Look who's walkin'

Paige has been cruising around now for a week or two. It is so weird to see her come into a room walking, not crawling. I can't believe it. She just looks so darn cute walking on two feet. Morgan is starting to get the hang of it too. I bet next week I will be able to post a picture of her walking.

The Circus!

We ventured out last night and went to the circus! My kids even lasted the whole time, well, with a little bribing. At intermission they were asking to go home, but once things started up again they didn't ask to go leave...as often. It was kind of a long time for 3 and 2 year olds to sit in one spot. However, Trent and I didn't have a problem with getting bored. It really was amazing the things they did with animals, motorcycles, acrobats, and, simply, their bodies. Well, not simply. My body could never bend, flip, or spin like that. Here we are getting ready for the action to begin. Everyone picked out a treat. $3.25 for a package of M & M's? What a rip. However, I was going to by them all a lemonade from one of the guys walking around until he told me they were $9 a piece, so the candy didn't seem as bad. Well, I couldn't handle spending $27 dollars on drinks for my kids. So, we got a coke to share at a "cheaper" price. I did feel kind of bad because all the kids around us were getting the lemonade, $12 cotton candy and $20 light toys. Oh, well, after the circus they scavenged the rows and found plastic clown noses on the floors. Pretty gross, right? I know, we are horrible parents, but we didn't have to spend their college savings on them!?!?
Mesmerized for the first hour of the show. They were so cute when they would clap and cheer after the stunts.
I had to throw this picture in. I wanted to see if anyone could recognize the guy just behind Andrew's head. I am sure some of my friends from HS will get it and maybe Mandi...
By the end of the night the kids were taking turns laying on my lap. When it was Oakley's turn she laid down and plugged her ears. It was pretty funny.

I asked all the kids what their favorite things were:

Aiden: "The gorillas and lions." Umm, I don't know what he was watching, but there were no gorillas and lions at the circus last night. I tried to tell him that, but he is adamant about that being his favorite thing!

Andrew: "The tigers and they stood up!" I really don't know what possesses a man to get in a cage with 7 huge tigers. Seriously.

Oakley: "The big elfants and tigoos." The elephants were one of my favorite things too. I can't believe you can train those huge animals to do what they were doing last night. Amazing!

Trent: "The motorcycles. I don't know how anyone can have the timing down exact for a stunt like that." They had 7 motorcycles in the big steel ball going around and crossing in front of each other. I thought for sure we would witness a head on collision! That was my other favorite thing too!

It was a good night and a fun activity. We ended the night with a viewing of The Office. It was a good season premier, 2 thumbs up! Thanks to Jill for watching Paige and Morgan. We couldn't have handled all five at the circus!

**UPDATE** Luke has guessed right on the guy.

Silly Belly...

Aiden was playing with my belly:


Aiden: Mom, your belly is silly!
Me: Yes it is.
Aiden: Who did that to you?
Me: You did.
Aiden: Oh...(giggles)...thats funny.


He continued to laugh while he played with my pudge. I don't find the current status of my belly quite as funny...

Family Night

Can Baby Einstein count as a family home evening lesson?

Chuck E. Cheese

Today we went down to Chuck E. Cheese for a birthday party for Josh. Wow. What a place. This was my first experience with Chuck. And can I say it is a little spot of paradise for a mom. That is, if you can just get past the strange smell and the petri dish of germs. But my kids really had so much fun. They played games, won tickets, bought treats, ate pizza, went on some rides, and never once got bored. Magical.

The boys having a blast on the merry go round.
I absolutely love this picture. I think it is so cute how they are staring at each other smiling. LOVE it!
The group chowing down, minus the birthday boy and James. They were too into getting tickets to even stop and eat.

Thanks for the party Heidi and HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!!

$5 a month naps....

Today I overheard a conversation Trent was having with his brother Jake. They talked about the typical things; running, food, and football. They started talking about watching the Utah games on TV and the Trent mentions the game is on versus today and we don’t have that channel in the cheap family plan from Direct TV. Trent then precedes to tell Jake it is only $5 more a month to get it and he really, really wants to watch the game. I think Jake said some kind of frugal response, because Trent said, “ya, it does add up after 12 months.” (Jake has always been the voice of reason for Trent (usually)). Well, the conversation with Jake ends and Trent starts trying to get through to Direct TV to order a new package, obviously not thinking about the frugality that Jake was trying to put into his life. I had to do a patient visit so I left in the midst of this and came home to find that Trent had successfully added Versus to our line up. I am so glad Trent is able to “watch” all the Utah games now.

