Swimming!

We've been swimming a lot this summer and the boys have loved it. I would've put some of these pictures up sooner, but I didn't download the pictures right away and then I lost my camera for awhile, but thankfully it has been found. Thanks to my oldest son who found it between the front seat and the door of our car. I thought I had looked there, but apparently not well enough. Here are a few pictures from earlier this summer. I didn't take any during VCS when all the kids were swimming because why would I remember to do that? Anyway here are just a few of my boys and a couple of their cousins.

The sweet goggles on my neice!

My little guy got cold pretty quickly. He'd warmed up enough after getting out of the pool to lose the blue lips, but his teeth were still chattering when this picture was taken.

My newest nephew's first time in the pool. It made him very tired, and he was soon asleep in his mom's arms. It amazes me he can fall asleep like that in the pool, especially with all those kids out there!

As soon as he threw the first kid the line began to form. He tossed those kids pretty high a few times and they had a blast. Hard to get the action shots, but this one definitely shows how much fun this was!

Getting ready for take off!

He got some definite height in that one, and pretty impressive distance. Almost a perfect 10!

Jumping in the pool to daddy. My little boy is growing up so fast. He started swimming lessons this year, and is doing so well. He can swim quite a good distance, but now we just have to get him to remember to come up for air!

The slide is always a favorite!

My three favorite boys ever, and all so handsome!

Thankfully I was the one weilding the camera so there are no photos of my in a swimsuit! Works out nicely for all of us that way :) Glad we still have some more hot days of summer left to spend in the pool, and thankful for family and friends with pools close by! I don't have to worry about my kids getting into one in our yard, or keep it clean. Pretty much a win win situation!

(Note: I redid this FIVE times and it still has the pictures and words all lined up weird, and refuses to put a space in between my paragraphs at the beginning. I have no idea why, but obviously it isn't going to work correctly so I give up. It also doesn't show two of the pictures I uploaded. Don't know where those disappeared to in cyberspace but they're gone. Maybe this is blogging karma coming to punish me for ignoring it for too long!) I have been seriously slacking in my blogging lately. You know it's bad when your last post was four months ago! Joining facebook has sometimes made my blogging seem redundant. But I definitely miss being able to tell the whole story and not be bound by maximum character number restraints. Fitting everything I want to say inside that tiny box can sometimes be a challenge for someone like me. We'll just call me someone with a love of words. That sounds much nicer than some of the other descriptors for a person who enjoys talking. I'm sure my husband sometimes wishes he could honestly tell me "you say it best when you say nothing at all". Really though, I'm not giving him the credit he deserves. He's very good at letting me gab away and then responding with more than just a nod or a single word. I'm blessed with a husband who actually enjoys talking with his wife. But I digress, this isn't supposed to be about what a great husband I have. Even though it's true! A few weeks ago I was able to take the boys to the Luke Days airshow. It was my first time there and I'm so glad we went. Unfortunately dad didn't get to come with us because he had to work. But we got to take our best bud Shell, and met up with Uncle Gary, Aunt Sissy, and the cousins while we were there. It was a long day and all of the kids, except the oldest, ended up in tears at least once but we still had a good time. And even took some naps in spite of all the noise. I of course in my hurry to leave left my camera on the kitchen counter, but luckily Shell saved the day and got some cute pictures of the kids since I was ill prepared. We started out here in a very long line waiting to get through security into the base. Not only did that take forever, but I forgot I had a tiny kids backpack in the bottom of the stroller from church and since the rule is NO backpacks they threw it in the trash at the entrance. I was a little annoyed by that, but guess not much I could do about it. Although dad later said I should've called him and one of his buddies would've come and taken it for me to give him later. Easton was a little stressed they threw his bag away, but he didn't freak out which was good. They also tried to throw away all my food for the baby, including the plastic containers it was stored in (that was a little much I thought) because no outside food or drink. But their online rules specifically said you could bring in food for infants. I had to put my foot down on that one and they finally let me keep it. Then later we saw people who had packed sandwiches and brought them in. Guess we picked the wrong entrance line!

