I am blessed.

What?!? Is that Annoying?

2011-01-20T06:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, Jay returned from New Orleans and had a minute to meet up for lunch before heading out recruiting schools here in the valley.

I was excited to see him and to eat something other than cereal for lunch.

I threw all three kiddos (no school monday or tuesday) in the car and headed out. Jacob was being goofy and was making a sound similar to the most annoying sound in the world I calmly said one of my usual car sayings"Jacob that is too noisy" and he replied as if he were a 13 year old Jay

"What!?! Is that annoying?"

The sun was out, temperatures were above freezing for the first time in forever and I was in a happy mood for the first time in forever-20 weeks (I know poor Jay and family)

I said "Isn't it a beautiful day?"

Jacob replied "No it isn't"

I retort "It is a beautiful a day"

Jacob likes this game and continues with a "No it's not"

I pull out the mommy growl and snarl "It is a beautiful day!"

Jacob giggles and says "Mommy you are such a GOON?"

I love this little guy. He is so full of life, love, happiness and destruction.

In other news....

Alayna is at the top of her class in AR reading and in reading fluency. She won her class spelling bee and will be participating in the school wide spelling bee at the end of the week. I know total mom pride but.....

She brought home this spelling test with an 80%. I look to see what word she has missed..

Yep that last word is not correct...

Do you know what word she was trying to spell?

War

Looks like we need to keep working...

Thirteen Lucky Years!

2011-01-19T05:32:00.000-07:00

Jay and I were married two days after Christmas and in between semesters. We both graduated from Ricks and He started at the University of Utah. It was a crazy whirlwind getting everything to fit just right in the time we had.

So why would it be any different on our anniversary?

Our Anniversary has been hastily celebrated at a bowl game with a bunch of football players or at the cabin with all our family. And with Christmas, traveling and everything else that is happening in December it sometimes get pushed under the rug, til we run out to dinner that night.

The past 2 years I decided maybe I should put some thought into getting Jay something or do something special for it.

Last year I made him a calendar.

A cute friend and fellow football wife said she wanted to do a photo shoot for her Husband and invited me along. I thought it would be a perfect anniversary present...a 12 month calendar for 12 years of marriage?

The photographer did a good job and Jay hung it in his office all year.

This year I was a little late with the idea and the shopping but still accomplished what I set out to do. We celebrated 13 lucky years and because some consider 13 to be an unlucky number I went with gifts to bring Jay and our marriage luck.

After a little google research I made a list of things that would bring us luck.

Ironically I don't really believe much into lucky items, but Jay is very superstitious and quietly believes in such lucky items (side note: most coaches are to some extent)

So we have the elephant clock with his head raised for 'extra' luck

A dream catcher to take away the bad

A lucky lady bug

A lucky buddha (I think this particular statue if for good health?)

A lucky money tree. That almost died in the freezing temps of Island Park but is coming back thank goodness, Jay was really worried about that one. Of all things to let the money tree die!

A lucky fortune cookie coin purse to hold all his lucky dimes. Every heads up dime he finds is good for a win on the field

Lucky cologne

Cheesy but the effort was made and it is fun to see the superstitious side of that man I love.

I need to start thinking about 14....what goes with 14...?

New Years Eve 2010/2011

2011-01-18T06:07:00.000-07:00

The last 2 posts were a little wordy and I am getting a little warm from all that hot air....So a few pictures, less wind.

After Christmas we headed up to the NEGATIVE temperatures of Island Park and the best R&R you can find.

There was a LOT of this

And a LOT of this

Some of this

explanation...a luge track that starts on the roof and throws you into the driveway after a hairpin curve....

More of this

And then we rang in the New Year with a bang!

Kids ready in the fox hole...

The lighter...

Bang!

Bam!

Boom!

Vegas Bowl 2010

2011-01-17T06:07:00.000-07:00

We love going to bowl games! And this one being our 10th bowl game, we have got a pretty good system down.

Not every football family loves going to bowls, in fact not every football family goes to the bowl games.

And I know and understand why.

Living in a hotel for 5 days without a schedule or the comforts of home.

Kids that can't go to bed at night because of the thrill of the stay.

Especially difficult with young kids, napping kids, schedule kids etc...

You are still a single mom for most of the trip because of the schedule the coaches keep; meetings, practices, meals and more meetings.

There have been many trips where I can remember sitting on the floor outside the hotel room in the hall reading magazines waiting for Alayna to finally fall asleep in a nap she desperately needed. Or when I was 24 weeks pregnant and walked 2 miles with a 4 year old Ashtyn carrying her at times to a gas station to get a cheap lunch because there was no other options.

BUT the memories my kids have are endless. I love hearing "remember that bowl game when..."

Yes, they miss school, their schedules, class parties, usually Christmas parties but if we stayed home that would be one more week we don't see dad and don't support our dad.

Here are a few things that make bowls easier...

I have learned that each bowl has a site with the general schedule and from that I can usually figure out the things that families will be required to go to and the days we will need to schedule our own activities. I always mark and plan for the wives luncheon very first. Most of the time they have an coordinating activity for the kids. Sometimes there is an age limit when I need to make arrangements for help. I have used Jay's family, older kids of fellow staff members and have even brought along a sitter to help out.

Once I get a general idea of the schedule (usually a few weeks in advance) I search things to do in the area. We have gone to places like the New Orleans Zoo, Graceland, Legoland, miniature trains and even some city parks. I look for as much as we can in walking distance. Walking the kids wears them out and makes them sleep better and even take naps.

Because of the sporadic schedules, I usually only plan for one big excursion day. That day most likely being the day before the game. This is the day they shut down the hotel game room and the coaches are busy in preparation so there is no chance of seeing dad.

The rest of the time is spent

--exploring the hotel-- finding the gift shops, elevators, stairs, top floor, game room, hospitality room, pool, exercise facility, walking paths, outdoor gardens etc...

--using the game room and ball rooms--the bowl sets up a room with snacks, drinks and treats, multiple gaming consoles, foosball table, air hockey, pool perfect for a few hours of entertainment. If the game room gets boring we bought a soccer ball and bouncy balls that made for hours of entertainment in the ball room not to mention tag and other energy draining games.