(Ya, Trent slept through the whole game. He caught the last few plays, which he said were the most important anyway???)

Date Night!

Trent and I went out on a date last night! We are trying to do one night a week away from kids. Much needed therapy for us right now. We take a turn each week deciding the activity. Last week we shoveled gravel into wheel barrows for our date. Trent's idea for sure. This week was my turn. We traveled down to the Mandarine and had a feast that could have fed 6 people! It was delicious as always. Then next on our list was to do returns to a few stores. Trust me. This IS a treat. If I can ever go to a store and get anything done without kids-I'll take it! However, I did make a purchase at one store, so I think that is a perfect activity for a date! Next, we went and saw Kimmy and baby Oliver. He is so tiny and such a cute little weed hopper! I am sure Kimmy appreciated us visiting without the tornado of children that usually follows us everywhere! We returned home to find all our kids in their pjs watching baby einstein. Thanks Jill for watching the hoard!
I am really into these cute hats lately. I LOVE the short bills and I love to be able to cover my bad hair when I need to! I would much rather spend money shopping than on some "date" activity like miniature golf or whatever. We will save those activities to do when the kids tag along!

Boxes!

My kids love boxes and it is a treat when I actually have more than one. It saves my sanity when I don't have to break up fight after fight over one box. And it makes for at least a good 1/2 hour of play time. Then play time turns into ruin the box time. My kids really like to destroy things.

Driving...

For family home evening we decided to take a drive into the mountains. Seeing how we would be on a dirt road, going slow, with minimal traffic, Trent decided to let Paige and Morgan use some forward facing car seats. We still have 4 more lbs to gain before they can really switch to the fun seats, but it was fun to try out for a night. The girls loved it and it was fun to be able to look back and see ALL of our kids. They were all so cute, I had to capture the moment to share with everyone. We still can't believe we have five kids that have to be in car seats. It is unreal.

Dirty Girls!

This is what happens whenever we take the girls outside. It can't be prevented. Well, I guess it can if we continually held them, but thats not possible. However, they do enjoy themselves so we should just let them get good and dirty...right?

Cousins!

This morning I told Aiden, Andrew, and Oakely that someone was coming up to play with them. I asked them who they thought it might be. They just stared at me with blank expressions. I gave them one clue and asked, "Who do you love to play with?" Aiden looks at me with excitment across his face and says, "HEIDI!" You would think he would say anyone of his cousins, but nope, Heidi is who he would rather play with!!!
Heidi brought James and Josh up for a few hours of fun. They ran around outside, played in the sandbox, played in the shed, watched mario land cartoons, played in the playroom, chased around the upstairs with Paige and Morgan, jumped on cushions, and basically, had fun being kids and cousins!
I love this picture of Josh teasing James and all my kids staring at them. Fun times!
We ended the playing with cushion jumping! I think there were more fights and injuries than fun. Why do kids tease each other and not listen?
Dog pile on James! Even Oakley was getting involved in this game. I don't know if James really enjoyed this game or not?

Still Shocked...

I think we can all remember exactly what we were doing 7 years ago today. I was getting ready to head up to one of my nursing classes and Trent had just left to go to one of his computer classes. Just another typical day until Trent called me a few minutes after he left and told me something was happening to the World Trade Center. We didn't have TV at the Blue Lagoon, so Trent and I went down to my parents to watch the events unfold. Shock and disbelief are the feelings that I had that day and still have when the subject of 9-11 comes up. Watching the 2nd plane hit, the towers falling, and hearing about the Pentagon and the other plane was horrible. I can't imagine the feelings people felt that were IN those planes and buildings. My heart goes out to those who did lose loved ones that day and those who have lost loved ones who are protecting our country from this happening again.

When Trent and I were in New York a few months ago we got to see ground zero. It was a mix of emotions as I looked through the fence and saw the city block being rebuilt. I couldn't believe the HUGE area that was destroyed. The reality of the damage was so much bigger than the pictures, TV coverage, and articles could ever portray. It was amazing to be there in person and I will never forget what happened to America 7 years ago.

