We're Back!!

Oh my gosh, it really is the happiest place on earth. Coming home was bittersweet, but we WILL be going back to Disneyland. We had so much fun! I have around 500 pictures, and I know I can't share them all, but you'll get to see my favorites! Even though Josh and I had never been to Disneyland, there is something magical about watching it through the eye's of your children. For J.D., it was fun and it was magical to some degree, but nothing compared to what it was for Tyson and Piper. Tyson was absolutely beside himself the entire time. There were lots of times that I would get choked up, just watching the joy on my kids faces. I am so glad that we had the opportunity to do this. We made so many great memories. I will be sharing lots of pictures throughout the rest of the week! I just have to show you how cute my kids were!! But, for now, here is a teaser! I'm sooooo tired and need to go to bed! See you tomorrow!

And We're Off

Be back next week! Miss us while we're gone!

Random Ramblings

Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, MOM!!! There are day's when I swear, that if I hear the word, MOM, one more time I am going to abandon ship!! Tyson is in a phase of saying, MOM, constantly! That and he hits me every time he needs something, "Mom, I need juice," hits me in the leg. "Mom, I need a fruit snack," whacks me on the back. "Mom, I play pbskids.org," hits me in the shoulder. AAAAHHHHHH!!

J.D. has been sick and not very happy. He had a melt down today at soccer practice. That's embarrassing, even though every kid does it. It's so hard when they don't feel good. The wind has been blowing and I shouldn't have even had him outside, but what do you do? The wind always blows in Ivins.

Piper, aka Evil Troll, has been her evil self. Lot' s of laughs and fun though! Had to have a plumber come out and snake my toilet, because it kept backing up. Not just a little, but every time we used it, it would need a plunger. A toothbrush and a battery! Yeah!! But dang, she's cute! I mean, stinkin' adorable and cute. I love the way she lights up when she see's me and how she is so snugly and lovie! All my kids have been snugglers and for that I am grateful. J.D. still likes to snuggle, although he's getting much to big. The kids a tank!

Saturday, we are leaving for DISNEYLAND! I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. My kids are unbelievably excited! Only 2 more nights in our beds until we can leave and go the Happiest Place on Earth!

Had a great activity tonight with the YW. We took them to the temple and had a great guest speaker talk to them about their individual worth and divine nature. Then we took pictures of them in front of the temple and had them write nice things about each other on a piece of scrapbook paper. It turned out really good. The temple is so beautiful!! It is a happy place and somewhere, I need to go more often. A different season of life, I suppose.

Just random ramblings and thoughts! Sorry, there is no pictures, but we all have those day's. It's rare that I don't take a picture of my kids at least once during the day. They change so swiftly and I want these day's to last forever. Beautiful, amazing little spirits. I love being their mom!

The Many Faces of Piper

They Dazzle Me

My Son, The Vampire

For those of you who don't know it, I am a tad bit obsessed with the Twilight series. Okay, not just a tad, but alot. I tend to get hooked on something and I jump on the bandwagon! I also have a crush on a fictional vampire, by the name of Edward, but it's okay, because he's fictional right??

So I went to Walmart at 12:00 a.m. this morning to get my copy of Twilight. I went with Mandee, Kris, Maggie, and Kim. We had a blast!! I'll try to post some of those pictures tomorrow, if I remember.

Anyway, J.D. know's about Twilight. He's seen my books around and every time the commercial comes on, I all but have a heart attack. I finally sat down to watch the movie, this afternoon as I folded the million batches of laundry that have piled up on my couch. J.D. had a friend over and they were in and out of the house and J.D., being the curious child that he is, started asking me questions about vampires. The first thing he said, was that vampires drink blood. So he and his friend start chasing Tyson around, trying to suck his blood. Imagine if you will, the squealing of a 4-year-old boy in my tiny little house. So in an effort to put an end to that little game, I told J.D. that the vampires on Twilight only drank animal blood. "Okay," they said, and disappeared outside to play. Tyson, meanwhile is standing at the screen door yelling, "hey, come suck my blood!" He thinks this is a great game. So, J.D. and his friend come back in about 10 minutes later and tell me that they sucked the blood out of a rabbit. NICE! They then proceeded to get a box, some string and some carrots from the fridge. They built a trap in the driveway, trying to catch a rabbit. About 30 minutes later, they came in and told me that they had sucked the blood out of a mountain lion. Now what?

