Cinco De Mayo

We had a delicious feast on Cinco De Mayo this year.  Cody picked up some carne asada at the mexican market in Mesquite on Saturday night.  We made salsa and guacamole, black beans and tortillas and margarita flavored crystal light.  I wasn't sure what to do for dessert so I made the topping for Kansas krunch and we called it fried ice cream.  Cayden did the chicken dance, Caleb serenaded us with his guitar and Kyle made a mess with his dinner.  Arriba!

Mother's Day 2013

Mother's Day this year was not a totally horrible, guilt ridden, crappy day!  Most years that has been how I have felt but this year was different for some reason.  Maybe it was because MY mom was here with us for the morning, or maybe it was because my children cooperated and got ready for church relatively well, or may it was because I didn't oversleep and had time to get ready and had time to say my prayers, or maybe it was because my husband always tries to take such good care of me on Mother's Day (and every other day of the year) or maybe it was because the speakers at church did not make me feel like crap listing all the things that mothers should be doing or maybe it was all the sugary treats.  And maybe it was all of those things combined but it was a good day nonetheless   Don and the boys gave me an Ipad mini on Saturday night so I could have it ready for church Sunday morning, Caleb made monster magic cookie bars aka "the debil", Cayden made me some cute projects at school and filled out a cute survey about me at Primary and Kyle made me a handprint flower in nursery.  I got a lovely nap and easy and tasty dinner and luckily Don did not have meetings this year like he did last year.  Ask me about that one sometime!  Connor came home and was pretty good and went to bed by 7:30-best gift he could have given me!  

NewYear's Eve 2011

We had a busy New Year's Eve at our house this year.We did not go to Provo at all for Christmas this year because Grandma and Granddaddy were out of town.  It was quite a relaxing 2 weeks but it is almost over and it seems like it has gone too fast.  We started the day with a walk around the block a few times with me pushing Kyle in the stroller and Don helping Cayden ride his new bike.  Cayden only rode the bike around 1 time and it was with Don holding him up the whole time but it was a definite improvement from before when he would not even get on a bike at all.  It took us a while to do our exercise but we did it. After our walk we cancelled it out by making sliders and fries for lunch.  The diets will start on Tuesday!  After lunch I cleaned out the fridge and Caleb had a friend come over.  They played video games a while and I went and took a nap with Kyle.  Don watched football and Cayden played in his room.  After I got up I went to the store for a few items and Don made spinach artichoke dip. 

We made hot dogs for dinner and homemade salsa and I made the devil cake-Texas Sheet Cake and Caleb made vanilla ice cream.  Caleb and Dylan went outside with Don and he taught them how to make a fire with flint and steel.  They roasted a few marshmellows too. 

Cayden kept playing with Legos.  This one is where the townspeople hung a bad guy for saying there were aliens coming.  A little dark I know but atleast imaginative. 

Laura and Taylor came by around 6 or so because they had no plans for the night. They played with Kyle and the other boys and were espcially good at entertaining them all.  We ate our snackies and then played Phase 10 and then In a Pickle. 

Taylor ran home to get some party hats and stuff for the "party".

After the games they enteretained each other by dancing with Cayden in his room and rough housing a bit. 

Tackling Cayden on the ground.

This was the do-si-do move.

This was the traditional blowing of horns and banging pots and pans on the front porch at midnight.  We also had some of those popper things too.  We woke the neighbors I am sure because 3 of our 4 close neighbors are older but nothing beat the cannon that was being shot off all evening long not by us but somewhere else close by.  Connor stayed over at Grandma's playing games with her and Aunt Dawna and Grandpa.  Even Aunt Dena came over there for a few rounds.  Connor called us at midnight and said that there was a fire across the way and from what we could see it was pretty big so me and the 5 kids piled into Taylor's jeep and drove to where it was.  It looked pretty big but was just in an arena and was not threatening any structures. After our midnight drive we went back home where Don was making fries for the girls and keeping Kyle while he was asleep.  The girls went home around 1ish and we got Caleb's friend home soon after.  Cayden and Caleb still had to shower though so bedtime did not happen until around 1:30.  They were a little harder to get up this morning for 11:00 church.

Even Kyle partied with us a bit until I was able to get him down for bed around 11:30.  I went back out to the front room just in time for the count down and to hear the spectacle that was my front porch.  Caleb and Dylan sounded like dying geese honking and Cayden screamed a very high note while banging his pans.  It was quite an entertaining evening.

Week in Review 12/26-1/1

Monday-On the day after Christmas, we slept in, did not get to breakfast, so we made sliders on my new indoor grill/griddle, ice cream in the new ice cream maker. Connor and Cayden spent the night at grandma's and so Caleb went over there around 9 to have pancakes with them. The kids love love love grandma's pancakes. We cleaned up some from the Christmas since we just the house go. Connor and Cody went to Mesquite with grandpa to clean another carpet. Later in the evening we watched The Adjustment Bureau.