Pedicure Anyone?

I am sure Aiden would be willing to give anyone this same high class treatment. I must warn you though, he does charge quite a bit for his "specialized" pedicures.

The school thing...

Aiden and Andrew had their first day of preschool today. They have been waiting for a long time for their turn to go. Every time they would do something on their own, like get dressed or put their shows on, they would say, "Now I can go to preschool!"

The 2 boys ready to go. This is what Andrew does when I tell him to smile.
Really, he doesn't smile anymore. He just tries to show as many teeth as possible.
Aiden still knows how to smile for the camera.
The boys were so excited they ran all the way to preschool.

Old Friends and Running Races

Here are a couple highlights from our weekend. Friday night we went to a bbq at my friend Cecilie's new house. Our friend from High School, Sarah, was in town. None of us had seen her in 3 years and it was the first time I had ever met her husband! (He seems real great by the way Sarah!) It was a good meal, with good company, and good fun. I even got to play guitar hero for the first time. Sarah made me look like a fool when she went after me. That girl's got skills!

Me, Sarah, Melissa, Cecilie. I am glad I get to hang out with my friends from High School still. I love them!

We had to leave the bbq early to get home to bed. Trent and I both had races to run the next morning. Trent ran the half marathon in Spanish Fork. I, of course, opted to just do the 5K. I think it would take a miracle for me to do a 1/2 marathon!

This was after the race and we both felt so good. Trent did really well. He got 9th out of 311 runners and 1st in his age division. He ran it in 1:24:33. I did good too, for me anyway. Definitely not as good as Trent, but I am not a "real" runner yet. I came in 32nd out of 160 runners. I was the 10th female and I was 2nd in my age division. My time was 25:57.

I am ready for another race if anyone knows of one or wants to run one with me. It would be nice to have company!

Hey all you Moms and Moms to be!

Well, it is time for the baby sale at Old Navy again. It came just in time for me to buy all my winter clothes for my kids. And the great news is I got to go up a size for my boys and Oakley. My boys are now in 2T and Oakley is getting HUGE and fits into 12-18 month. Paige and Morgan are still in 6-12 month, but since all their clothes are for summer I was still able to buy some warm clothes for them. I really had a good time. I actually couldn't buy anymore. I got to a certain amount in the shopping cart and it said I had to remove something before I added any more items. Can you believe it? I have reached a new level in my shopping career. Having the STORE tell me I can't buy anymore.....who would have thought???

*

Go check it out. They have some pretty good deals and, as always, their clothes are just so darn cute! For all you preggos out there, it is the maternity sale as well.

http://www.oldnavy.com/

One more thing to make Andrew's head bigger!

Yesterday was a bad day for my kids. When Aiden and Andrew were running into their bedroom to go to sleep, Aiden pushed Andrew and he head dived into the corner of his bed. After about 30 seconds his goose egg was really the size of a goose egg. (not that I know, I have never seen a real goose egg.) I bet the bump added an inch to Andrews already massive head circumference. Luckily by this morning the swelling had gone down and he had his normal shaped forehead. (Well, normal for him. Andrew really does have a huge and weird shaped head.)

These pictures don't do the bump justice. It really was the HUGEST bump I have ever seen. Andrew is already planning his revenge for Aiden, he kept saying he needed to do it to Aiden. I don't know, maybe Aiden deserves a little push into a wall or something???

Is history repeating itself?

So this morning I went out to move our car into the street because we are getting our approach torn out. I came back in to find Paige crying in the middle of the floor. I had no idea what was wrong. I went to pick her up and her little pinky was bleeding all over and there was a cut through the skin from one side to the other. Who knows what happened? I asked Andrew and, of course, he said Morgan did it??? Well, images of my retarded pinky came to mind and I tried to clean it up to see the real damage. Luckily, whatever cut her didn't go all the way through. It just cut a moon shape flap of skin off the bottom of her finger. However, her little nail is already blue. Poor Paige. Hopefully her nail is okay and doesn't end up looking like mine. THAT would be tragic. I couldn't get a good picture of the other side with the flap of skin gone. I am sure you are happy about that.
Here is my beautiful pinky. I was also 1 when my tagedy happened. Same finger, same hand, and same age. It must be a family curse!