When we FINALLY made it inside we found our friends and set up chairs where we would watch the show. This is a helicopter that did some amazing tricks. He's even upside down here. Which was pretty cool considering how much power it takes to turn back around compared to an airplane.

Trying to keep Asher's ears covered was pretty much futile. He didn't care for the earmuffs, or the earplugs we tried later. He had his tongue out in almost every picture. (He got a new tooth the next day so he was constantly moving his tongue and lips over the spot where it was about to come through.) Still cute even with the long tongue action. All the kids had these earplugs at first, but Easton couldn't keep them in his ears so we eventually swapped them for the earmuff style which he thought were pretty sweet. They were obviously pretty effective since he napped in that chair during some of the loudest parts of the show. I love the skinned knees. He was bouncing around all over the place that day and kept falling on the asphalt, and went home with skinned knees and hands as souvenirs. The boys got antsy during the show so Shell and I took them to see the airplanes. They LOVED being able to touch them and even go inside some. Here we are waiting in line to see an F-16. The line only had about 5 people ahead of us when we got in it, but it took almost an hour to see the cockpit. The pilot literally talked to each person for 15-20 minutes each. It was awful, but the boys were set on seeing the inside of that plane so we had to find ways to entertain ourselves in line. This is us jumping and spinning in circles. It entertained us and the others in line with us :) After jumping got tiring (for me!) the boys got their turn with the camera. They got several interesting shots, including these of each other. (In the background of this one you can see the very wordy pilot) And I'll end with another of the cool stunts they did for us at the show. This was awesome, one plane flying upside down over the other in perfect formation the entire time. Definitely a good day!

SNOW!

Since there had been a fairly decent snowfall up north this week we decided to take the boys up on Christmas Eve. The day was overcast and a little windy which made for some chilly temperatures, but it was a great way to star off the holiday and give our little guy his first look at the snow. Easton recently watched a movie where the made a snowman and ever since he's been wanting to go to the snow and make one. He says we needed to have a hat, a scarf, and buttons so the snowman won't be cold (also from the movie). So first thing we did was build a snowman complete with buttons. No scarf and though, sorry Mr. Snowman hopefully you aren't too cold out there without them! Here are a few of the pictures we took while we were out.

The snowman begins to take shape!



No snowman is complete without a little facial hair.

Meet Nebuchadnezzar, the snowman (which incidently is the name of our next child according to big brother).

Mom and Asher didn't get to help much, but had fun posing with Easton and Daddy's creation. Well, at least I did. The baby was pretty much exhausted at this point and not long after we had to head back to the car to warm up a little before braving the elements again.

A goodbye kiss!

My big boy all bundled up and ready to play!

We decided Asher looked like the Michelin tire man. He couldn't really put his arms down with all those layers, but soooooo cute!

A few more family pictures!

A long day of playing and driving, but one of many great memories we've enjoyed together as a family. Can't wait till next year when the littlest one can help build the snowman too!

December Fun!

December is a long month, and it's not even over yet! But here's just a look at some of the fun things we've been doing so far. This doesn't even come close to including everything we've been up to. But with fun like this you can see why I can't seem to blog more than once a month. I really need to be better about it though because I miss it, and love seeing everyone else's!

We deocorated our tree at the beginning of the month. As soon as we opened the box of decorations Easton says "Mom I really like Christmas!"



He put about 3 ornaments on, all in the same area. Then he decided it was just more fun to unwrap them all and hand them to me to put on. That works!

Asher was very fascinated with the lights. He really wanted to eat them. He was completely covered in drool in just about every picture. Most of them didn't even turn out of him because the seat he's in bounces. So he was in action 90% of the time.

Just look at those lashes! :)

Unloading the box was the best part!

Then the fun part became wrapping himself up in the ribbon.

Asher just chillin!

My handsome boys!

Next stop in our December of fun was the ice skating rink! Easton went skating for the first time when we took the young people's group earlier this month. As our official mascott he tags along most of the time.

He loved it and had a great time. By the end he had gotten some pretty good balance, but kept a good hold on daddy.

Here he is with dad and Uncle Nathan. So adorable!!