Tuesday-We did some more cleaning up around the house. Caleb had Connor Waite over to play. Don and I left at 4 to go to Vegas for Kyle's sleep study.

Wednesday-After Don slept some from being gone all night he took Cody, Cayden and Caleb to Vegas to see The Muppet Movie.  They went to Aliante Station and had lunch in the food court and then went to the show.  I stayed home and mostly slept with Kyle.  In the evening Teri Waite and her girls came over to visit.  I played with the Kindle app on my IPhone and downloaded some books to read, washed all the blankets and clothes from the sleep study and then the boys all watched X-men that night.

Thursday-Don took Cody to Vegas to the airport and then went golfing with his boss. The kids had friends over-Molly, Kaili and Linnea, Connor Waite.  I made chicken salad for lunch and Caleb and Connor Waite made paninis.  Connor helped grandpa with some carpets.  I really wanted to bake cookies but instead I cleaned toilets and did laundry instead.  In the early evening the kids went next door to Molly's to have a hot dog/marshmellow roast and play games with the neighborhood kids.  

Friday-As  part of Connor's Christmas present from grandma and grandpa he got some roping lessons from Micah next door.  He had fun learning to rope.  Then he cleaned carpets with grandpa and played with a friend-Austin Leavitt.  We took Caleb and Cayden to Lion King in Las Vegas and grandma kept Kyle.  We also had dinner with Don's boss and another guy he works with and their wives.  Caleb was in desperate need of some new pants so we went to Kohl's on the way in.  Cayden had a sick stomach toward the end of the day and I pumped him full of ammodium and even a very special Zofran.  

Saturday-We started a our New Year's eve with a walk around the block and and Cayden attempted to ride his bike with alot of help from us pushing and pulling.  To counteract any good that we did walking we made sliders and fries when we got home.  More football was on of course.  I went to the store for a few party essentials and made a bunch of treats.  For our evening events see that post. 

Utah Trip June 25-July 5

The birthday bunch-grandma just can't make a normal face in pictures.

After a weeklong packing extravaganza-ok really an all nighter pulled by Cody to get ready to leave Logandale we left Sunday morning around 11 to drive to Utah.  Cody had so much crap that we had to take 2 cars to get it all up there and all of us.  Connor rode with Don and the other boys rode with me in the Suburban.  We stopped at Del Taco in Mesquite for Cody and Cayden and then Don got Connor and Caelb Popeye's.  Then we stopped at Sonic in St. George for me.  Cody had been getting sick for a few days and by the evening he had had enough of the coughing and so had we.  After we unloaded the cars a bit Don took him down to the Urgent Care at Riverwoods.  He got an antibiotic and some cough medicine.  Grandma had dinner made and we celebrated the June birthdays with a cake from Costco.

On Monday I picked up my mom from a doctor appointment and then we met Chris, Anne and Lexi at the mall for Chic Fil A.  We took home food for the kids which is so much easier than hauling them all there.  Anne and I did a bit of shopping in the maternity store and bought some new shoes at Payless-one for me, one for Cayden and then we headed home. Connor helped Grandma Penny in the yard plant some new plants.

On Tuesday Aunt Suzanna came up with Abby and Owie and the kids played.  Connor and Caleb helped paint the trim on Uncle Chris' house.  Su and I went to JCW's for burgers and shakes.  One of many visits during that trip.  Don had to get his windshield fixed.  He dropped off the car and then I picked him up.  We picked up the car a few hours later and then went to Smith's for some stuff for dinner.  We had steak, fried potatoes, beans, fruit and corn for dinner.  I think we went for frozen yogurt that evening.

On Wednesday, Don and Connor left to come back home.  Don thought he was going to have to go to Dallas but he ended up not having to.  Connor cleaned some windows at Mawmaw's before they left.  I think we went to JCW's again and then we had steak salad for dinner.  Cody started his new job at Jamba Juice.  Don and Connor saw a kid get hit on a bike just down the road from Grandma's.  Luckily they just saw  him flip up in the air not the actual impact.  It through Connor for a loop.  Don went to help and told Connor to go back to grandma's.  There were conflicting reports from the kids as to what happened but Julia and I ran down to the road and saw the kid lying on the grass.  At first I was worried that Don had hit him but I saw that Don was very calm and smiling and talking and his car looked fine so I knew that was not the case.  Just then the ambulance pulled up.  The kid was OK and coherent but probably broke his arm.  Don and the dad were able to give him a blessing before they took him.  He lived somewhere close and he was with his friends at the time so one of them went and got his parents.  I am so grateful that my husband has the priesthood and can use it.  Later in the afternoon Cody took Caleb to see Transformer's 3.