--finding opportunities to hang out with dad.

--I like to bring or purchase at the nearby Walgreens a new coloring book and or toy (particularly my girls like petshops, squinkies and Jacob loves cars) good in room entertainment while I flip through channels, nap or shower.

I love the relaxing unscheduled part of a bowl game. Sleeping in, cartoons, 2 meal days because you slept late and breakfast is now brunch, lunch becomes dinner and dinner is a treat from somewhere fun or special.

--Winding down the evening early with an in room movie is now a tradition. And most times they are asleep before it even ends.

As often as we can we try to cheer on the players and attend the media dinners, luncheons and pep rally's.

Now make sure you also prepare for the unknowns....and when I say prepare I mean remember it is not the end of the world and things will be o.k. even if your pantie wearing 2 year old has a mean bout of diarrhea on the bus in the middle of a dozen big 18-24 year old football players and you definitely didn't bring the necessities you will find a way.

It will be o.k. if your 4 year old gets the worst raging case of very contagious pink eye ever. Your Doc can send a prescription to the concierge's suggested pharmacy and you can have it under control in 12 hours.

It will be o.k. if your child has a total thermal nuclear meltdown because you have NO where to be and can put the child in a timeout and have quiet time in the hotel room.

It will be o.k. if your 6 year old barfs the entire first half of the initial traveling, kids are resilient and usually a good nights sleep will cure it.

This year was the Vegas bowl. I did not take as many pics as I should have but her are some of our highlights....

Dinner with the Broncos...

The lions at the MGM Grand.

Looking at the new bridge over the Hoover Dam.

Looking toward the old bridge that goes over and is the Hoover Dam. A bucket list destination that I have wanted to visit ever since this movie and I can now check it off.

The Rainforest Cafe, the girls very most favorite restaurant that is overpriced for blah(read disgusting) food but the atmosphere is so fun. And did I say the kids LOVE it.

Jacob getting close and personal with the 'real' Vegas

Actually the secretary was the one who said this would be a great pic...

...Of course, I agreed

Walking along the strip.

And who could forget, the reason for the season....The game....

Jay coaching them up, making sure everyone knows their assignment.

And it's over, the game, the week, the vacation....

Jay specifically said "DON'T!" post this picture anywhere....

but I am documenting reality.

If you know Jay, he is NOT crying...This is what happens

when you put in 80+ hours a week. When you don't see your kids awake from the time you leave church on sunday until wednesday night. When you miss out on piano recitals, school award ceremonies and slack in your callings a bit. When you live on a few hours of sleep a night. All for 4 hours of 18-24 year old kids running and pushing each other around. And at the end of that 4 hours when the confetti doesn't fly down on you, you put your head in your hands and say what. just. happened? What went wrong and how am I going to not let this happen again.

This was the first bowl loss in 10 years. The only one we have ever and hope to ever experience again.

2011-01-16T20:34:00.002-07:00

Jay and I were asked to speak in church today. Jay spoke, I bawled and blubbered. I told the Bishopric that it was unfair to ask an emotional pregnant lady to speak and tried to say no and get out of it, but to no avail.

I boo hoo'd through my laurel lesson the previous week and knew I was in trouble. Not to mention that I sweat like a 'fat chick at cartwheel camp' (I totally copied that from our 'new year' friend) anytime I have to speak in front of people.

In preparation, I asked everyone I could about what they could enlighten me on the given topic and they all had great insights which lead to a decent talk, if only they could have understood it through the sniffs and hoo hoo's. When I asked Emily O. she said to forget preparation and just get up mumble through crying for a few minutes and say amen. Which is about what I did... only I added little extra crying for effect.

Jay had us all ready and kids in the car running 15 minutes early. That is when the panic started. I stayed in the house and started to shake, feeling like I was going to pass out, so I reached for something to eat. Jay walked in and with the dessert from last night recruiting trip (HEAVENLY read with angels ahh-ing raspberry torte) in hand I lost it. The dam had broke and tears were running like the amazon river. Patiently he ate the dessert with me got me some nuts and a coke telling me it was a magic potion and we left for church. Trying to keep things together Jay kept things light and reassuring me I was going be fine. I on the other hand was envisioning me passing out hitting the pulpit and blood.

I had the reservoirs under control until the sweet youth speaker spoke of her family being sealed. I lost it, the shake cry with snot and everything. I blew my nose and a huge snot bubble grew out from under the kleenex. NOT GOOD!

Then it was my turn....

Jay said to speak until I couldn't anymore. I got up and started with a few tears, then a bit of composure then completely lost it, turned to Jay just minutes in and was to the point of not being able to talk. He gave me that coaches look like you've got this just do it. And as much as I wanted to just walk out and cry in the car, I made it through my entire 8 page talk....Not sure how much was understood but when I sat down I had an overwhelming feeling of "you said what I wanted you to say" Which made me cry a little more.

I am sure our ward feels really bad for Jay and the kids after witnessing the nutso side show performance?? And a few I'm sure won't speak to me until I pop this kid out for fear of being snotted on.

So I cried, I did the ugly shake cry and snot was excessive but the talk was given, I did what was asked (And I can pretty much GUARANTEE they A'INT asking me to speak again for the rest of their time as a Bishopric. Which lucky for me they were just put in.)

Dad said he wished he and mom could come down and listen to us speak so for them I put my talk in google docs and you can go read it by clicking here. Lucky for them they can read it minus my snot.

Christmas Tree

2011-01-10T05:43:00.001-07:00

I have been so sick with this pregnancy and haven't been able to much more than survive. But I was determined to have the decorations up so we could enjoy them before we headed out on our crazy travel schedule. I think we got a good 10 days of holiday enjoyment ;) I forgot to take pictures of the other parts of the house that were decorated, like the hutch, mantle and buffet. I guess there is always next year.

Jacob was excited to put on the star. Although I'm not sure he has recovered from the wedgie?

