He's a Big Boy Now

*sniff*

I caved today.

I've had a few comments (ahem... you know who you are) about how long Micah's hair was in the back. I didn't want to cut his hair, because once you cut it, there's no going back. They turn into a little boy when that cute wispy baby hair is gone. But I did it. I bit my lip, blubbered into my tissue, and snipped away. He was pretty good sitting in his chair while I cut, but I decided to finish the job at Mom's house because she has the good thinning sheers for the blending part. I guess he'll start the new year off with a new do.

Here's the Before.....

The During.....
This is at Grandma's house, isn't he cute in his tux cape?

And the After.....
What a handsome little guy.

Random Pics

Just some cute pictures of my girls from last week.

Teacher Gifts

I took pictures of the kids' teacher gifts this year. They turned out so cute, and they were a big hit. I had Tom cut some 3 inch square blocks out of scrap wood, then I decoupaged a picture of the school's mascot on one side, and stapled a tear off calendar on the other side.

Christmas Report

Christmas Eve at our house...

Here I am again, updating after taking a month break from blogging. :)

Christmas was amazing this year. We had so many parties to attend and to host. We had many opportunities to spend time together as a family, and we enjoyed every last minute of it. The kids were in school till the 23rd (yes, the 23rd!), and they are off track till January 26th. A full month of having all of them home. I'm looking forward to it, in a way. But I'm NOT looking forward to the bickering and constant chaos that seem to be present whenever they go off track. At least they all have new toys to keep them busy.

So, here goes... for Christmas we got a Wii for the family. It also came with some other accessories and games, I don't know what specifically though. I guess I better get acquainted with the thing. It has taken up residence in my family room. The kids are all so excited about it, and it has been played a lot in the past 24 hours.

Cassidy got lots of teenage girl stuff. Some jeans, a Justice shirt, a makeup mirror, various Twilight stuff (2 games, calendar, pillow case, journals, perfume), iTunes money, an Old Navy gift card, a watch, a turquoise bolster pillow, a backpack, some books, socks, and slippers.

Seth got several space posters for his room, yugioh cards, books, socks, Jenga game, a puzzle, jammie pants, Bakugans, a Nintendo DS with accessories and a gift card to go buy some games.

Jonah got space posters also (the boys share a room), yugioh cards, socks, books, GI Joe figures, jammie pants, a Nintendo DS with accessories and a gift card to buy games.

Janessa got a fun scrapbook set with lots of stickers, a bike helmet, a Swim to Me Puppy, some books, a purple rug for her room, a "J" pin, a Nintendo DS with accessories and a gift card to buy games.

Andrew got a big Spiderman pillow, that he absolutely loves, some socks, an aqua doodle mat, a Fisher Price construction set, some art supplies, a hilk towel, a Safari play set, some pants, and a hippo flashlight.

Micah got 3 cute shirts, a walk and ride toy, a puppy that talks, some diapers and wipes (LOL... more for me than for him, I guess!), a Diego Swiss army knife, a bowling set, and some pants.

This is what's called a melt down, my friends. When Daddy can't get the toy out of the box fast enough, Micah just can't deal with it!

Andrew's Hulk towel.

DS X 3

It was a very very nice Christmas, we are so blessed. The big hits were the Wii and the DS's. the kids were just so excited when they opened them. Santa was very good to our family this year.

We had a yummy Christmas dinner at Grandma's house, then went to Great Grandma's house for dessert.

Thanksgiving

I'm so bad. I haven't been back to blog since Halloween. Partly because I knew Thanksgiving would be coming up, so I took a little break from posting.

Life has been busy. My Relief Society calling has been a blessing, but it has kept me jumping. My turn for the Sunday lesson is coming up on the 6th of December. I haven't taught RS for a few years, but I'm glad to have that opportunity again. I love the opportunity to serve, and we have had many chances in the short 3 months I've been in. I have seen the blessings come and I'm grateful for that. I was really worried, at first, with the time commitment on top of all my other obligations and responsibilities, but it has proven to be a very good experience. The Lord truly blesses us and fills in our gaps.

I will graduate in December with my Associates degree. I am registered at Utah State University, taking 9 credit hours for spring semester. I'm taking Human Development 1500, Bio and Citizen, and Algebra 1010. I'm pretty upset about having to retake the math class. But to take Statistics, I have to have taken Math 1010 within a year prior. I originally took it in 1994. Ugh. I'm crossing my fingers for that one. The others look really interesting and I'm excited to get started with it. 9 credits really pushes my limit, but as I get started with the classes, I'll have a better idea of what I can handle. Then, I can drop one if I need to.

Last Sunday, I was talking to Jared and he mentioned that he and Jen were thinking about coming for Thanksgiving to surprise Mom and Dad. They were undecided because of the weather, but decided to make the trip, leaving early Tuesday morning. Dana and I rushed over to get Mom's house ready for guests (Thanks, again, Dana! I couldn't have done it without you!). I was in touch with Jared throughout the day, texting and talking so we could get updates to where they were. Finally, at 5:30 Tuesday night, they called to let me know they were getting off at our exit. I called to see where Mom was, she was actually just driving up her street, bringing Jamie home from the kidney clinic. As soon as she walked in the house, the phone rang. It was Jared, just "calling to talk", and letting her believe he was still in Denver. He then had his boys go ring Mom's doorbell, and she went to answer it.... AAAAHHHH!!!!!! What a great surprise!!!!! I wish they had taken a picture or a video!