On Thursday we went to Pirate Island pizza-Chris was not feeling great.  Owie started running a fever on Wednesday so they did not come up.  After Pirate Island we went to Michael's to get some crafts for the kids to do.  Pirate Island has better food than Chuck E Cheese but it has less games and very limited prizes.  Cayden got the shaft on one of the games even though he "won" 125 tickets it barely gave him 75.  He ended up getting mostly tootsie rolls and a bouncy ball.  Woo hoo! 

On Friday we went to lunch at the mall again and then to see Cars 2. Caleb, Cayden and I moved over to Chris and Anne's because Laurel and Jim were coming in. 

On Saturday morning I went out to Suzanna's and we drove over to Lehi to pick up our Bountiful Basket stuff.  Mom came over to stay with the boys and Lexi until I got back.   I did not sleep very well Friday night and had an hour and half insomnia episode from 5-7so I was really tired.  We went up Grandma's around 4.  I drove Chris' car up there because Lexi' seat was in it.  Around 5 Jim drove me to Jamba to see Cody and get a smoothy then he drove me to Chris' to get my car and then I left to go and pick up Don and Connor from the airport.  After I picked them up we stopped at JCW's in Lehi.  Curse you grasshopper shakes and butterfinger shakes.

On Sunday we slept in, Anne and I went to WinCo  and then we all went up to grandma's for dinner.  I was not feeling good and later that night after we got Connor to bed Don and I went to the hospital in Provo and spent 5 hours in Labor and Delivery.  I was having lots of cramping and some bleeding and because I am RH negative I was worried because I had not had the Rhogam shot.  The baby was bouncing all over the place so much that we had to turn down the monitor.  We watched a not very nice episode of Married With Children and a few episodes of Deadliest Catch while we hung out.  We had to wait so long because of a blood test they were doing to make sure that there was no placental abruption. 

This is the hat that Connor bought with his tickets from Nickelcade.

 

At JCW's on 4th of July.

 Early Monday morning we left LandD around 4:30 and then went back to Chris'.  We slept until about 10:30 then got up.  The Flowers, the Pitts and Cody went swimming but my boys did not want to. We went to JCW's AGAIN and then back to grandma's.  I felt really tired, dizzy and had a bad headache from not enough sleep and the meds the hospital gave me.  I went to lay down in mom's room and Don took Caleb, Connor and Jessie to Nickelcade and Laurel took Cayden to the mall.   After everyone got back we headed back to Chris' house for the Driveway of Fire festivities. We had BBQ pork sandwiches, fruit salad, potatoe salad, chips, corn on the cob and a delightful holiday bundt cake made by Suey and homemade almond and mint chocolate chip ice cream.  The kids played Quiet ball and then Dodgeball.  Even Cayden played which we found very interesting because he usually hangs back. After dinner we spent 2 hours lighting fireworks.  The kids did snaps and sparklers and then Don, Connor and Jim lit off the myriad of fireworks that we had.  The kids also played with glowsticks and we partook of some patriotic popcorn made by Anne.  The weather was really odd again this year.  Last year it was so cold that we were wrapped in blankets at Suey's house while watching the fireworks.  This year it sprinkled on and off for about and hour or two then we got quite a bit of rain.  It was not cold though just a bit muggy.  We moved all the cars out of the driveway and the garage and most of us sat in the garage during the rain except our intrepid pyrotechnic crew who proceeded to entertain us.  It seemed that the entire world was doing fireworks and since Utah changed the law everyone was doing ones that shot up into the air.  Connor did pretty good until the end where he lost it.  Holidays are horribly hard for him and 4th of July is extremely overstimulating.  Don had to settle him a few times during the fireworks but after 2 hours of it he was in overload.  It took a bit to get him reigned in. 

Suey's very patriotic cake.

Baby bellies!  Only 3 weeks apart.  Almost 27 weeks and almost 24 weeks.

Cayden singing the national anthem while sparkling!

This is Don doing his slow motion run showing his mad fireworks darting skills.

Most of the pics of Cody were funny faces.

Firemarshall Connor

The audience.

The pile of fire.

Connor hollering the Star Spangled Banner along with Suey's patriotic playlist.

Caleb waiting for the action.

Playing with glowsticks.

 

 

 

 

 

Anne's tasty popcorn.

Another funny face.

The family-then the camera died.

Tuesday morning we got up and got packed up visited Chic Fil A for Cody and took it to him at work.  I had a picture of him but my camera is very messed up compliments of my kids so it did not save. (big frowny face)  We also visited JCW's for the LAST TIME and then we headed home.  We hit a couple of super great thunderstorms that through Connor for a loop and I think we visited every town between Provo and Logandale to use the facilities.  It was nice to get home even though that meant the heat.  I did not unpack fully for 3 days.  Thank you to the Hotel Humphreys and the Gessel Inn for hosting our family again.  We appreciate your hospitality.