Last year we had to add a few lights at the bottom of the pre lit tree. Even after checking lights and changing fuses it was still dark. This year even fewer were lit. I looked around for a new tree and found some gorgeous ones on KSL for a great price. The only problem - our living room is so tiny that a chubby full tree is not going to work. This one I got at wally world after Christmas 5 years ago for $35! It is the PERFECT size. With the star on it almost touches the ceiling but narrow enough you can still get around it. AND I love the branches, Did not see one like it. SO Jay had the bright idea of cutting off all 600 lights. "It'll just take 20 minutes" he said. 3 hours later.... I ran to Target for strings of lights. It took us 4 days to get the tree up and fully decorated.

Growing up, like many others we had the tradition of a new ornament each year. I tried to start that tradition but with only 3 then 4 family members it wasn't much of a decorated tree. I decided to do a new set of ornaments for the past few years to fill out the tree. I started with little book ornaments and then one year I found the glittered snowflakes. Another year I glued ribbon to the scented pine cones. (probably my favorite ornament) Then I bought balls and bells. This past year I found the giant balls and added the gold leaves and berries. I got a little crazy and even added the green ribbon throughout. (Last year while at a friends house she had ribbon on her tree and it looked so finished so I copied.) Maybe by the time my kids are grown and out of the house I will have sets of ornaments for each of them??

I love the traditional red green and gold of the tree, but I am getting really sick of the brown chairs, yellow(gold) curtains and yellow wall. I can't decide if it is just the pregnancy, the time of year or if it's just time to change after 5 years?

(Always thinking of the next project...even when I am too tired to do them.)

Christmas Dance Recital 2010

2011-01-06T16:54:00.003-07:00

I love, love, love watching my two girls dance.

Because of Music Man rehearsals and a performance, Ashtyn missed a few dance rehearsals. She tried out and made jr. starlettes which added to her worry. (Although I don't know why??) She was very nervous and a little insecure about the dance. She practiced and practiced at home but you can see that she is concentrating on getting the dance just right. She got her kicks up high like she wanted to and didn't miss a beat.

I love to watch Alayna dance and wait for when she finally sees us in the audience. Her face just lights up the stage. You can tell she feels like the music box dancer. Last spring her wink, thumbs up and pointing out the flashing lights was awesome.

This year you could tell she was making sure each arm move was just right, the echoes of her teacher to slow down and wait for the music was obvious as well. I am amazed at the control she has now. If you have known her for all 6 years it hasn't (isn't) always been there.

And finally the FINALE. You can hear Jay and I worried and giggling about Ashtyn's pants as they almost fall down. I knew that they were a bit big and was feeling like a bad mom for not taking them in. There are a couple close calls. After the performance she told us how she and Ari had pulled their pants up over their shoulders and ran around goofy. Which explains why it was only in the finale they were falling off.

Where did December go?

2011-01-06T16:22:00.002-07:00

Just counted the days we had home in December. Total 14 of the 31.

Weekend one was spent in Twin Falls visiting Josie and her family. Emily M was in a children's theater production of Charlotte's Web and Jack was baptized.

The following weekend was spent in St George for the Hill family Christmas party and C.J.'s farewell.

Home for a few days to make sure Christmas was in line and left a day earlier than planned (12/17) for the Vegas Bowl.

Home for Christmas eve and Christmas day then up to the cabin til the new year.

Despite the crazy travels we enjoyed the visits and relaxation upon arriving to each destination. I love the sister trips Emily and I have made especially when we are going to visit Josie. And I really appreciate her hubs Chad for fixing the DVD player in the car. 6+ days in the car without it could have put me in to an asylum.

Looking back, if you throw in the church activities and parties, kids recitals and obligations, you could whittle that number down to single digits.

At the first of the month my computer got a virus, well actually I was told it had 782 viruses but luckily our super computer guy fixed it and the 'r' key that was broke off during the byu/Utah game at a very reasonable price and in about a week. To finish off the month we had almost $600 worth of Under Armour merchandise stolen off our front porch. Thankfully they have filed with fed ex and have reshipped the entire order.

Crazy eh?

I don't want to forget the fun times so here's to some back logging.....

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-29T11:04:00.005-07:00

For the past 8 years (every other with the Kern family) we have celebrated at different homes. First at mom and dad's, then at Josie's, my house 2 years ago and at Emily's this year.(I was so happy not to have to do any planning...just show up.
Like years past, Dad wanted a new family picture so we kicked off Thanksgiving day with a family picture in a snowy orchard. Sounds beautiful huh? I thought of all the things that could go wrong and there were quite a few. The one thing I never imagined would happen, was one of my children having an accident (and not the one who recently was potty trained). Luckily it was not noticeable and we finished our pics quickly and got her to Emily's to change. Off to a great start eh? A little anxious to see how they turned out?

Dinner was delicious, the turkey perfect! And so far no one noticed I forgot to make the IMPORTANT traditional Grandma John Wassail....oops!

We did the traditional early morning shopping at 3:15 am....still recovering. Ben and Dad asked if it was worth it. Yes, I always wonder why we do it but it is just fun to go, see the crazies and be silly with my sisters/in law. Ben asked me to do the math to see how much I saved....$450 on 3 items not bad?? Other weekend activities included Tangled (so cute), visiting with family, yummy blueberry scones, Christmas from mom and dad (more to come on that) and gingerbread houses and they byu UTAH game (again more to come on this)!!
This year some of us felt a little lacking in the creativity/motivation dept. But they all turned out so cute even if one was a foreclosure in Twin Falls were it snows side ways. You can see more here

Murray High's Music Man

2010-11-17T10:40:00.005-07:00

If you don't already know, Ashtyn is a self starter. If she wants to do something she will always get it done. For example; in kindergarten I was not waking her up with enough time for her to get done all she wanted to in the morning, so she asked for her own alarm clock. She learned how to set it and turn it off (in kindergarten) She would get up at 7.