Finally our last stop in December fun was the Christmas light display at the Mormon temple. Beautiful lights, a short outdoor concert, and of course some invites to future church services. I didn't get talked to by anyone, but a few from our group did. The opening prayer to begin the concert included thanksgiving for the chance to live eternally with our families. Other than that it could've been said by any number of people I know. Even though I don't agree with their church I have to give them credit for coming up with a great community outreach and not being afraid to witness.

Didn't get a lot of pictures here (for which you're probably thankful!) It was very crowded and stopping for even a few seconds for pictures blocked narrow sidewalks. Or got you separated from your group pretty quickly. But here are a few of them.

Really cool camel light display.

A small view of the garden.

My cuties! Easton had been in the stroller for about a minute at this point and already wanted OUT! He had to endure it at least till we got out of the parking lot and had somewhat of an idea where we were going.

This was Asher's favorite spot of the night!

It's been a busy busy month and Christmas is still a week away. We've got things to do every night until then, but it's a wonderful time of year to spend with friends and family. I'm incredibly thankful for each one. I am SO blessed!

The Periscope

This is a project we did awhile ago and am just now getting around to posting pictures. Grandad gave us a leftover kit from one of the kid's workshops they do. So we got to break out the tools and transform our kitchen into a workshop and make our very own periscope!



First things first, read the directions...some people may skip that but this mom needs them!



Next make sure you have all your materials.



Yes, I let a 2 year old use a hammer by himself :)




Getting the nails put in correctly. There were guide holes so he could do this step on his own.

More hammering!

Checking out how everything works.

Now time to add some personal touches.

This project was great because it involved glue, nails, hammers and markers. Who wouldn't have fun with a supply list like that??

Sooo Tired

So I recently joined "The 30 Day Shred" bandwagon. And no I am NOT going to post before and after pictures of my body. For one, the before is way way way too scary. Two, the after may not be all that impressive and then it wouldn't do any favors to the marketing of this DVD. And I could go on with the many reasons I do not want to do that, but those are probably sufficient. Although I have found several people who have bravely shown pictures of themselves along the 30 day journey. I was pretty impressed with some of them, which is why I decided to give it a try. So this morning I finished day 10. I've done it everyday except for Sunday. I'm giving myself that day off. Everyone needs a day of rest right?

Well, anyway there are 3 levels to this thing and I've only ever attempted level 1 so far. Tomorrow I brave level 2. I decided I would try and do each level for 10 days, but I'm not sure if that's going to work for me or not. Level 1 alone has been a good workout for me. It's doable, but I'm definitely tired when I'm done. It's only a 20 minute workout they say, but if you go from the warm up all the way through the cool down it's more like 26 minutes (but who's counting right???) So far I have yet to see any amazing body transformations, but I will say I think my rear is jiggling a little less than it was when I first started :) Ah, small victories!!

I've been wanting to start working out again for awhile now. I know I need to take better care of myself and set a better example that way for my kids. I don't want them to have the mom who doesn't want to go outside with them or do any kind of physical activity at all. I'll have to leave the actual sports up to daddy, he's the athlete in the family. I'm completely inept at things that require hand eye coordination. But I can kick a soccer ball around in the backyard or play tag. But if I continue on the sedentary path I've settled into lately I won't even be able to do that. So, 30 Day Shred I'm counting on you to motivate me to keep it up by transforming my body...ok ok I will settle for just improving it!

My Baby is Growing Up!

It seems like only just a few days ago this was my little boy.



Then before I know it, this is the face I see looking back at me. How did that happen so fast?!



Now that our new nephew has arrived I see just how big my baby is getting. He's still just a little guy, but seems huge next to his latest cousin. It doesn't seem like that much time could've gone by since he was born, but it obviously has. Even though he's had his fussy moments he's starting to get such a great personality. He laughs out loud now, and it's so fun to make him giggle.

Looking forward to what the future holds for this boy as he grows. He's growing so fast with his big brother leading the way! When they're both walking something tells me this mom will need eyes in the back of her head and lightning quick speed to keep up with those two.