J.D. had to tell Josh all about it and he told Nicole, my neighbor all about it! I'm betting money, that he is going to tell his primary teacher tomorrow!! That will make for some interesting conversation when I go to visit teach her this month. My son, the vegetarian vampire!!

Then tonight, I could hear Tyson mumbling in his sleep. So I went in and he was mumbling the word "vampire". GOOD GRIEF! They've never even seen the movie!! People are going to think that my child is going to grow up to be like a serial killer or something. Well, good night everyone. I'm off to devampire my house.

Pirate Island

Catching Up

What a crazy week we've had! Piper has been so sick and yesterday we found out that she has a double ear infection. She's doing really well considering all that is going on! Our spring break is this week and we have been trying to stay busy, doing something fun every day! Pile on a healthy dose of Young Women's and Alison's Pantry and you have my week in a nutshell. Scroll down and check our what's been going on in our world!!

New Bikes

People will probably think that Josh and I are crazy, but we bought the kids new bikes, just because they needed them. Well, J.D. was going to get one for his birthday, but I kinda backed Yukon over the top of Tyson's bike last week. It kind of necessitated the need for them. They are my sanity savers thought, J.D. rides his bike all day long! It's what he loves to do! They were so excited. I wanted to buy Piper a cute Radio Flyer bike, but it was $42.00 and Josh put his foot down. So she got a ball that was $2.50. It's just about as big as she is, but she was happy!!

The kids just had to ride them and after a few adjustment's they did! At 10:00 o'clock at night. Bet the neighbors loved that!! We only let them do it for about 10 minutes, but tomorrow should be a blast!! Yeah, hopefully I won't need to entertain tomorrow.

Cousins and Friends

Feeding The Ducks

For the first day of spring break, we headed out to Bloomington to feed the ducks! Always a blast and the kids love it! Grandpa came with us and had fun watching the kids. Tyson thought that since Piper was throwing rocks into the water, he could throw them. I had to keep getting after him. There are also tons of coy in the pond and once the ducks swam away they would surface for the left overs. It was a lot of fun!

Oooh Yucky!!

So gross, but yet so comical! Piper was eating pizza and I was eating some Mexican dip with chips. I was also making cookies! Piper got a hold of a handful of chocolate chips and set them on top of her hot pizza, which melted them into the pizza. Then she was stealing chips and dip off my plate and piling it on top of that! She then proceeded to squish it all in between her fingers and eat it! YUMMY!

3 Little Cowboys

Last week at preschool it was Western Week. The kids got to wear their cowboy clothes and had a blast making these fun hats and buckles! Aren't they stinkin' cute?

Giveaway at My Other Blog

Over on my other blog, we are having 5 FABULOUS GIVEAWAY'S! Go check it out. There are darling ties for little boys, a darling dress for little girls and a fun, fun tutu!!!! Also, we are giving away a Cansolidator from Shelf Reliance!

Consuming

That's my new word of the week, consuming! I have so many different things that are consuming my time and my energy. My calling in Young Women's is consuming so much of my time. I am the beehive advisor and am sort of the unofficial assistant camp advisor. It's weird and complicated, but I was asked and I said yes, because I AM CRAZY! I love Young Women's, but it is mentally and emotionally draining, and time CONSUMING! But I love it, most of the time!


Alison's Pantry is also consuming my life. So much work for so little pay! But hey, it buys the fun food and it builds up the food storage.

My other blog, Some of This and Some of That has been consuming a lot of my time this past week. We are having a huge giveaway next week and coordinating it has been a little crazy. Come check it out on Tuesday, it's gonna be awesome!!! Lot's of great prizes. My hobby has turned into a job!