A few months ago, she told me there was an audition for kids to be in the High School's production of the Music Man. She wanted to go. I told her if she got all the information I would take her. Of course she did. I'm not sure how many kids showed up but there were A LOT. They had pretty much predetermined who would play the part of Winthrop. So they needed members of the boys band and Amaryllis. Luck of all luck, Ashtyn got the part of Amaryllis and was thrilled. I was.... hmm, I don't know what I was...maybe worried and a little nervous but very happy she was fulfilling a dream. I had no idea what to expect. The first few weeks of practice were great she loved it and loved her new high school 'mom & dad'. The following weeks became more and more crazy up until the two weeks prior to opening night when they were leaving school 20 minutes early and practicing til 6-6:30 pm. It made for looong days and lots of headaches (Ashtyn's)

When costumes were being chosen, they specified a drop waist or pinafore dress that falls below the knee as the desired style. We went to Hale Center Theater to rent one and ended up with 2 choices from them. I remembered I had 2 options from my childhood closet that might work.

I was thrilled when they picked my dress.

This was a dress mom had purchased on her trip to San Fransisco at the Gunnie Sack outlet. It was a huge deal to a 7 year old me. Mom made the trip with Wendy Deppe to visit dad while he was working on his masters degree at CAL Berkley. The dresses were beautiful but mostly they were from San Fransisco! I felt so fancy.

Me in the second grade.
I've seen a few people this past Halloween who have pictures of their childhood costumes and then pictures of their children in the same/similar costumes. I thought that was such a cute idea, and this may not be Halloween costumes, but still nostalgic.

Ashtyn in the 5th grade.

Here is her main speaking part with a little part in the song at the end.
This was the last night and I was not sitting in the best part to video, but I thought it was her best performance.

A short clip from Wells Fargo Wagon

And the Finale

Both Ashtyn and I really appreciated all the friends and family who came to watch. It really meant a lot that so many would come and support her and the rest of the show.

AND even though I missed out on the wives trip to Notre Dame I was so glad I stayed and was there to support her and watch each performance.

Jacob's Eating Progress

2010-11-11T11:25:00.002-07:00

A while back I posted this and if you would have asked me then, where I thought we would be by November I would have thought/hoped to have Jacob eating every meal with us.

Unfortunately not quite, BUT we are making progress. We have been to Primary Children's Rehab for the past few months and went through a bunch of failures. Finally we found the magic process that works. It is very similar to Pavlov's dogs. You take a bite you get an M&M. On top of the candy, the key to the success is in the sticker chart. We make 6-12 circles, depending on how new the food is and if he accepts the bite he gets the sticker if he refuses he gets an X. He is very adamant that he does NOT want an X. The other key is he gets 2 chances. If he refuses the first time he gets another chance, the second he get the X no matter what. In the following video he gags the first one, but then he is just fine. Some of the ticks (like patting his mouth, shuttering, rocking and gagging) that he started with are slowly diminishing. He does shutter towards the end.

I try to incorporate other foods as well and slowly try to remove the candy aspect. So here he is eating applesauce (another non preferred food) with out using the candy. It is interesting to watch him start with touching, licking, little taste, closing his eyes, and then big bites. Which proves it is all behavior and he is overcoming it. s..l..o..w..l..y...

We are slowly phasing out the candy and he ate a peanut butter and jam sandwich the other day without candy and then while at Olive Garden he ate a large serving (size of his fist) of shells and alfredo. And he even ate a 4 piece chicken nugget happy meal. (I had to peel off the breading/crunchy stuff) but he ate it. Mostly gagged on it but ate it nonetheless. He still prefers and asks for oatmeal, granola bar or pop tart every meal but there is progress....

Si yo tuviera un dragon

2010-11-10T06:15:00.000-07:00

A teacher commented how everyone thinks their child is the smartest child in the world.
Well, I ask, how many 3 year olds read themselves to sleep in English AND Spanish....?

Consistency

2010-11-09T06:37:00.000-07:00

Every night, Jay comes home to me (I'm usually already in bed) and I watch this.

He diligently reads scriptures or lessons or something of inspiration before I get his full attention. Sometimes I read with him, sometimes I've already read so I just bug him, sometimes I play with his phone, sometimes I sleep. But mostly I am NOT consistent.
One of the many reasons I married him.
He is my anchor.

All I want for Christmas...

2010-11-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

Alayna finally had her dad pull her snaggle tooth. Had I thought it would stick around so long She could have been Nanny McPhee for Halloween and then it even hung on til last saturday. She said it was time because of the boy she saw that had his big tooth growing in and the baby tooth still hanging. She didn't want that to happen to her. Alayna asked Ashtyn to write a note to the tooth fairy.

It worked! The tooth fairy left her tooth so she could take it for 'Show & Teach'.
She was so excited the tooth fairy listened. She asked Jay pull her other front tooth. Then spent the rest of the day writing this letter and making the tooth fairy a home.

(Note the tooth equipment at the top.)
Dear tooth fairy, please stay in my home I made for you so I will see you. I promise I will not tell anybody, anyone about your magic or any thing like that because I would not do any thing like that to my friends. Check on the back of the paper.

The whole thing is about, I want to be your friend. I even will give your whole tooth fairy family of extended family counting the queen, maybe three pieces of bread. Counting my tooth.
(When I asked about the bread she told me that they grind bones to make bread and a tooth is a bone?? Duh? I guess?)

She had another little note promising to "ceep my dog owt" and directing the fairy to the jewelry box for safety and protection.

It was so obvious when she was showing me everything in the house how excited she was for this fairy friendship. The house included a tv, dining set with a little cake, a bed, a play area with a teeter toter and more. She showed me how she was going to play on the teeter toter with her. She asked if I had wanted to be friends with the tooth fairy when I was little. I could tell her little mind was going a million miles an hour dreaming all things fairy.

The tooth fairy left her this itty bitty note. It is addressed to Alayna, you just can't see it in the picture.

(He must be a darn cute tooth fairy, wink wink)

Worst saturday ever!

2010-11-07T15:37:00.005-07:00

Most games Jacob runs up and down the stairs at least 3,253 times

This Saturday's game...

Kind of looks like what was happening on the field, it was that bad....