So, we were all together for Thanksgiving dinner at my house. It was a fun night, all the kids ate first, then we set the table nicely for the adults to eat, and we locked... er, I mean... sent the kids downstairs to play.

Brandt, Ashlynn, and Uncle Nate

The table....

"Hmmmm.... let me think... do I like yams?? Why yes! I do!"

All the cousins after dinner. Minus Andrew who promptly fell asleep.

The big boys were tired too.

Halloween

We had a good Halloween. The candy bags are still sitting on my kitchen table, which is not a good thing becuase I keep peeking inside them. Luckily though, all the yummiest treats are gone. Unfortunately though, they were devoured mostly by me.

Cass was Little Bo Peep this year. He friend, Harmony, was her lost sheep. Seth dressed in one of my grandma's old dresses. He wore pearls, a wig, and an old hat. He looked so great! Jonah dressed as Gambit. I wasn't sure who he was till I watched X Men Origins: Wolverine (OH. MY. GOODNESS. 2 words: HughJackman. Shirtless.) Janessa was 3 things this year: a mouse, a cowgirl, and a witch. Andrew was Batman (after much gnashing of teeth and pouting. Mostly by him, LOL.)

And Micah was Pooh Bear, following the tradition of his older siblings.

Halloween Cookies

We decorated sugar cookies for our Family Home Evening treat tonight. What was I thinking.... a sugar blast at 8:30 pm??!! LOL

Micah and the cups that he LOVES to play with.

Decorating....

Sampling the frosting....

More decorating....

Crazy hyper kids right before bedtime....

Nap Time

This is how I found Andrew a little while ago......

I had to sneak around and take a pic of his face.

He's at that age where he's kinda giving up the nap, but there are days that he still needs one. I thought today would be a no nap day, but he sacked out around 2:00 on his floor. What a silly boy.

September Birthdays

I'm a little behind on the blog. It's midterm and I've been studying my behind off so I'm playing catch up now.

We celebrated 3 birthdays in September. Cassidy's 12th and Andrew's 3rd on the 21st, and Micah's 1st on the 26th. I had always wanted an October baby, and all three of them were due in October. But they all decided to come early. I guess I wasn't supposed to have an Opal baby afterall! ;)

Here are my sapphire babies:

Andrew's HULK SMASH cake:

1 year old Micah:

Black and White Pictures

These were taken this past weekend.

Random Pictures

Just a few pictures from the past week.

Micah had his very first Oreo.

A big milestone in our family. :)

Seth dressed up at the Primary carnival.

I'm saving this one for future blackmail purposes.

Look what I found at Walgreens!

Thank you, Micah

Detour

So this morning I picked up my carpool kids, and their mom came out to warn me of bad traffic on Bangerter Highway. She said their oldest daughter had to take a long detour on her way to high school this morning because of an accident. She wasn't able to turn north where she needed to, and the officers made everyone turn south and go all the way around.

I was able to get the kids almost to the school, but instead of allowing us to cross over Bangerter Highway, they made us turn south and go around the long way. It was frustrating because the school is RIGHT THERE across the highway, but we weren't allowed the cross! So I turned south, decided against getting in the left turn lane at the next light (the line was backed up really far!), and turned right instead. Then I pulled into a parking lot and turned around to get ready to cross over the highway and take the side streets. There was NO WAY I was getting back on Bangerter after I saw that traffic.

I was able to make our way to school, slowly inching along. The kids were only 10 minutes late, but there were a lot of late kids any way. As I was driving home, I saw all the cars that were around me that had gotten back on Bangerter Highway. They were just barely returning to the light where we were forced to turn south. I patted myself on the back for finding a faster way to school and not waiting in that long line of cars.

This brings me to the point of my post this morning. There was a police officer directing traffic in the middle of the intersection. Now, this is a busy intersection (9800 S and Bangerter, for those in Utah), and northbound lanes were closed. He stood out there and motioned at the lanes of cars when it was their turn to go, but he was pretty rude about it. Several times I saw him point and shake his hand at drivers if they didn't move fast enough. It was pretty confusing, I admit, and people were frustrated at being stuck in that horrible traffic. Plus, the lights were totally worthless because he was directing, so each car was somewhat hesitant and cautious any way. But from what I saw, everyone was trying to be as safe as possible and go when they were directed to go. He was not very patient or nice about it at all. When I got up to the front of the line, I waited for him to motion for our lane to go. He turned and pointed sternly at me and waved me forward. I pressed down the accelerator and he pointed at me again and motioned me forward in a very exaggerated way. Like I wasn't moving at all..... urgh!!

I realize he was doing his job, and I'm sure it's stressful standing out there in th middle of traffic, but everyone was doing their best, ya know?? No need to be all rude and act like a jerk.

Gale Center Museum

The kids and I like to go to the Gale Center Museum. It's a cute place, and it's a nice way to spend a hot summer afternoon. They have the cutest little playhouse area there...

....complete with a play stove.

Dinner is always made from scratch.

My 2 pioneer girls.

Farmer Joe.

The kids in a mining cart.

LOL... I told them to look scared.

Micah loved banging on the drum.

There is an old fashioned class room, with old desks and books.

The kids all took turns playing the teacher.

Group shot.