My yard! UGH!! I love to be out and work in my yard. I find this strange satisfaction in growing things. I am working on my lawn and cleaning up the leavers that fall from all my neighbors trees! I NEED to work on the garden, and it's on my list. Again, consuming my time!

What would I do if all of these things, didn't consume my time? I'd kick my feet up and read a book! That's what I'd do. I'd find me a great series and read away my day. I'm a sucker for a good romance novel. A clean romance novel, anyway. I'm trying to stray outside of Harry Potter and Twilight. I love them, but oh my, it's time to move on and read something new.

Anyway, a random post about the things consuming my life. What's consuming yours?

Randomness

What happened to my little boy?

He's not so little anymore!! WAHHHHHH!!! Last Friday, I let J.D. ride his bike to school for the first time. I followed him down, only because he has to go through 2 crosswalks at the roundabout by my home. It's the main intersection in Ivins, the one 90 percent of people use to get out of town. He did great getting there. Although, I have him so scared to death of the roundabout, he was a little hesitant to cross. I took him and showed him how to use his new bike lock.

Well 3:30 came and I wasn't sure if I should go down to the school and hideout somewhere in case he needed me. I decided to let him do it on his own and he had 15 minutes before I would go looking for him. I walked out and looked down the street and saw him coming. The school is about 1/2 mile from our house, but it's a straight shot. I can see straight to the school. So I feel pretty safe about letting him do it, but the roundabout does scare me. Nobody pays attention and they hardly ever slow down.

It's fun to see your kids venture out and get some freedom!! WAHHHHHHHH!!!!

Things I Learned This Week

What a week! I have not the time to write about what a crazy week it has been. But here are the top 6 things I've learned this week.

1. Magic Erasers will take pen off of leather.
2. Dishwashers sound like a dying animal when they die.
3. A naked 1-year-old can escape from a house, in which all the doors are closed.
4. It is possible for a 4-year-old to break a dvd player, after only 4 day's of having it out of the box.
5. Home Depot has to order dishwashers. They don't have them in stock. Dang it.
6. It is possible for a 1-year-old to open a Tupperware container and dump it contents on the floor. Hence, this is why I have a bungee cord on my fridge. It's also why my vacuum is full of corn.

In case you haven't figured out yet, I am washing mountains of dishes every day :(... It's so tragic. Piper is still running around naked, and if it was appropriate, I would put some dang hilarious pictures on my blog. But she's naked, hence, it's inappropriate. But their cute. Piper has had an AWESOME week of potty-training, though. She's pretty much doing it on her own. Only 1 accident in her big girl undies!! OH, HAPPY DAY! It was also Piper who drew all over the leather interior in my car with a pen. It was GRAND! And then, once I cleaned the seat and my door panel with a magic eraser, I had to do the whole interior. Thus, 3 magic erasers later, my car SPARKLES! Also, did you know that 1-year-old babies can rip off the face of a drawer?? It's been a week to remember. It is the type of week that supports the fact that I ate 2 brownies for breakfast this morning! I hope next week is better.

Hugs

Sand Cove

We drove up to Sand cove today and let the kids just run around for a few hours. Mostly we skipped rocks and just walked. The boys had a blast. Piper slept through the whole thing!! Lucky girl, wish I could have gotten a nap. Josh was telling the boy's that Grandad Ward was the best rock skipper he had ever seen. He said he could skip rocks, no matter if they were flat or round. Any size rock would do. He said Grandad learned how to do it well, because he grew up fishing in the rivers in Idaho. Cool story. I told Josh he needs to write down all the stories that he remembers, so that we can preserve them for our kids and their kids.

Anyway, it was a great day. It was beautiful and I was with my family, what more could I ask for?

A tutu, big girl undies, and a haircut

That was Pipers day yesterday to sum it up. She got a new potty, cute big girl undies (who knew little girl underwear was so cute?), a haircut and she also got a fun tutu. What a big day for such a little girl. It's sad that she's growing up, but it's also a lot of fun to watch.