*Jamie W. is always so patient to have Jacob bouncing up
and down the stairs, yelling for dad, dropping/throwing
toys and taking a nap on the step beside her.
Thanks for the pics.

The invention of Angry Birds

2010-11-05T06:32:00.000-06:00

A while back Jay was introduced to a 'game' by Morgan Scalley. He put it on his I phone and played it with the kids, played it while watching tv, and even in the most embarrassing of places I won't mention. It became a fight who would play next so he put it on his I pad so turns could be taken. It quickly became an addiction to everyone in the family....except me. I just don't get into many V-games. If you don't know angry birds give it a look-see below.

When the addiction was extending to every time we got in the car then brought into the house, ignoring the dinner call and turning into fights of whose turn it was (including Jay). Even Jacob getting mad because he wanted to sling the bird I banned it from the house. No one was allowed to play it again! No more theme music, No more snorting pigs or heeh heehs....

(I know, I am such a mean mom)

They say invention is the mother of necessity.....

Alayna woke up early and made herself her own version of Angry Birds with creative little paper birds that geniusly opened and cute little pigs.
She will be a great inventor.

PT Conference update

2010-11-04T17:25:00.006-06:00

My emotions were so high and why this day and they decided to come in the form of tears, tears and more tears (Sorry Em for crying to you) But the comments and advice was exactly what I needed. (Josie, I wish you lived by me and not just so you could tend Jacob) So as predicted (Thanks Lindsey) My emotions have settled.
This has nothing to do with Alayna or her education. Yes, Teacher can be negative but the world is full of negative people and learning to deal with them is part of growing up. When I ask Alayna about school it never seems to be an issue. For example the day I had issues I asked if she thought Teacher was a little ornery? She matter of factly said "Well, we had a lot going on today she really needed to get everything done." A good reminder for me. It takes a LOT to teach 24 6 year olds.
Because I do AR I know that Alayna is reading at the highest level in the class. There is 1 other little boy a level behind her but she is the top reader. She is very intelligent and isn't missing a beat....

With that said here is how PT conferences went...

Teacher: How are you?
Me: (Knowing the second my mouth opens a hoarse scratchy germ ridden voice would blast I say)I have had an awful head cold, darn Alayna (since she had just missed 2 days this past week being sick and gave it to me)
Teacher: Yeah? Well I have 25 of those little monsters. When I get sick I always listen to see who sounds just like me and I am like You, You are the little monster that got me sick.

We proceed to have an encouraging conversation about Alayna and where she is in school. She earned all Es and is doing very well socially. She confirms she is very deliberate in what she does and thoughtful beyond her years.

After the 15 minutes, I stand up, ready to go and say
Me: "Oh and about the other day...."
Teacher: "About your unruly child"
Me: I am sorry...
Teacher: Well...(Then proceeds to tell me how it went down) He announced that he was going to the library and I said that's fine but you are NOT going to take that noisy toy with you. You have to leave it here and He said NO! and I said Yes you have to leave it hear, and he yelled back NO! I'm going to the library and I told him he couldn't and that is when Teacher B stepped in and said she was headed to the library and would take him and keep the toy. *huff*
At this point I remind her that I had warned her and if it was too much she could find another volunteer. I also told her that each wed. morning I specifically talk to Jacob about what is expected of him, how he will behave and what he will be doing. BUT he is three and his memory is about that of a flea.
She assured me that it was just fine to bring him with me but from now on she would just lock him in the classroom.....

For a second my mind had this image of the gingerbread house witch from Hansel and Gretel rubbing her hands together, licking her lips "Yes, yes, we can just lock him in the classroom...."
Back to reality I smiled and said great we will see you wednesday!

**For the record I DO NOT believe Teacher is a witch, mean spirited, or awful educator. I may just be a little dramatic, a LOT hormonal and over protective. Alayna is receiving a great education and growing in leaps and bounds since starting school.

A little love for the Utes.

2010-11-04T06:23:00.001-06:00

Utah can make BCS push against Air Force, TCU, Notre Dame - Austin Murphy - SI.com

Really?!? He is 3!

2010-11-03T12:33:00.006-06:00

You know when you have one of 'those' days.
This morning was one of those days.

I help in Alayna's classroom wednesday mornings
changing out AR/bob books
and taking the kids to test them in the library.
I was a little nervous to take on what seemed to be a big commitment but
I have loved being in Alayna's class and
getting a feel for her friends and teacher.

I was very specific when I was asked to help that I would have to bring my very loud, very active 3 year old who doesn't sit still. I was told oh that is no problem, we have siblings all the time. I told her Jacob is not like other siblings and he might be disruptive but I would try my best to keep him under control.

Each week Jacob and I talk about what is expected of him and how to behave in Teacher's classroom. Then we pack a back pack with a pop tart and a few trains or trucks.

This week we brought along this little set.

Within minutes of arriving in the classroom I could tell Teacher was not in a good mood. Every few seconds "FIRST GRADERS! You are too noisy!" Bark after bark. They hadn't been in class 30 minutes and she had one little gal pulling her 3rd (of 4) cards. I was getting a little irked. You couldn't hear a pin drop, but it was not much more than breathing and a whisper here and there.

Side note: Talking to another parent at the first grade homework night she said her husband really liked Teacher's energy and maybe they should have had their daughter in Teacher's class. I told her that it was interesting because I had been thinking how she is so different(meaning enthusiastic, fun, happy, smiling) tonight with the parents than what I see in class (the 45 minutes I am there once a week)