Her hair looks much better. She still won't keep barrettes in it, but at least it's out of her eyes.

I Love This Qoute

Make up your mind to be happy—even when you don’t have money, even when you don’t have a clear complexion, even when you don’t have the Nobel Prize. Some of the happiest people I know have none of these things the world insists are necessary for satisfaction and joy. Why are they happy? I suppose it is because they don’t listen very well. Or they listen too well—to the things their hearts tell them. They glory in the beauty of the earth. They glory in the rivers and the canyons and the call of the meadowlark. They glory in the love of their families, the stumbling steps of a toddler, the wise and tender smile of the elderly. They glory in honest labor. They glory in the scriptures. They glory in the presence of the Holy Ghost. One thing I know for certain: the time we have here goes by far too quickly. Don’t waste any more time sitting on the bench watching life pass you by.

Elder Joseph B. Worthlin

“Lessons Learned in the Journey of Life,” Ensign, Dec 2000, 7

**If you have time, you should click on the link and read this article! What an amazing man!**

Superpowers and Girlfriends

Lot's of things happen at my house, that I never want to forget. But unfortunately, thanks to my forgetful mind, I forget things quickly. I really need to pull out the kids journals and write this stuff down.

Tyson has been obsessed with getting his "super powers". Every night he has been saying that he is going to get his powers while he sleeps. Some nights it is the power to scale walls and sling webs. Radioactive spiders? Do they live in my house?? Some nights it's the power to fly, or super strength. Radioactive house??? Anyway, yesterday he informed Josh and I that he had finally gotten his powers. His Bolt powers. Bolt powers, huh? He can run really fast and has a very scary bark, just so you know. My gosh he is cute! The boy can always make me smile :).

J.D. is obsessed with girls. I can remember liking a boy in the first grade. His name was Joey Russo, and I loved him. Well loved him as much as I could. I gave him a valentine. Anyway, J.D. talks about several little girls in his class, Holly, Maddie and Shaylee every single day. Apparently every day they try to kiss him. Oh my! What am I going to do when he tries to kiss them back? I'll tell you what I'm going to do, sit down, put my head between my knees and blow in a bag. The other day he used the Word Whammer to spell out I lowe You Maddie. He had to use a w, because he couldn't find the v. Super cute! The kid is to good-lookin' for his own good. High School's gonna be fun. Oh me, oh my!!

Piper is just as cute as ever. A stinker, if ever I saw one. She climbs on everything and throws her girlie temper tantrums if you tell her no. There really is a difference between boys and girls. It's amazing. She is obsessed with taking off all her clothes and her diaper. She's ready to potty train, but her mom is to lazy. I really need to get on it and get her a potty. No more diapers, what would that be like?? I've been buying diapers for 7 years. Gotta convince Josh that it's time for another baby.

I am so grateful for my children. For the comical relief they provide and for their sweet little spirits. They are truly amazing kids and I love them beyond any earthly comprehension.

Marysvale weekend

We spent Valentine's day in Marysvale hanging out. We had fun playing with Sherry and Austin's kids, playing in the snow and just hanging out. Saturday night we got to go and hang out with Linsey and her kiddo's, but I forgot to take the camera with me :(. Here are a few pictures (I took over 60) of our weekend.
Lot's of deer everywhere. I took a ton of pictures, because the kids love to look at them.

Saturday morning Josh, Austin, and I took J.D. and Brannigan out shooting. Had to shoot my new baby little hand gun. So much fun!!

Sunday afternoon we went up the mountain to play in the snow! The kids had a lot of fun just playing in it for a few minutes. That was all it took for them to get cold.

Tyson wanted to bring a puppy home so bad. He asked me to bring his backpack upstairs, when it was time to leave, so that he could put one in his backpack. Thanks alot to Uncle Austin for putting that idea in his head.

Leave me alone! I'm eating!!!

My sweet sister and Riyo baby!