As I was sorting books and folders getting ready to leave Jacob let out a couple "choo choos". She let me know that was definitely not acceptable today. Neither was touching the chart stand.
Teacher had told me previously I could leave him in the classroom while I went to the library. But I knew today was not the day to leave him there. So to the library we went with his trains. As I start testing (1st graders need the tests read to them) I turned my back and Jacob slipped out and went back to class. I prayed he would be quiet. Not minutes later Jacob shows up in the library with the look of "I'm in trouble" so I made him sit on the chair next to me. He was upset then cried through the last 2 testers. Frustrated I went back to class to record scores and switch out books. He couldn't find his train set. I suspected Teacher had taken it away. I had Jacob look at books while I finished up. I didn't want to bother Teacher while she was working with a student, so I quietly asked Alayna if she knew where the train was. Her neighbor said Teacher B had it. Surprised, we left and went to Teacher B. She said Teacher and Jacob were 'fighting' and 'yelling' over it so Teacher B had to step in. She took Jacob to the Library and kept the toy.
MORTIFIED! EMBARRASSED!
Really? Yelling? I apologized. Teacher B was understanding and reminded me Teacher has no kids. But still... I left and the tears came unstoppably by the time I got to the sidewalk. Why didn't Teacher say anything? Why didn't she pull me aside and say Jacob was too noisy with his toy so Teacher B took it? Why didn't she say it was ok to bring him when I am feeling it's not? Why did she get upset when a 6 year was playing(quietly fidgeting) with her bracelet? Seriously lighten up! Why did she choose 1st grade? Why was she so ornery today? Why did I agree to do the testing when I knew I would have to bring Jacob?

I wasn't sure if I was crying because I was embarrassed or if it was because I was mad. (Mostly likely it was because I haven't slept for 3 nights with this stupid head cold). As I watched Jacob run to the car zigzagging and around in circles I asked do I really want to bridle Jacob's energy? Yes some days, but no not really. I love his energy and love for life. I don't want him to be docile, complacent or resigned. He is going to want to touch everything and see what is in every box. Because he is 3!

Then my mind started really going. Worrying about Alayna and the negativity in the classroom. I have felt it before but today was especially negative from the minute I walked in. I don't want that be Alayna's environment for 7.5 hours a day. I have to remind myself she is a resilient and bright little girl who really doesn't allow anyone to make up her mind..So I am not too worried, but still so bugged.

Now a request for advice....
Parent Teacher Conferences are tomorrow.
Do I bring this up?
Am I being too sensitive?

This is Jacob....Now you see him....

Now you don't. He is fast huh?

Sick Day

2010-11-03T06:02:00.001-06:00

This is the 3rd couch and the 4th nap of the day. When your child becomes narcoleptic you know they don't feel good

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T06:11:00.000-06:00

Alayna the icy eskimo

Jacob the spooky ghost

Ashtyn the gypsy fortune teller

The School Parade

Breakfast with a Witch at Gardner Village

The witches were so cute.

The girls thought this blue & white witch was soooo pretty, I love the way Alayna is looking at her.

For a buffet breakfast and a show, I thought it was worth the $10 and the girls loved having a day out with the girls. (meaning no Jacob running around crazy getting lost)

We spent the night at Emily's. Jacob was in heaven. He got to go to Chads dealership and check out the fork lifts, then went to get the razor ride it while we went trick or treating. He didn't even want to get out most of the time for the candy, he was happy as a clam sitting and talking about riding in the razor.
The girls were excited to be able to go to her trunk or treat. (We missed ours last week)
Ashtyn was worried about missing out in our neighborhood... the scones and doughnuts, friends etc... but we made some homemade doughnuts and hit the spooky houses and got quite the load of candy. At the end of the night Ashtyn said it was the best Halloween EVER!
To top it off Utah beat Air Force!
Unfortunately we forgot Alayna's costume AND I left my camera at the High School. Emily let her borrow Kennedy's witch costume from last year but so sad I didn't get any pictures of Alayna in her short and tight (and a little street walkerish) witch costume.
We got a few on Emily's phone and when I get them I will add them.

It's all in the spoons.....

2010-10-29T06:27:00.000-06:00

Lemme tell ya....

I have so far to go when it comes to motherhood. I have posted this quote before but there is nothing that defines Jacob better....

Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable. --Plato

Scenario 1: I am doing great! I bought Jacob a $3 toy tractor and told him he had to earn it. We talked about the jobs he would do. We got home I put the groceries on the counter and started to check my email when I hear the silverware. Without any instruction, he had opened the dishwasher and started putting the silverware in a perfect manner. Matching large and small forks and spoons even putting the measuring spoons where they belong. Beaming I asked what are you doing. "Earning my tractor" He proceeded to take the laundry basket (of dirty clothes before I helped him with the right basket) upstairs to sort and put away. He even remembered we talked about washing the walls and taking out the garbage. Pretty darn good for 3 bucks and 3 years old.

Scenario 2:
"Before we can go to the school PTA auction, Jacob you need to put the silverware away". Great! We get to the auction and I loose Jacob. Not the usual lost where I find him a few minutes later, I mean alert the principal because it has been what seems to be an eternity. I had been told by friend that he had run outside and tripped in the parking lot and she had corralled him back in but he just went running. Luckily we found him shortly after. He knew he was in BIG trouble. We came home and he had to wear his "buckles" (leash) and stay by my side for the rest of the night.

I know that Jacob gets wound up at night.
He gets wilder, crazier and faster.
And this particular night he was the Tasmanian devil on crack
I remembered I had asked him to put away the silverware.....
When I opened the drawer and saw this....

The meas. utensils at the top should be in the far right bin, the character utensils should be at the top and the rest in their own slot...

So I have decided to use this as my new way of knowing if it is safe to leave the house. Have him put the silverware away. If it is done organized, great! Head off to the mall (or in all reality Target / Wally world) If it looks like the above....lock all the doors, take an Ibuprofen, head to the padded room.

How to Clean Your House by Connie Kern

2010-10-28T06:18:00.001-06:00

Step 1: Pick a bouquet of flowers from your yard, arrange them in a vase from your cupboard and place them in the most looked upon room of the house.
Step 2: With a beautiful bouquet of flowers you will get the motivation to clean and whatever is missed or not cleaned will be overshadowed and go unnoticed by the beautiful bouquet.

Thanks mom! I cleaned my house in all of 10 minutes today!

Ashtyn's Piano Recital

2010-10-27T06:28:00.000-06:00

Wheeler Farm

2010-10-26T06:43:00.000-06:00

Thursdays have turned into our family home evening night, since that is the only day Jay is done at 5:30pm. This particular Thursday we went to Wheeler Farm to get some pumpkins. I had originally planned to do it without him but when we figured out it would work for him to come everyone was excited. I used going to see the tractors on Jacob as a 'dangling carrot' for 4 days straight. It worked like a charm, he would stop crying, pitching a fit and even eat his food at any mention of going to the farm to ride on the tractors.

So the first thing was to find the tractors......
This is my favorite picture, He caught a glimpse and he was off happily screaming "tractor, tractor, I found the tractor!"

Can you see the happiness of the little guy getting his tractor ride? It was all he could do to stop examining the tractor and trailer and take a picture.

Why are pigs tails curly? They are pretty darn cute. But the turkey's snood and wattle that serve little to no purpose are so darn ugly....but fascinating?

The corn/hay bale maze.

and finally the pumpkins....I am so glad Jay was able to come see how darn cute these little monkeys are. Jacob left on cloud nine telling us all about his tractor ride.
I know they wont always be this little and innocent. Lovin life, pumkins and tractors. I love that I have this now and can always remember....

I really love your peaches...

2010-10-24T20:27:00.004-06:00

Name that tune....?

The last 5 years I have had grand plans to can everything thing harvestable

but like all the years prior it didn't happen.

I got a box of peaches this year and since i didn't can them we peeled them and froze them.
Jay LOVES (like why don't you marry one) smoothies. He alone could keep Jamba Juice (which he still calls Zuka Juice) and Roxberry in business
And since the texture of the peaches was a little...smack smack....ehh, they were perfect for freezing.
Alayna and Jacob were great helpers peeling them and all of them (meaning all 3 monkeys) got in on the slicing. (We didn't use the one Jacob cut/smashed with a butter knife)

Ramblings of a stay at home mom.....

2010-10-06T06:38:00.000-06:00

My parents came down last weekend. Mom stayed with me for the week, which was wonderful. The kids were thrilled to have her here. One day Emily and Jessica came for lunch and a project. Another day I took her up Big Cotttonwood Canyon to see the gorgeous changing leaves. I cant believe I forgot my camera. Since she has left, Jacob keeps asking when she is coming again. We are all looking forward to another visit.

Dad went to church with us on Sunday and while in sunday school the conversation was brought up about the 'entitled' generation and the upcoming 'me' generation. How so many kids just want what they want now and when I was growing up We would have never been given a wii for Christmas and Kids now don't want to climb the ladder they just want to have a great easy job with out a lot of work. Finally after listening to everything that is wrong about this generation I asked Where did it go wrong? Many of the class members have children of 'that generation' so shouldn't they know how to fix it? As a mother of 3 young kids what am I to do to prevent that entitlement? This has been a question I have had for years now and I have yet to have been given a black and white answer. I could go on forever on this topic. I need ways to teach my kids to work. I would love for them to be involved in 4H or something similar. Where hard work is rewarded. (Raise a sheep, get a ribbon at the fair, sell it and earn money for school clothes?) Or a family business where they are responsible for the production?

Mom and I were talking and she said that there is a lot of talk on Oprah, and other shows about education and She wondered why there wasn't a school for mothers? I wonder the same thing. Kelly Ripa has joked before about the encyclopedia of a manual that came with their big screen tv but when handed her first child there was nothing.
A school for mothers.... A formal education to teach patience. I would love to take a couple practice tests on patience where if I lose it the 'final grade' isn't really affected. A class on economical but gourmet cooking, taxes, scheduling, etc... I mean even nurses practice before the give their first poke.

As a young mother in the 'trenches' you don't always see the big picture? A class on perspective would be great too....

Parenting baby steps sometimes go unrecognized. Dad does a good job pointing out the little successes that we have here at the Hill house. And it is a good thing. I think maybe he recognizes it because he is a teacher and a good teacher points out the successes.
Sunday morning Jacob woke up and the first thing he asked was if Grandma was awake and that she needed her key. With the way he was so adamant I wondered if he had slept well all night worrying about it. He told me he had put it in the little garbage can. I started to freak out a little. Checking his trash can, the 2 in the basement (where he once threw the wii remotes away... luckily my sister in law caught them before we took out the trash!) and went back up stairs to Jacob. He knew he was in trouble and was running around looking for it. I asked him one more time where it was and he said "Um its in my purse" and in his 'purse'(bike handle bag) were cars and the little garbage can from his garbage truck with the key inside.
Dad pointed out that he understood the importance of the key and knew that Grandma needed it. He was determined to find it and was truly sorry for taking it. He is very sensitive to Grandma and her needs. As I look back on it, I am amazed at the way the little brains of children work. How they can go from not knowing to understanding so much. Children do know right from wrong. Jacob is growing and learning so much each day and I appreciate my Dad pointing out those little triumphs.

Circus, Circus

2010-10-02T06:18:00.000-06:00

About 6 years ago we took Ashtyn to the circus. Both Jay and I were so excited because we had never been ourselves. So we get there and I still to this day can't put my finger on it but it was just......
I kind of think part of it was the 3 rings thing...an insane amount of sensory stimulation. Along with the constant vendors in the aisles. It was a little more 'edgy' than I expected and a little more bizarre. Both Jay and I left saying "oh, that. was. a. little. different. Not quite like Dumbo?
I saw that it is new and improved and the reviews are great.
Funny thing though, Emily and Chad took Kennedy last year and had the same reaction...."Oh, that was.....??"

So instead of forking over a large sum of money to see the greatest show on earth, we just checked out the free parade....

IT WAS AWESOME! WELL WORTH IT!

I love when toddlers wave to parade people...
...Like the are the only one in the whole crowd

Then there were the Elephants!
Isn't that the whole reason you go to the Circus is to see these big guys walk trunk to tail?

Circus quota fulfilled....
One day, maybe I will not deprive my children of the circus, but this was a pretty great show. Not to mention, Jacob attention span was exactly that of the length of the parade.
(under 10 mins)

Kate and Katie

2010-09-30T19:57:00.004-06:00

Alayna and her friends found and caught 2 katydids. She has taken the responsibility to tend them very seriously.

Changing their food water and cleaning out the ice-cream bucket house.
Surprisingly for a bug they make a big gross mess.