Dixie Rock

We were on our way home from Marysvale today and as we drove by the Dixie rock, I told Josh, "I want to take the kids up there one of these days." So he pulled off the road and said let's go now. It was a lot of fun. We will defiently be going back.

Daddy & Piper. She has him wrapped around her finger.
Hey, wait for me J.D.

I did it!!!

What a good lookin' cowboy!

Puddle Jumpin'

We got a small reprieve from the rain for a few hours this afternoon and it was brisk, but nice outside and the sun was shining so we went for a walk! I let the kids jump in the puddles (aka a muddy river) and they had so much fun. Tyson and Piper were both soaked and J.D. had mud everywhere from where his bike tires were flipping it. I love moments like this that are simple and fun. I gave Tyson a piggy back and we were chasing each other the whole time. Piper just wandered and did her own thing, climbing on and off of the sidewalk and J.D. just rode his bike and chased Piper around.

Everyone enjoy the weekend and have a great Valentines day! We are off to Marysvale and I won't be back until Monday night, so I will post pictures of our fun weekend, when we get home!

Birthday Balloons

Maggie bought Josh these awesome balloons for his birthday. Piper and Tyson had a blast playing with them. The big one is a musical balloon. Piper enjoyed having them all to herself while Tyson was at school.

Happy Birthday to Josh

Yesterday was Josh's birthday. I kept meaning to post a little something about it, but the day got away from me. Am I a horrible wife or what? But I sure do love him!!! It wasn't much of a birthday. We went on a little date last night and went to Texas Roadhouse. He got on the saddle and they made a big deal out of it. Our waitress is a sweet girl who lives in our ward. Josh has been her family's hometeacher for 4 years or so. It was fun to get out together.

So I want to do something fun! I'm going to tell you 28 fun facts about Josh. He's gonna love this.

1. He is a wonderful husband and a father.

2. He is a a great big kid at heart.

3. He loves to camp, hunt and fish

4. He has a secret nickname, that was whispered in my ear on our wedding day, by one of his dad's oldest friends. That's all I can say about that.

5. He grew up across the street from the Carter's and they are still his best-friends.

6. Once Josh and Ammon layed in wheelbarrows full of water and got sunburned. I have pictures, but don't ask me why???

7. Josh loves to paintball and is really good at it because he has no fear.

8. Josh walked my sister down the aisle when she and Austin eloped to Las Vegas, just 4 weeks before we got married.

9. Josh had a dog named Gib, that was the COOLEST dog ever. He had to be put to sleep right before we were married.

10. The first person Josh told that I was his girlfriend, was his grandpa Marvin.

11. The longest girl that Josh ever dated, besides me was Sophia.

12. Josh has 3 sisters, Kris, Heather and Maggie.

13. Josh wants to shoot a bear and stuff it and put it in my living room. KEEP DREAMING, BABE!

14. Josh hates minivans with a passion.

15. If our house was on fire the first thing he would run for would be his guns.

16. Josh hates spaghetti.

17. Josh took a detour on the way to the hospital when I was in labor with J.D., so that he could go to Sconecutter. I was so mad at him!!

18. Josh told me he loved me when we were sitting on the couch at his parents home.

19. Josh loves Marysvale, more than I think I do. He keeps trying to get me to move there.

20. Josh has nicknamed all of our kids. Chubba, Tootie and Troll.

21. Josh carried my engagement ring in his pocket for 2 weeks and showed everyone it, before I even saw it. He was waiting for the right moment.

22. Josh is one of the hardest working guys I know. He goes out of his way to help anyone and everyone, even after putting in a 10+ hour day.

23. Josh is way self-conscious of his gray hair.

24. Josh is happiest when he is in the mountains.

25. Josh loves to eat chips and salsa.

26. Josh loves to hang out with his kids.

27. Josh loves to make fun at me, but it's all in fun and I know he loves me.

28. Josh is the sweetest and greatest guy I know. I love him so much!

Thanks for loving me all these years babe! I hope you had a great birthday and know how much you mean to me and to the kids. Thanks for all you do! 5 lbs. babe!