It was very entertaining to watch Alayna's friend jumping and screaming as Alayna was transferring and touching them. They almost lost one...but 'luckily' was recaptured.
It will be interesting to see how long before they are set free or funeral arrangements made...

Thomas the Tank Engine

2010-09-26T06:47:00.000-06:00

At the end of May, we went up to Heber to see Thomas the Tank.
Jacob was so excited and still talks about it.
I uploaded some pics shortly after but guess I didn't publish them.
It is so fun to watch your kids be so passionate about something,
even if/when it is not what you thought the should/would be excited for.

A coaches life....

2010-09-24T05:14:00.001-06:00

NEWS FLASH:
Division 1 football coaches have CRAZY SCHEDULES!

I want to give Jay props for all he does.
Of course the 5:30am starts and 10:30pm end of day whistle is amazing enough
BUT when you fly out Friday and return post game Saturday to crawl into bed after a flight with tired, some 300+lbs, some stinky boys and coaches at 2am THEN set your alarm for 6am to get film graded before having to go to Stake Conference with 6 kids (mine and my sister's 3 very good kids). Including helping to coordinate getting the chairs set up and taken down. Check back home, take a 18 minute nap and head back to the office til 10:30pm and be back up at 5:30am Monday with energy and enthusiasm.
It just makes me exhausted thinking and typing it...
He.Is.Amazing.
This allows me to stay home and be a mom to 3 little monkeys jumping on the bed.
Some days are harder than others and it breaks his heart when Jacob doesn't want to go to him because it has been days since he has seen him (awake) and when he does see him sometimes it is just for a few minutes.
Ashtyn would do the same thing for about 3 years as a toddler.
When football season came around she would get 'mad' at Jay and would take her time warming up to him when he was home.

Some nights are hard as I make it through tantrums, homework, dinner, practicing, carpools, budgeting, grocery shopping, staying on top of oil and air filters...the list could go on and on.

But knowing that Jay loves me and his family so much, he is doing what he loves and I get to stay home with my children in a comfortable home is pretty great.
Thanks Babe! I hope I never take you for granted, not for one second!

I think you are perfect!

Take me to Mars....

2010-09-22T05:52:00.000-06:00

Bruno Mars that is....

Chelsea was one of the youth Jay and I taught in Sunday School when we first moved here.

We loved that calling!

Chelsea (and the rest of her family) are hilarious!

So it didn't surprise me that I was laughing out loud every time I read her blog.
Recently she wrote this post.

I had heard the song 'Just the way you are' a time or two before....

....but it took her post for me to download it (and every other Bruno Mars song on itunes) and start playing over and over belting out the words to my girls dismay.

I even went to lunch with Jay that week and told him Thanks for the song....
I like to pretend that Jay wrote it for me.

So Mr. Bruno I believe some of those royalties should be mailed in certified cashiers check to Miss Chelsea Chamberlain @ Chelsea's Psycho Babble.com. And Chels (I can call you that right?) Thanks for the kicks and giggles!

And take a breathe.....(part 2)

2010-09-13T15:38:00.011-06:00

A short day after the 4th of July, we headed to lake powell for the Hill family reunion. Last year was my first L.P. experience. Love that place! Hiking, water, sun, Frisbee golf, cliff jumping,relaxing... Click to see this year's slideshow
I even got up surfing behind the boat!! Wahoo!!
With a little coaxing we left a day early (sunday) so I could be to girls camp first thing monday morning. Skits, zumba, pranks, hiking, canoeing, singing, testimonies. There is no place like camp. And again bff Amy documented it with great pics so I will just link there.

Once home from girls camp we had just a few days left before Jay had to be back to work. We took a quick camping trip to pineview reservoir where the Omans and Rodebush Family met us for boating and dinner. I wish we could have done that at least one more time this year! I even got up on the wakeboard FINALLY! Who takes 31 years to do that?!? Yay for me!

Holding Jess and Anthony's Liam (so cute)

Alayna: "Hey Kennedy, wouldn't it be funny if I just let go fell off on purpose....." Then she did. That girl loves to find out "what it would be like"....Remember this? we are going to need some prayers....

With Jay back to work we headed up to the cabin for the Plant family reunion.... I was a little bummed Jay wouldn't be able to be there for the reunion but had moved on to survival mode without him...

To his surprise He was given the weekend off and surprised us with a weekend visit. I think he mostly wanted to go fishing again! That is an extra large sink that doesn't do justice to the size of those fish!

I was just excited he was going to be there for our private Zumba Party

That was a sight! So fun!

Monday we went into Yellowstone Park and took turns driving Dad's Old car, and went for an almost 5 mile hike. Jacob even hiked almost the whole way....There were a few frowns and a point where he just had to sit down and take a break. But did a great job hiking. I carried him a few times but I would just pick him up and we would count to ten and then he would walk again.

We love Chelsie and it was wonderful to have her come with us for the week. She was so much help. The hike was to this lake and all the kids were so excited because it was warm...When they said that I said perfect place for leeches which didn't stop any of them from getting in....... They were especially infatuated with the lily pads and flowers.

When Josie walked out with a leech everyone ran out and EVERYONE had multiple leeches on them. An adventure they will never forget. It was so gorgeous and as we were pulling off the leeches we could hear elk calling. So fun!

We got home and had just enough time before school started to go school shopping, have a parade of homes date with Ashtyn and parties.

We had a back to school/end of summer bash with LOTS of girls.

Again Chelsie helped me manage the chaos.
Bonus points for Ashtyn telling me it was the 'best party ever!'

Then Jacob turned 3!
He is potty trained, no sippy cups and with the first 3 presents open he threw away one of his binkies and is binkie free. He snuggled all his new toys in bed instead of his binkies, a few nights and naps with tears but overall worked just as planned.

My baby is not such a baby (sniff sniff)

And now we are off and running with me playing soccer, the girls in dance, piano, play practice, achievement days, friends, helping in Alaynas class, feeding therapy, YWs, more play practice, tending kids, and........

UTAH FOOTBALL!